It’s unanimous! The whole family agreed that visiting this island in Lake Huron, Michigan (which is so big, it’s like an inland sea), was the highlight of our trip. I was inspired to visit here by reading a post on Mackinac Island by Kelle Hampton. Kelle visits on a family holiday each year and takes the most amazing photos. Well, what was so good about it? I think it was the combination of natural and manmade beauty, coupled with a great sense of freedom to ride with the wind in your hair without being troubled by a single car. Cars are outlawed on the island (and have been since 1898), so all transport (even of goods) is by bicycle or horse and cart.
There is an eight mile circuit road around the island which is incredibly fun to cycle. The weather was quite overcast and rainy on the days we visited, but even this did nothing to dampen our enjoyment. The girls and I completed two circuits, we loved it so much! There are also very intriguing roads going off through the heavily wooded interior of the island. The boys went off exploring here on a mission to find the skull cave in the afternoon. There is nothing quite like the freedom of riding a bike with the wind in your hair (something we’ve largely lost in Australia due to our draconian bicycle helmet laws). Heck, you don’t even need to wear a helmet to ride a motorcycle in the US!
The manmade beauty comes from the well laid out streets with some incredibly cutesy houses. Some of them are hotels and probably the most imposing of them all is the aptly named Grand Hotel, where we booked lunch as a package with our ferry tickets from Mackinaw City. Lunching at the Grand Hotel with its lavish interiors and sumptuous setting was well worth the price tag. We felt like we were in a Gatsbyish inspired movie. Even the kids were in awe of their surroundings and the food was fabulous! In case you were wondering, Conde Nast Traveler “Gold Lists” the hotel as one of the “Best Places to Stay in the Whole World”.
But wait there’s more! Being lovers of history, and war history in particular, the boys were excited to discover that there was not one, but two forts to visit after lunch, where you could even see cannon and rifle firings. Mackinac island was very strategically located for the North American fur trade and the British and Americans battled over it many times. The girls and I spurned the chance to visit the forts (much to the boys disgust), and went shopping instead in the very enticing little boutiques. Fudge is a big thing here, and I must say it was delicious!
I really wanted to stay in one of the old hotels on the island, but this proved too expensive or not practical for our family size. Instead we booked the very reasonably priced and centrally located Bicycle Inn and were glad we did. We had two nights on the island and were sad to leave this idyllic place to get back on the road again, however Niagara Falls was calling!