After a continental breakfast buffet in the home of the couple that owned the Bay Inn, we made the short trip to Mackinaw City. There we took the ferry to Mackinac Island. As you can see, those who chose to ride on the top of the ferry had a cold and windy trip. Look closely and you can see how hard Janet and Jody's hair is whipping in the wind as we crossed under the bridge to the Upper Peninsula of Michigan. Friday was the coolest day of the entire trip, and it was cold on the water that morning! It is about five miles from Mackinaw City to Mackinac Island.
This was our first view of the houses along the coast of the island. They say it is shaped like a turtle--low on the edges and more rounded up toward the middle. The differences in spelling of Mackinaw City and Mackinac Island are because one is English and one is French.
Here is the view of the street as we walked off the Ferry. There are no cars, of course, just bicycles and horse drawn carriages.
We had a few hours to explore the downtown area and shop. I believe most of us found some of the world famous fudge to take home. There were lots of other temptations as well. As you can see, this was the carriage for the Grand Hotel. More on that later.
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Most of the horses were large work horses. They told us they were Belgiums, and added an interesting note that Clydesdale horses weren't big and strong enough to pull the loaded carriages up the steep hills. However, there were other fancy, high stepping horses that pulled smaller carriages as well. Perhaps these beautiful blacks belonged to one of the individuals who live on the island. We did learn that the only motorized vehicles on the island are emergency vehicles--ambulance, fire truck, etc.
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