Trains, planes, automobiles... and carriages?

I think we covered practically all forms of transportation on our vacation trip this week with Zachary's grandma and friends J & S to Mackinac Island: car, plane (both jet and semi-scary turblence-battered turbo prop), airport rail, van, ferry, bicycles (tandem, no less), pedestrian, and horse-drawn carriage.

Background: Growing up, my family used to take summer vacation trips up to Mackinac every couple of years. The island is situated between Michigan's two peninsulas in Lake Huron, and is known (well, at least in Michigan - most folks elsewhere that I've mentioned it to give me blank looks) for roughly four things:

1. All automobile traffic is banned (how's that for irony in the car capital of the US?) - the island is completely traversed by horses and bicycles. Zachary had his first horse rides, and occasionally looked with interest at the large horses as they trotted past. (The island even has rentals of horses and horse-drawn buggies, though we passed on that particular pasttime this trip.) We of course got lots of stroller time as well in Zachary's new compact umbrella stroller on the excellent footpaths throughout the town and surrounding state park. Meanwhile, Meh and I took a lovely (or as Meh would describe it, death-defying?) tandem bicycle ride around the 8.3 mile island with friends J & S.


2. Mackinac Island fudge. For some inexplicable reason, about the time that the island became a tourist destination, it was decided that fudge was a good tourist draw. This led to a precursor to the Starbucks phenomenon, where the six fudge shop chains occupy like thirty storefronts along the main street, often directly across the street from each other. But it's darn good fudge, and you of course get to watch them make the various flavors daily on large marble slabs. We of course ended up bringing home several pounds, some of which we hope to transform back into Mackinac Island fudge ice cream (one of the tastiest uses for it).


3. The Grand Hotel. A massive and impressive 120-year-old hotel with the world's longest porch (660 feet). Also apparently the only 5-star hotel in the world without valet parking. We spent one rainy evening here enjoying their lovely dinner service (the font and formatting of the menu remain intact from my last childhood visit), enjoying listening to the after-dinner harpist in the lobby, and walking through the hotel's halls to see pictures of its history (including visits from 5 sitting presidents no less). One nice thing about the hotel is that jacket and tie are required in the evening, so even Zachary got dressed up for the occasion. And my, that was the fanciest faux-wood infant high chair that I'd seen.
   


4. It's the setting for the 'unabashedly romantic' (that's Netflix description, which became our running gag throughout the trip) film Somewhere in Time. That alone would be well and good if it wasn't hammered home by every storefront (many sold a variety of film-themed tchochkes, books, and even 'officially licensed' jewelry; one particularly groan-inducing moment was seeing a clothing store subtitle itself 'Somewear in Time'; another was a store that had stencilled lettering announcing that it was through this particular pane of glass that Christopher Reeve was filmed for one scene), map of the island (highlighting the various locations where the film was shot), and even this placard placed where they shot a scene of the film. Our own resort (previously the island's college) was used for a few other scenes, though they thankfully didn't loudly advertise that fact.

The flights were for the most part great, minus the aforementioned rough ascent on the second plane. Zachary was again interested in playing with the in-seat inserts (these were thankfully laminated, so it wasn't quite as bad to see him continually trying to put them in his mouth). We had another first once we landed (at the cute and way-fancy regional airport that hosted a total of two gates): the shuttle booked to take us over to the ferries had installed the car seat facing forward, and it looked like backwards was going to be a bit too challenging to attempt. Zachary loved facing forward, screeching and clenching his fists in happiness the whole drive. He also *loved* the ferry ride over, smiling and giggling the whole time.


On the island, the weather wasn't entirely cooperative (not pictured here :), with rain washing out much of the first full day. Thankfully, that didn't really stop us from taking a nice morning walk around the island, meeting up with J & S for a cozy lunch (followed by fudge of course), and enjoying the aforementioned Grand Hotel dinner -- arriving in style by horse taxi of course. The second day, we had some glorious weather, and got to explore more of the island, including the Michigan governor's summer home and some of the other incredible residences. (All things considered, the prices weren't that insane - or are we just totally impervious to reason with the crazy housing market in Seattle?) We also enjoyed the resort we were staying at - Meh, J, & S took advantage of some of the massage services (grandma and I played with/strolled with Zachary during these), and we all had a lovely tea served by an unlikely candidate (a college student who was the water server at the fancy restaurant at the resort).

Mackinac was much as I remembered it, though there are of course slight changes - an internet cafe on the main street, and a big to-do last year with the opening of a Starbucks downtown. (The sign is totally hidden under awnings, so you wouldn't even know it was there from the street.) The prices are all going up as well; the cost to visit the Grand Hotel if you're not a guest (and aren't going for one of their meals) is up to a whopping $15. (I think maybe it was $4 when I was there last time?) But all in all, it was wonderful to be able to introduce Zachary, Meh, and J & S to one of my favorite childhood vacations, and it was great to be able to share the time there with Zachary's grandma as well.