Mackinac Island
August
27 – Mackinac Island was primarily settled because
it provided an excellent location for a fort to guard the Great
Lakes. The first fort was
built by the British in 1780. While it was
not attacked during the Revolutionary War, the fort changed hands several times
in later years. The village that grew up
near the fort was home for fur traders and fishermen. When the fort was retired in the 1890’s all
of the Federally owned land (about 80% of the island)
was given to the State of Michigan
and it became the first State Park. The
State
took
steps to insure that the island would not get developed and required existing
cottages to keep their Victorian look.
The fort has been preserved and today is operated by the State of Michigan
as a historical park and museum. Besides
having many great displays, there were presentations featuring gun
demonstrations, life at the Fort, and the memorable cannon firing demonstration
which is best described as when history meets Penn and Teller. After touring the fort we grabbed a quick
lunch and got on our bikes for a tour of the island. One of the things that really sets Mackinaw Island
apart is that while there are paved roads, there are no motor vehicles
permitted! Everything is done by horse
and wagon or bicycle.
(We
did see a Parks Department dump truck in the woods and they say that there are
emergency vehicles hidden somewhere).
The truly adventurous can even rent a horse and buggy and tour the
island on their own. There is a shore
loop road that circles the island and lots of residential streets above the
town. We also saw several unique rock
formations one of which is a natural arch.
We tried to go by the Grand Hotel, a giant turn of the century hotel
which among other things was the place where the movie “Somewhere in Time” was
filmed, but they were charging $10 to enter the lobby and had security guards
that would make sure that all
bike riders stayed on the street and didn’t stop for pictures (they also had
signs on the sidewalks stating that to use the sidewalk you had to conform to
their dress code). Our legs tired from a
good day’s workout we found a quaint looking Irish Pub where Stacie enjoyed
seafood pasta and Dave had chicken (no surprise).
August 28 – We wanted to stay and play
on the island longer, but our lives in the
real
world were waiting for us and it was time to put the hammer down and head for
home. We took the ferry back to St. Ignace and crossed the Mackinac
Bridge. We left Michigan
and then conquered Ohio. Upon entering Pennsylvania
and its famous turnpike Dave noticed that we were classified on the rate ticket
as a commercial vehicle and were being charged higher rates. We worked our way across Pennsylvania
and pulled off the road in New Scranton as the sun set. Dave had to question the attendant at the
toll booth about our “commercial” status.
The agent explained that there were scales in the toll lane that
measured each axle as a vehicle approached the toll both. If the weighing system calculated a weight
over 7,000 pounds then a vehicle was classified as commercial and had to pay
more. We knew Stacie had bought a lot of
souvenir pins, so it was possible that we really did weigh that much. Dave coughed up the toll and the agent told
us to write our congressman in we didn’t like it (instead, Dave figured out how
to swerve the truck as we approached the toll lanes so that only 2 wheels got
weighed). As it turned out we hadn’t
picked the nicest exit to end the night and our only lodging choices were
extravagantly priced hotels, or the less than optimum roadside motel. We’d splurged with the Bed and Breakfast on Mackinac
Island so now we had to pay the price. We got a room at the roadside motel that was
just big enough to fit a bed and the bathroom had the smallest shower we’d ever
seen. For dinner we picked an Italian
place across the street. When we walked
in there were no other patrons and the sign said to seat ourselves. After 10 minutes of waiting Stacie went to
the kitchen door and knocked. A waitress
came out and apologized for not noticing us.
The meal was OK, but it wasn’t a fitting end for an adventure like ours.
August 29 – We woke up early and were
pleased to see that the truck hadn’t been stolen overnight. Today was unfortunately the last day of our
Alaska adventure. We stopped off at a
gas station for fuel and some snacks for breakfast and then got back onto the Pennsylvania
Turnpike. At around noon we arrived at Stacie’s parents home in northern Virginia. Clio was not terribly upset at Stacie for
being gone so long and Stacie’s parents were glad to see that Dave and Stacie
were in fact still talking to each other.
As we unloaded Stacie’s things her mom raved about the pictures that
she’d been seeing on the website and asked if there were more. Stacie admitted that she’d taken over 3,000
pictures on the trip. We spent the rest
of the day in front of the computer showing ALL
the pictures (it took six hours).
August 30 – The adventure was
over. Dave left Stacie with her parents
and he headed back for Richmond, VA
where he was relieved to see that his house was still standing and the plants
were still alive. Stacie spent the day
with her parents and returned to Richmond
the following day.