Mackinac Island
A horse-drawn trailer passes in front of The Haunted Theater on Main Street.
We visited Mackinac Island yesterday, our main goal for this stop. First, for those that don’t know, the city of Mackinac Island outlawed motor vehicles in 1898, therefore the only transportation is by bicycle or horse (they make an exception for snowmobiles). I’ve long been fascinated by what a town without cars would be like and was really looking forward to seeing it. The peaceful feeling of being in a place without cars and trucks was probably the best part of the trip. It was nice crossing a street without the concern of being run over by a car.
We didn't take one, but there are plenty of horse-drawn taxis on offer; this is their dispatch office.
There are several different ways to get to the island, we used Shepler’s ferry. The one we took included the Mighty Mac Departure, which included a detour under the Mackinaw Bridge (only select departure times include the detour). Going underneath the bridge really showed off an elegance to its construction. We were concerned Barnie wouldn’t do well on the ferry, so we decided to board him for the day. The water was a touch rough, so it was a good call.
A Shepler's ferry departs Mackinac Island.
Unfortunately, we picked a cloudy, slightly rainy day to visit the island. The good news is that didn’t damper our good time. After disembarking, we walked the main street in downtown for a bit. We took some lighthouse photos (that’s starting to become a trend for us in Michigan (and once in Ohio)) and checked out a few shops while we waited for our place of choice for lunch to open. We visited a nice bookstore called The Island Bookstore. We bought several books, including some about the island and the Great Lakes.
The Round Island Lighthouse, taken from aboard a Shepler's ferry
Lunch was Mary’s Bistro Draught House. We had an appetizer of smoked whitefish dip that was really good. For entrees, I had a lamb burger and LeeAnn had chicken soup. I loved my lamb burger, and LeeAnn reports the same for her soup. I could see it had a lot of large, tender looking chunks of chicken in it. They also had a really good draft beer selection. While we were there, it rained fairly hard. We were pretty much alone in the bar area, then all of sudden, several large groups came in. That’s when we noticed it was raining for real. We’re glad we were inside and stayed dry.
Horses working to deliver luggage to a hotel along highway M185
After lunch, we checked out a few more shops, then walked along highway M185 for a bit. It’s the only state highway in America that doesn’t allow motor traffic. It feels like a different time and place when the only traffic are bikes and horses. Some horses pull trailers full of goods. Lumber, stock for the grocery store, and Amazon packages were among all delivered by horse and trailer. We also saw lots of bicycle porters transporting luggage and items among the businesses.
Our destination along M185 was The Original Mackinac Island Butterfly House and Insect World, an indoor butterfly garden. We often wind up at butterfly gardens. This one is small, but it housed plenty of cool looking and interesting butterflies.
Finally, since fudge is their big thing, we stopped in a fudge place before we returning on the ferry. It was a great day, and we’d be happy to visit again for longer.
