Escape to Mackinac Island

For an early Mother's Day gift, we decided to drive up to Mackinac Island (pronounced "Mack-in-awe" for all those non-Michiganders)! This was at the top of our "things to do before we left Michigan" list. Mackinac Island is usually fairly closed-up until it starts to get warm (which is usually around the beginning of May), so we were a bit nervous about how the weather would be, but we couldn't have asked for a more perfect May day!

We left as soon as Matt got home from work on Thursday afternoon. We drove the 3.5 hours to Mackinaw City. We stopped for dinner, and then we drove across the Mackinac Bridge! This bridge is huge! Unfortunately, it was a bit foggy going across the bridge, so there wasn't much of a view. We could barely make out the shape of Mackinac Island as we drove by. But we officially visited the Upper Peninsula! Yay! We turned right back around and went back over the bridge to find our hotel in Mackinac City.

We unpacked in our suite (yay for cheap upgrades!) and changed into our swimming suits and went to the indoor water park! The girls LOVED it!

The next morning, we woke up early, went next door to get breakfast, and then we walked across the street to buy tickets for the Star Line Ferry to go to the island.

We were one of the first groups to board the triple-decker ferry, and of course Ashleigh wanted to sit on the top level. I'm so glad she chose to sit there because we got a great view of the water spewing up from our "hydro-jet"  ferry.

The girls were both really excited about riding on the ferry. (Matt and I were, too!)

As the ferry picked up speed, it definitely got a bit windy!

We also got an AMAZING view of the Mackinac Bridge. Our ferry took us directly underneath the bridge! (The ferry only does this two times a day, so I'm glad we caught the one that did go under the bridge.) It was amazing!

We finally arrived at Mackinac Island!

Fudge! (Mackinac Island is famous for its fudge... there are 16 fudge shops on the island, and fresh fudge is made each day. It is a secret recipe that originates from the island. (Of course we had to buy some!)

There are no public motorized vehicles on the island. Basically, there are only bicycles and horse drawn carriages. That's about it! It felt like we were stepping back into time.

We took a carriage ride around the island to see some of the sights. I was a little worried that the girls would be bored on the 1.5 hour ride, but Ashleigh loved it and Miriam ended up falling asleep. Perfection!

 

The first stop was the Grand Hotel.

We rode through the State Forest.

Our next stop was Arch Rock.

                  Our final stop was at Fort Mackinac. We got off the carriage and toured the fort. 

We walked down the hill back to town.  We stopped to look at the chapel.

We explored a few shops. The girls wanted to try rock candy. They loved it! (Of course they did, it's pure sugar!)

We finished up the day by playing on the playground and running around in the park right near the water. It was absolutely beautiful!

Then it was time to walk back to the docks and catch the ferry back to the Lower Peninsula. The girls once again wanted to sit on the top level, but this time the wind was much stronger and it was COLD! We were very thankful we had our jackets with us! Both girls fell asleep within minutes of the ferry leaving the dock.

                                            Bye Mackinac! Thanks for an awesome day!