Grand Hotel. Photo by Richard Varr
The dreamy 1980 movie Somewhere in Time with Christopher Reeve and Jane Seymour is how I first heard about Mackinac Island, Michigan – one of the Midwest’s most popular resort destinations – and its 1887 Grand Hotel, built during the Gilded Age. It’s the perfect stage for the late 19th century setting where the movie’s characters connect through time travel. The Grand Hotel helps set the tone of yesteryear with its traditional rocking chairs lining the 660-foot-long porch.
The Grand Hotel lobby. Photo by Richard Varr
Grand Hotel. Photo by Richard Varr
Grand Hotel’s porch. Photo by Richard Varr
Horses and carriage. Photo by Richard Varr
Hopping a ferry from Mackinaw City, I arrive in the busy port flanking Huron Street, the island’s quaint but bustling store-fronted main drag. It’s cluttered with bicyclists and echoing with the clip-clop of horse hooves only – that’s because automobiles have been banned here since 1898. Bicycle rental and fudge shops with their deep-chocolaty treats dominate every block it seems, providing some of the island’s favorite pastimes.
Grand Hotel. Photo by Richard Varr
Circling the island. Photo by Richard Varr
Although horse-driven carriages will take you to some of the same locations and sights, I opt to rent a bicycle and pedal along curvy roads and paths circling the island and cutting through forested bluffs. I stop in a few churches and museums on Market and Main streets, but many interesting sights are inland.
Sugar Loaf Rock. Photo by Richard Varr
Unusual stone formations pierce the tree line: Arch Rock, a bridge-like span of eroded breccias carved out of a hillside 146 feet above Lake Michigan’s shoreline; and Sugar Loaf Rock, another breccias mass shooting up 75 feet. The best views of the 2,318-acre island can be seen from nearby Point Lookout and the hilltop site of Fort Holmes.
Fort Mackinac. Photo by Richard Varr
View from Fort Mackinac. Photo by Richard Varr
Fort Mackinac along the waterfront, built by the British in 1780 but falling to the Americans after the Revolutionary War, has interactive displays and period furnishings filling 14 original buildings, while reenactments and gun and cannon firings reverberate within the stone ramparts.
Grand Hotel, view from the porch. Photo by Richard Varr
Mackinac Bridge. Photo by Richard Varr
In the evening, my favorite pastime is sitting on the Grand Hotel’s elongated porch – possibly the world’s longest – and looking out to the water’s edge as the sun sets, with views of the expansive Mackinac Bridge connecting the mainland with Michigan’s Upper Peninsula.
Photo by Richard Varr
For More Information:
www.mackinacisland.org
www.grandhotel.com
Advertisements Like this:Like Loading...
