We had an awesome day today. It was a little cool in the morning for the ferry ride over, but shortly after arriving it started getting better and better. We walked around the town and up to the Grand Hotel. Turns out the island is Loaded with lilacs and actually has a lilac festival. I have never seen so many gorgeous lilacs in bloom, to say nothing of the variety of colors. I was seriously in lilac heaven! The Grand Hotel is magnificent! You have to pay to wander around it, but then that is a credit towards lunch so we did the buffet. With window seats overlooking the harbor and a buffet that would knock your socks off, it made for a memorable island experience. Of course, after eating the buffet we had to walk off some of that excess. Later we took a carriage tour to learn more about the island and see some of the places too far for us to walk to. We had two great guides and it was interesting to learn about the incredible history of the island. No automobiles allowed on the entire island so EVERYTHING arrives by boat and gets delivered by horse and carriage. We cannot fathom how the hotel manages to bring in all the supplies to say nothing of the shops and residents of the island. The hotel alone has over 700 employees! The churches on the island are truly magnificent and when you see when they were built it is hard to fathom how it was done. If you ever get the chance you really need to include the island on your itinerary. This was definitely the time of year to go, not just because it's early season, but because all the lilacs are in bloom. We tried to imagine it in another month and all we could do is shutter. However, I'm sure all the gardens will be blooming and magnificent to replace the lilacs.
 |
| Our Ferry trip took a detour under the Mackinac bridge |
 |
| Arriving at Mackinac Island |
 |
| The village is old and quaint and I'm sure that by next month this street will be wall to wall people. No automobiles, but bicycles and horse drawn wagons are the mode of transportation. |
 |
| Inside the Little Stone Church |
 |
| The Grand Hotel |
h
 |
| I have never seen lilacs like this. So lovely. |
 |
| Arch Rock |
 |
| Lady Slippers |
 |
| Yup, that's the UPS Guy delivery packages on the island! We were impressed. |
 |
| So, how do you get luggage to your hotel if you don't have a horse and wagon available??? I think this guy was a little optimistic. |
 |
| Last view of the lighthouse. |
 |
| Our last view of the Grand Hotel as we head for "home". |
No comments:
Post a Comment