Our Trip to Mackinac Island...

Yesterday was my mother-in-law's birthday. She was the big 8-0. We were going to have a party for her, but she asked for a girls day out on Mackinac Island instead. So, her daughter called around and got her aunts and cousins to come too. We had 10 in our group.
We met in Mackinac City at 11am at the Sheppler's dock. The weather forecast leading up to yesterday was calling for rain, even severe thunderstorms at one point, but the day turned out to be gorgeous-although it was very hot!

The birthday girl, my mother-in-law all decked out in her birthday girl gear!

Mother-in-law on left, her older sister next to her, sister-in-law in black & white and her cousin next to her.

The ferry to the island takes about 15-20 minutes and there are two levels where you can sit. You can sit on the top deck (it's very breezy and can be very chilly if it isn't warm outside), or you can sit on the lower level, which is enclosed.

The island was packed with people! Since it is a "no motor vehicle" island, the only modes of transportation is bikes or horses. You can rent bikes or bring your own on the ferry (for a fee). You can take a carriage tour or drive your own small carriage. We took the carriage tour. It is almost 2 hours long and it was (IMO) the best way to see the island. The guides are a lot of fun and full of interesting facts and history about the island.

We split up onto three small groups to walk around for a hour before we met for lunch. We ate lunch at the Carriage House Restaurant. It is located inside the Iroquois Hotel. It is a gorgeous restaurant-right on the water-beautiful inside and out. I took a shot of the menu so you could see what our choices were. I forgot to snap the backside where all of the sandwiches were. It was $17.50 for a club sandwich and fries. It looked nice, but I wasn't impressed.

The food came on beautiful, colorful china and looked lovely when it arrived. Unfortunately, I was expecting more of a culinary treat. It wasn't anything special, in fact, our local Coney Island restaurant's club sandwich has much more flavor than the one I got at the Carriage House. If you want a beautiful place to eat with gorgeous scenery, then make sure this is where you go, just don't expect gourmet food with the view.

The side of the Iroquois Hotel

The front of the Iroquois Hotel.

The front of the menu.

Some more of the family.

Even the bathrooms are cute!

After lunch, we took the island carriage tour, and we enjoyed not having to walk in the heat. By the time we were done with the carriage ride, everyone was pretty worn out so we got back on the ferry for the return trip to Mackinac City. It was really nice to sit up top after being hot and sweaty all day.

We ate a quick dinner at our hotel and then my SIL and I went to the little park along the shore of the Mackinac Bridge. We walked for a while, then we sat on a bench and watched as night fell and the lights came on all over the bridge. We even got to see a freighter go under the bridge at dusk.

There was a lot of people walking around, enjoying the nice evening and the view. There was a group of about 20-30 Amish people there enjoying it as well. They looked so beautiful in their traditional dress. I felt bad for them because it seemed like they were in a giant fish bowl-everyone seemed to be staring at them! One man was actually turned completely around on his bench (his wife was facing forward and looking at the bridge and water), totally open-mouthed staring at them! I turned on my bench and made it obvious that I was staring at him! He got the message and turned around-how rude! Just because they dress differently, they became the thing to look at rather than the gorgeous view.

We stayed until dark, then went back to our hotel room-it had 3 queen sized beds in it! I've never seen or heard of a hotel room with 3 queen sized bed in it-have you? It was nothing fancy, but it did the trick so the 5 of us who were staying were able to stay all in one room together.

This morning we went into the shops in Mackinac City and wandered around for a couple of hours. I picked up a new hoodie at my favorite shirt place-"Harbor Wear", and at the local winery I was able to pick up a bunch of different flavored/brands of beer in individual bottles for my dad for his birthday that is coming up. He loves trying new/different beers, so it was fun picking them out for him-and it was an easy birthday present to get-one that he will enjoy I'm sure!

Adam came to pick me up at 11:30 and we said good-bye to the in-laws and we went for lunch at Scalawags-YUM!!! I make sure I stop and eat there every time I get to the U.P. area-I LOVE their chicken strips!

We got back to my parent's house in time to spend a couple more hours with my aunt and uncle from Texas and my uncle from Canadian Lakes before they had to leave for other places and home. They are going to be at my other uncle's house on Saturday, and he lives about 5 miles from me, so I'm hoping to get to see them one more time before they head back to Texas.

Here are the photos from Mackinac Island...

Look!!! A yard sale on the island!!! Too bad they didn't have anything I was interested in!!

 

The Grand Hotel.

I sent a text message to my boss late last night and she agreed to let me take Monday off so I could spend another day with my parents. I love it here in the U.P. so much!!! It's always hard to go back to reality when it's time to go home.