Horsing around with history.

Yesterday was a treat.  We had one day in Mackinaw City, so we made the most of it.  Bright and early, we took the dogs to a kennel. Then we headed for the waterfront where we were just in time to catch the Star Line Hydro Jet ferry for Mackinac Island. 

A lighthouse on the island adjacent to Mackinac Island.

The island is awash in history, having played roles in the Revolutionary War under the British and the War of 1812 under American control.  Wikipedia says:

Fort Mackinac (pronounced: MACK-in-awe) is a former British and American military outpost garrisoned from the late 18th century to the late 19th century in the city of Mackinac Island, Michigan, on Mackinac Island. The British built the fort during the American Revolutionary War to control the strategic Straits of Mackinac between Lake Michigan and Lake Huron, and by extension the fur trade on the Great Lakes. The British did not relinquish the fort until fifteen years after American independence.
Fort Mackinac later became the scene of two strategic battles for control of the Great Lakes during the War of 1812. During most of the 19th century, it served as an outpost of the United States Army. Closed in 1895, the fort has been adapted as a museum on the grounds of Mackinac Island State Park.

Here is the fort from the town below, sorry it is so blurry.

The wall of the fort from above.

 In addition to the fort, the town of Mackinac is nicely preserved, including Doud's Market (how I missed getting a picture of it will be a bone of contention in the family for some time to come), the oldest grocery market in the U.S., which was founded in 1884 and is still operated by the same family. Below are pics of some of the buildings we did capture:

We took a tour on one of the horse drawn carriages that tour the island, complete with informative and amusing commentary from the drivers.  In point of fact we rode on two different carriages. A two horse carriage took us to the top of the steepest hill on the island where there is a (guess what, that's right) gift shop,  and then we got on a three horse carriage, which was designed to carry more people. Our second carriage was populated by us and another couple and a family of four generations traveling together. By the time the tour was over, we were all part of the family! It was great fun, and the driver was quite droll, keeping us entertained and informed at the same time.

There are only five automobiles on the island: two police cars, two pieces of fire equipment, and an ambulance. Everyone else travels by bicycle or horse-power.

Here is a part of the garden in front of the Grand Hotel. Notice the horse-drawn carriage in the background, which carries guests from the docks up the hill to the hotel. 

Here is the Grand Hotel itself. According to our guide, the original 

hotel comprising 180 rooms was completed in the 19th century in 93 days! Since then, additional rooms have been added. I don't know how long that took.

I took this to show the number of bicycles on the island. 

Then the guide told us that this is the hotel employee parking lot.

On the tour we drove through the Mackinac Island State Park. In the park there are three cemeteries: one for catholics, one for protestants (much smaller) and one for soldiers who died while serving at the fort. The latter was moved at some point and much of the information about the men buried in the military cemetery was lost. Consequently many of the graves are marked simply "Soldier."

Here is the Protestant cemetery.

Another blurry shot, this one of St. Anne's cemetery for Catholics.

And this is the military cemetery all decked out for Memorial Day.

As we proceeded through the park we saw not only a beautiful forest, but more history.

Fort Mackinac is below. According to our guide, the British sneaked up onto the hill above the fort with a force of 500 troops. The Americans below were only 50 strong. The British fired a cannon ball over the fort, and the Americans immediately surrendered.

As we drove through the park, we saw literally hundreds of Trilliums. I have seen one or two at a time at home, but this was stunning. The plant is a perennial, but it only blooms once every seven years. There is a $500 fine for picking one of the flowers.

We stopped at Arch Rock park, and Jill had her photo taken with our team.

Here are the team that pulled our three horse carriage. 

And Arch Rock, named for obvious reasons. 

And the happy couple at the Arch Rock viewing area.

Here's another team that was stopped at the park.

Bart gets a drink after pulling us up the hill.

The tour ended at the fort overlooking the town. From there we walked back down to the town.  After the boat ride, where we were seated on an open deck, and the two-hour, open carriage ride, we were chilled nearly to the bone. We stopped at Horn's Bar and Grill for a bowl of wonderful white bean chili. That did the trick. 

The old blogger ready for lunch.

This bar was established in the 1930s. 

After lunch, we did some shopping and picked up some of the fudge for which the island is famous. Jill found a beautiful water repellent jacket, too.  At last it was time to go to the boat dock.  We took our seats in the waiting area, where an elementary school was waiting to go back to the mainland, too: about 50 kids and chaperones all dressed in turquoise sweatshirts. We wanted to take a couple of their shirts, because they would match our trailer.  

Shopping in Mackinac.

The ferry dock, with a couple of the kids in turquoise.

Notice the beautiful homes on the hill behind the pier.

On the way back to the mainland, we had an indoor (read: warm) seat. Out the window we saw another ferry  and a tanker going by.

One of the huge ships that ply the waters of the Great Lakes. 

Once we returned to the mainland, it occurred to us that "the kids" were still in the kennel, so we did some sightseeing around Mackinaw City.  There is an old lighthouse, called the "Old Mackinac Point Lighthouse." We stopped there and walked the grounds.

The "water side" of the lighthouse.

Also located on the grounds is a steam generating station used to power a fog horn.  The fog horn was installed first, and then a couple of years later, the lighthouse went into service. Both have been decommissioned and are now parts of a museum.  

We left the lighthouse and drove around the town some more.  Jill spotted the Mackinaw City Cookie and Pastie House.  We decided we needed to try pasties (pronounce past-ees), an iconic Michigan treat made of meat and vegetables, especially root vegetables, like rutabagas and potatoes, wrapped in  pie crust and baked. We bought two of them and had one for dinner and the other for breakfast this morning. I recommend them.

Today, we drove from Mackinaw City over the Mackinac Narrows Bridge onto the upper peninsula (or UP) of Michigan.  The area is affectionately known as the Yoop. We stopped and picked up some smoked trout as a treat, which turned out to be dinner.  Tomorrow, it is on to Webster, WI, where some of our dear friends from Portland moved after they retired. More about that later.