Mackinac Island

We went to bed with rain, it rained all night and we woke up to a light rain this morning.   We waited around a little while until about 9:00 AM and the rain had slowed to a light shower.

We walked up to the campground office to get the free shuttle to the ferry docks and while we were there I bought a small umbrella, just in case the rain continued. Fortunately,  we had very limited rain on the island and I only had to use my new umbrella very briefly a couple of times.

The shuttle arrived promptly and dropped us off at the dock.  We sat and visited with another couple until it was time for the 10:00 AM ferry to the island.

Once we were on the island we walked down the street until we got to the Pink Pony.  It is an iconic restaurant that started as a small cafe in 1902 and moved to the waterfront as "The Pink Pony" in 1948.  It is a very popular restaurant and has been voted as one of the Top Ten best restaurants for outdoor dining in the United States.   It was a little before their opening time but we we able to put our name on the list to be seated as soon they opened.  Of course,  we ordered their signature drink a Rum Runner.  At the waiters suggestion we both ordered the prime rib dip sandwich and they were delicious. 

After lunch, we made our way down the street past the countless fudge shops and bought our tickets for a narrated carriage ride around the island.  

One of the stops on our carriage tour was at Arch Rock.  It is a beautiful formation and looking through the arch you have a good view of Lake Huron.

At the end of our tour we were dropped off at the Grand Hotel.  I had heard how beautiful it is and had read recommendations to sit on their beautiful covered patio and have a drink.  However,  we discovered it costs $14 per person just to walk through the door to see anything and even to have the privilege of spending money to buy a drink.  That was BIG NO for us!  

From the hotel we walked back to town to buy some fudge before returning to camp.  I did a Google search for which store had the best fudge.  It came down to Murdick's who has been a fixture on the island since 1887 and JoAnn's who is rated better.  The deciding factor for us came down to the fact that Murdick's is a little stingy with their samples and only offered one flavor for tasting.  Joann's on the other hand let you sample as many flavors as you like and offered good sized samples.  We bought four pieces of fudge from Joan's.

We took the ferry back to St. Ignace and our campground.  Other than looking for Bill's lost glasses we spent a quiet evening at home.  We heated up some soup and made tacos with the leftovers from a few days ago, and spent the rest of the night reading and catching up on this travel blog.

Tomorrow we head up to explore the U.P. or Upper Peninsula of Michigan.