We got out the door really late, around noon or something. Plus there was TONS of construction and traffic jams (four of them) on the way up to Mackinaw City, so Friday was really tedious. Oh, it was my birthday, so I turned 22. Oh yeah, I also went to lunch at the Real Seafood Company in Ann Arbor on Main street, because they have a really sweet B-day deal where you get your meal for free and a dessert. So I went with Tashia and had some good seafood for about $13 for the both of us. I had soup, salad, coleslaw, really good scallops, and hash browns. Shia had some Fish and Chips.
Here's the place we ate - Shia ordered the chicken special,
and they brought out some friend chicken. Here she's ashamed of herself
having fried chicken as the only black person in the restaurant.
Here's what I had, I don't remember what kind of fish it was,
but it was tasty.
Then we got up to Mackinaw City, which really is a small
place. Much smaller than I thought it would be. Things are really
weird up in Northern Michigan, it's like full civilization with cities and all
hasn't really gotten up there yet. Regardless, this was a new mall they
were talking about in town, so we went there for the laser light show since it
was already so late that night.
After running around the tourist shops and playing some DDR at
an arcade, we went to the main stage area and sat on the grass to watch the
show. Here's mom and Tommy.
Some pictures of the light show
Then we went back to our hotel and prepared for the big
day. So morning came and we were greeted with lots and lots of
clouds. Then rain.
It was raining already when we got to Shepler's Ferry to head
to the island. Here's Shia on the bottom indoor deck
Lots of other boats/yachts/sailboats in the marina. I'm
very jealous and with one of them was mine.
Here's Tommy with the Mackinaw Bridge. It's pretty long,
I don't remember exactly.. but a few miles
The ferry dock once we got on the island. Real wet and
cold. They expected it to be like this all day.
We took a horse-drawn carriage tour around the place. No
cars/motorcycles allowed on the island, just horses and bikes. All the
hotels on the island were booked solid. It was the last weekend of the
summer peak season.
Shia along the street. See the bike rental on the
right? Also, a fudge shop is on the left across the street. There
were lots of fudge shops all over the island.
A view down Main Street in the carriage. Horses
smell. Wet horse.
The Post Office. Isn't it quaint?
The Parking Lot for the Grand Hotel. Funny, huh?
Bikes are treated as cars on the island, and so bicycle theft is the number one
crime.
After a while, we stopped at a station to transfer to a bigger
carriage. Did the whole tourist thing again. They had a bunch of old
carriages used before on the island in the place, and I contemplated buying some
fudge. Anyhow, we hopped on the next carriage and headed to Arch Rock
It's a long way down
There's a highway that runs around the perimeter of the
island. I remember the last time I was at the island we biked all the way
around. Pretty. Still really cold and rainy though. At first,
Mom and Tashia didn't even want to get off the carriage.
Here's our new big carriage. Those are really big
horses.
Then we walked back to the Grand Hotel, and decided to go
inside. It costs $10 per person just to get on the grounds and walk around
the place. Nice hotel. Here's the front desk.
A classic carriage just sitting in the hallway. Oh, it's
a big hotel. I saw this near the kids play room. It danced and
sang. Hilarious.
The reading room on the second floor. I believe they
also served drinks in here too, and there was a Tv.
Shia on one of the funny chairs they had around the place
Looking down the hallway on the second floor toward the guest
suites. Every room in the hotel is unique, which is why prices start at
$400/night.
A nice chandelier, heading in the other direction to check out
the buffet
Nice dining room. This is one of the side rooms where
they served lunch.
We went out to the deck to take a look at the view before
deciding whether or not we wanted to go in and pay them $30/person more just to
have lunch at the buffet. Here's Tommy looking down one end of the
deck. It's HUGE!
Yup, we went for it. That's a total of $40/person for
lunch. Here's what a $40 lunch looks like for the first course... heheh
Some sort of food that was made into a sculpture
This is a watermelon. They also had an ice sculpture, I
think, but I don't remember exactly.
Some tables in the back on the way to the restrooms - very
nice restrooms, by the way
After we stuffed ourselves, we went up to the top floor where
they had a nice lookout. Here's another small island just off of
Mackinaw. If you look closely, you can see the lower peninsula of Michigan
on the right in the distance. Below are the gardens of the Grand Hotel, we
went there next.
Looking a little further down
Here's a big ship model they had sitting around the hallway
Tommy wanted this picture
Mom and me taking a break on some more funny chairs
Then we all went out to the main deck again and sat around in
the chairs. Here's Tommy relaxing in his. Rocking chairs, too.
Mom and Tommy pulled their chairs up to the edge and talked a
bit
Here's Tommy. That's the front entrance of the Grand
Hotel on the right.
Here's a better view of the entrance
