Yes, Michigan?...Oh Yeah!

Yes, to Michigan?...Oh Yeah!!!

By John W. Vander Velden

 

 

A week north bound.  A week trekking the forests and lakeshore, waterfalls and light houses.  A week of delightful weather of sunrises when we woke to enjoy them, and of sunsets as we sat side by side.

Cheboygan, MI Crib Light

 

This summer saw us return to an area from where we have been parted too long.  Months ago when Jackie asked where we might go on our vacation, I reminded her that it had been sixteen years since our last visit to Mackinac Island.  The summer had been hectic…it seems each season drives us at a rushed pace…so the planning for the actual trip occurred later than usual.  I am in charge of “the planning”.  So I take full responsibility, especially when things go well…which they did.  (I’ll try not to dislocate my shoulder as I pat myself on the back.)



This 1940 La Salle owned by a delightful man
we met our first morning in Michigan, one of only two
of this model know to be in existence.

We left on the first Saturday morning in August.  Taking to the road we headed northward, 358 miles later we reached our hotel in Cheboygan before four, which offered us our first opportunity to explore the shores of Lake Huron.  After a short drive along the shoreline and photographing the first two…I did say first…light houses and a quiet supper, we sat in the park on the shore, watching the sun slowly abandon us in a blaze of glory.  That was the first day, and a sign of the pace we drove ourselves all the days on this “restful” escape. 



     The following day included a short drive to Alpena…it was only seventy-eight miles…with stops along the way.  On a day of brilliant blue skies we followed the shoreline and visited three…yeah three…light houses.  We strolled the grounds of those sentinels and climbed the two at Presque Isle, the new and the old.  After lunch we spent several hours in and around the Shipwreck Museum in Alpena.  The day ended with a return drive back the way we had come and across “Big Mac”…what a grand engineering marvel…to settle into our hotel and base camp in St Ignace.  The Inn on the Lake Huron shore was a delightful place.  At nine PM each night they have a bon fire on the grounds, and we joined the party and watched the children roast marshmallows.  So ended our second restful day….Do you see the trend here?

The Old Presque Isle Light House was unique
by having steps made of  hewed stone.
We found it one of the hardest to climb.

We had already driven six hundred miles so Monday we decided to give our noble steed, the Malibu, most of the day off.  You could measure our Monday’s drive in yards, just down the street to the ferry dock.  The 9:30 passage to Mackinac Island began our day afoot.  The morning’s mist lifted an hour or so after we disembarked revealing blue cloudless skies, another day of light breezes and pleasant temperatures.

 

Mackinac Island...Bicycles, Bicycles, Bicycles!

     For those that have never gone to the island…it was our third trip…the place is quite unique.  They work hard to keep it special.  Most know about the lack of motorized vehicles and it seems the fudge capital of the world, yet there is so much more to the place.  What astounded us were the bicycles.  Oh on past visits, we had seen all the places that rented the two wheel pedal powered machines.  We knew that people used them to get around on the island.  But what surprised us on this trip was the sheer number…thousands and thousands of bikes…some moving down the streets in their own traffic congestion and many more parked along the sidewalks.  It required care to cross the major streets as we dodged all the cyclists…their spouses and children, on their singles, tandems, and bikes with what they called towable seats that had pedals of their own.  There were bicycle delivery people, and law enforcement bikes.  Bikes, bikes, everywhere.  Except us.  I thought we might rent a tandem

Beautiful flowers graced each place we visited

but walked instead…walked and walked and walked.  We walked to see the Frigate Niagara, a tall ship on its last day at the island.  We walked to the butterfly house.  We walked up the shore as far as Arch Rock.  We walked to St Anne’s Church, to a restaurant, to about a hundred and fifty shops that sold many things, including fudge.  We walked part way around the south side of the island, up the hill to the Grand Hotel…had some of the most fantastic ice cream there.  Yeah, I cheated a little…but I had been walking…a lot.

After we walked some more, shopped some more, walked some more, and had a light supper, we caught the next to the last ferry home, the end of a wonderful day.  Like I said until you have spent some time on Mackinac Island you can’t understand…completely.  With aching calves we finished day three, sitting on our balcony and watching the day fade away.

Without motor vehicles other means are needed...
 

Our vacation story will continue next week.

      







So many butterflies floated all around us in the
 "The Original Butterfly House". 
The Red Doris were kind enough to pose.


 



Though we watched many Blue Morphos
flit about with their wing tops a brilliant blue, I found them
difficult to photograph with wings spread. 
However one took a liking to Jackie's hat.
Perhaps a Purdue fan...