We are in Michigan, about an hour south of the ferry. We have most of the day Thursday to kill.
What should we try to do? I can’t do much standing in lines, and if we do much walking it will need to be somewhere with places to sit every so often.
My wife and I visited Mackinac Island way back in 1996. Spent three or four hours there. We had lunch at the Victorian Grand Hotel, which was really nice. And then we walked around and visited some of the shops and fudge stores (which was not really my thing but my wife seemed to enjoy it).
The island is pretty small (8 miles around) and the “downtown” area is only a few blocks long. The main strip is mostly restaurants and souvenir and fudge shops. Biking and hiking around and seeing the natural formations are the main activities. But there are a few things you can do that are not too strenuous:
- Take a horse-drawn carriage tour around the island. That will take you to many of the popular spots such as Arch Rock
- Tour Fort Michlimackinac (at the top of the hill). They do reenactments every afternoon, which can be fun to watch
- There are a couple of small historical museums on the main street that discuss the history of the island, the Indians, the French traders, the Grand Hotel, etc.
- The butterfly house one block over from the water
- Visit the Grand Hotel and their grounds. That’s worth doing, but there’s a $15 entry fee.
- If you are up for it, biking around the island is a popular activity.
It’s a lovely place to visit. Have a great time!
This is what I was going to recommend. I’ve biked and hiked all over the island pre-kids, and seen on my own pretty much all the historical sites to see (of which there are plenty on the island). But when our kids were small, we opted for the horse-drawn carriage tour and it was really interesting-- the guide told us things I hadn’t known, and I had thought I already knew everything there was about the island.
Visit the patio bar at The Pink Pony located in the Chippewa Hotel. It overlooks the water, boat marina.
If you get up the hill to the fort it’s a great place to watch the freighters and views of the bridge.
Take a Scenic drive go about 25 mi west of St Ignace on US2 to the Cut River bridge. Park and view the gorge slicing through to the lake. US 2 Goes right along Lake Michigan. Plenty of places to stop dip the toes.
Love the UP! Flies are bad this year maybe not so much MIsland though.
@Qadgop_the_Mercotan since he lives in Michigan.
He lives on Lake Michigan, yes. But not in Michigan.
How much fudge does one island need?
For better or worse, there is an association with fudge and Mackinac Island. Not sure why, or the history behind it.
I recall it being somewhat pretentious and touristy. I have no desire to go back. YMMV, of course.
Looking at a map, (the much larger) Bois Blanc Island to the SE of Mackinac Island seems more interesting to me. Yet I’ve never heard of anyone visiting it.
It’s the old joke: “All they have are horses. All they sell is fudge”.
True Dat.
But I have enjoyed my visits to Mackinac Island and adjacent UP areas, and recommend biking around the island with your sweetie on a tandem bike (let hubby do the work), visiting the butterfly conservatory and the forts (there are two on the island), watching the fudge being made, and indulging in the many, many cuisines available. And even though the Grand Hotel charges for strolling on their porch, it’s still worth it if you’ve not done it before.
Bois Blanc island (Bob Lo to the locals in the know) is interesting if you want to get away from everyone. But you’ll need to bring your gear for that. Not much in the way of services there.
Or go to Saulte Ste. Marie and watch the big ore boats pass thru the locks, visit the Valley Camp (ore boat converted into a museum), and get some planked whitefish at a local restaurant.
For several years, my wife and I, along with a couple of other couples, would spend a week on Bois Blanc (Bob-Lo). It’s great, and pretty much the opposite of Mackinac. Very quiet, not many people (the year-round population is around 70), only two restaurants. Most of the time I was there I just sat by the lake and read, swam, and kayaked. A couple trips to the tavern (the house we rented was a five minute walk). Just super relaxing. Not at all touristy. For some reason we got dropped from the group after COVID. I miss those trips.
Oh gosh thinking of Bois Blanc and was reminded of an awesome kite shop (plus toys all ages) Great Turtle Toys on Mackinac Island. I hope it’s still open. Long time owner passed away this month last year. June is his partners name she ran the store. They lived on Bois Blanc year round!
As do residents of Mackinac. Commuting to the mainland by ferry then snow machine or plane. Yow.
I’m still in the Bois Blanc Facebook group, so I’ve kept up with island business. They haven’t been able to make an ice road for several years. Once the ferry stops running (and there’s only one that services BBI), it’s plane or nothing. Wintering on those islands is no joke.
I have a love-hate relationship with Mackinac Island. There’s the schlocky tourist crap that’s the main town, and there’s the history, and there’s the nature. As a Michigander I’ve had way too many opportunities to go to Mackinac Island, and it sometimes makes me bitter. It’s much, much better than our shitty town of Frankenmuth, though.
For a day trip, especially if you’ve never been there before, you can have a lot of enjoyment.
In general: There are no cars on the island. You will walk, ride a horse, ride a carriage, ride a bicycle, or ride and ambulance to get around.
The Town: “Mackinac Island fudge” is a big thing there. I’m not really sure what distinguishes it from similar confectionaries in every other tourist city I’ve been in all over the United States, but, whatever. Pay your $12 per pound and enjoy it. You’ll walk it off. Restaurants are randomly good or bad, as tourist restaurants that don’t expect steady patronage are. Bicycle rentals will give you substandard pieces of junk if you’re a serious cyclist, but are serviceable if you don’t give a crap. It’s a charming town that’s beautiful to behold, but full of tourist shops. Worth it to walk through, of course, and if you enjoy consumerist consumption will find plenty of things to waste money on.
History: There’s Fort Mackinac, English Landing, etc., etc. If you appreciate English/French/American/Canadian history, don’t miss the Fort, and don’t sleep on going to the other historical points of the Island. This is where William Beaumont’s famous gunshot victim started their mutual fame. The consumerist crap sucks, but I love visiting the Fort and the Boy Scout Barracks and all of the historic stuff every, single time I visit. Might not be your cup of tea, of course.
Nature: No cars… that’s nice. You’re in the Straits of Mackinac. Jump into the water. You might find it cold at first, but it’s not bad if you get used to it, and it won’t kill you. It doesn’t feel like jumping into someone’s toilet, and that’s great. There are multiple, interesting limestone formations on the ring road and in the interior. The woods are truly beautiful. A bicycle is recommended (your own, if feasible, but a rental as a last resort is okay).
Other: The Grand Hotel. I don’t include this as part of town because it’s really just outside of it. You can pay to visit the grounds, or enter free from the ring road near the school to get to the greenhouses, and go to the pool, croquet grounds, and you’re in free. I suggest paying, though, so that you can go inside the hotel, which is an historical marvel. If you can afford to actually stay there, then, really, it’s worth a night or two. It’s real luxury. It’s the most luxurious place I’ve ever stayed, in fact, and I’ve been in five star hotels all over the world. It’s like the Overlook Hotel 80 years before it claimed Jack’s soul, and I mean that in a good way.
I realize that I opened this with “love-hate” and have mostly expressed love. Yeah, I’m bored with the town and the fudge and the tourist garbage, but the rest of it, if you give it a chance, is incredibly awesome. The aforementioned Frankenmuth still sucks, though.
Enjoy!
It’s become a bit of a yawn for me as well, but I would definitely recommend it to one who has not been before.
I would recommend Fort Mackinac, as other have, but it is a not-short uphill climb to get there. Good to know: there is a little tram that runs up and down the ramps constantly and will shuttle you if necessary (I hopped on it one visit when my back was acting up).
Wait, do they really call it Boblo? For those who are unaware, there is a Bois Blanc Island in Michigan, near Mackinac Island, and another in Ontario (in the Detroit River). The Ontario Bois Blanc was home to Boblo Amusement Park, which closed in the early 1990s.
I did not know that the Michigan BB is referred to as Boblo.
mmm
Lots of info about Bois Blanc (Boblo) island can be found in that link. Boblo is the english corruption of the french name, which means ‘white woods’ for the white birch there.
“Bois Blanc—or “Boblo” as it is known by locals—is Mackinac Island’s much larger neighbor to the east. In fact, it’s the largest island in the Straits of Mackinac”
My husband and I along with my two sisters and their husbands spent a long weekend there back in the 90s. I loved it. We went horseback riding, took a sight-seeing carriage ride, looked around at the shops and museums, the hotel we stayed in was an old Victorian building and the rooms reflected that, and we toured the Grand Hotel. One of my favorite movies was/is Somewhere in Time with Christopher Reeve and Jane Seymour. It was filmed on Mackinac Island and in the Grand Hotel. One of favorite parts of the tour was when we turned a corner and there was a painting of Elise (Jane Seymour). The portrait played a part in the movie.
I was there with my family 2 years ago. Had a fine time the one day we visited, and saw no need to spend another day there. @Toxgoddess had a great list, which is pretty much everything we did in the 6-7 hours we were there. Be prepared to spend money.