Mackinac Island

Our busy time has officially started! Jeff and I were able to go to Mackinaw/c this weekend without Adrian! Our first trip away without the little man and I did just fine. Until I saw the mom at the gas station hugging and kissing her kids goodbye as they left with Grandma. I broke down for a moment but I think that was more hormones that anything...I surprised myself with how well I did!
My camera really let me down on this trip so I got a bit discouraged and didn't take as many pictures as I should have. I think it's about time for a new one, Jeff mentioned Christmas.



Waiting to board our ferry to the island...I totally look like I just woke up.

We took our own bikes and I'm so glad we did. We were looking at prices when we got to Mackinac Island and realized that if we used our bikes for more than 2 hours it was much cheaper to pay to take them across on the fairy. I'm already thinking about taking the kids next summer...4 and under are free so it would totally be worth it. Plus, I'm sure Little A would love to see the horses!
I pretty much fell in love as soon  as we stepped off the boat, there were bikes and horse-drawn carriages everywhere. It feels like such a 'slow' area, no cars zipping around, everyone is just enjoying their vacation. We did see a few houses which I'm guessing were summer homes. I'm not sure whether I would want to stay there for an extended period of time when it's such a tourist island.

The street was so crowded when we first arrived, it must have been the busy time for arrivals so our first goal was to get out of the mess. We headed out spotting bellhops on bicycles and driving carriages. One guy was so loaded down with luggage it was amazing he was able to pedal his bike. We didn't have a plan so once we realized we were headed 'out of town' we looked at each other and asked what we should do first. It was a still early and we didn't have a little boy to worry about so we thought, what the heck, let's bike around the island! We didn't get far before parking our bikes to climb up to arch rock.

There was no one around to take our picture on this bench so I used self-timer and hoped that my camera wouldn't fall down the cliff. It's a little blurry.

We biked up to see skull cave. Just a note, when you head toward the center of the island, it's all uphill. It was a long 2 mile bike and by the time we got to the cave--not much to see now because it's starting to crumble--we decided to head back down and continue around the island rather than explore any further. I think we should train before coming again with kids. ;)
I wanted to get a picture of a horse drawn carriage and didn't realize until afterwards that it was a little weird that I would take a picture of this family too. As they passed, I heard the boy ask his dad why I was taking their picture...ha! I just wanted a picture of the horse! You can actually rent these horses and drive yourself around. That seemed a little bit crazy but all the horses seemed pretty well behaved except the one that was protesting and turning it's head so far to the side that I thought I was going to run into it when I rode by on my bike.

There were so many things I hadn't considered about an island with no motor vehicles. Like, how do the stores and restaurants get their packages? I learned the answer to that before I had the chance to wonder; we saw the UPS man.

We got back to town just in time for lunch, well, just in time to be hungry enough for lunch. It was probably past 2 by then but we weren't really watching the time.  I was surprised to see the restaurant prices were pretty comparable to those on the mainland, we had expected them to be much higher. After cooling down in the air conditioning we walked over to the park to take it easy in the shade. It turns out, a lot of other people had the same idea. Our weather was perfect, hot in the sun, and a little chilly in the shade. We laid in the grass marveling over how awesome it was to be able to sit and enjoy the shade without chasing after Adrian or worrying about his naptime, etc, etc.
We took it easy for the rest of the afternoon, wandering around the shops and contemplating going to the fort. We decided not to when we realized how much it was to get in. I would have liked to go but at the same time, it's nice to know that we still have plenty to see for the next time we go.