"Okay... Moment's Over"

Yesterday was devoted to exploring the 80% of Mackinac Island that over 80% of the tourists who hop off the ferry never see.  According to both of our intriguing horse and buggy drivers/guides, the vast majority of people who come to the island come for a couple of hours and never leave the few block area consisting of the shops (many of which are adorable sprinkled along the ubiquitous t-shirt places) and, of course, fudge stops.  Not that this is an unpleasant snapshot of Mackinac: all along the harbor, this few block "downtown" is filled with shops and gorgeous flower beds, and there is not a car in sight (or, just as importantly, sound).  Yes, the pedestrians must look both ways before crossing as not to crash into a bike or horse drawn buggy (they even have a "taxi" station at the end of the street for a horse drawn taxi), but the prevailing mood is still relaxed.

Flowers adorn every block; some hang from baskets; others are in flower beds

The horse drawn carriages begin their day

I liked the shot of bicycle passing horse :)

Still, when you do stay at least the night and have those extra hours to walk just a half mile outside of that tourist area, you achieve something close to nirvana.  As we meandered through the neighborhood where the full-time residents live (noticeable both because it is inland, where it is decidedly less frigid during the months the island is surrounded by a frozen lake and because there are snow mobiles - the only mode of transportation with an engine owned by residents - in most side/back yards), the lake shore dotted with million dollar summer "cottages" and the quiet woods encompassing much of the National State Park (second to be designated only after Yellowstone), we fully understood why these drivers would bemoan someone coming to Mackinac Island only to sample fudge and take the next ferry back to the mainland.

One of only a handful of cemeteries (including Normandy, Pearl Harbor, and Arlington) to be allowed to always fly a flag at half mast in honor of the unknown soldiers buried there.

Arch Rock (or, as Jared put it, "did you get a photo of the rock with the hole in it?")

"Take a photo of yourselves in front of the rock.  Anybody can get a pic of Arch Rock on Google!!"

The view from Arch Rock

Tending to the fort

We felt about Mackinac Island much the same as we felt about Jackson Hole, Wyoming, when we first started this journey through America back in 2008.  In short, we fell instantly in love.  Chris, the gentleman who took us on the first leg of our tour was a middle aged husband and father from Memphis, Tennessee.  When he came to Mackinac a couple of summers ago to drive the horses, he immediately knew that he would have to relocate his family and become a permanent resident, which is what he is the process of doing.  Our second tour guide (who is the author of today's blog post title) was equally enchanted with the place, though he will relocate, likely to New Orleans, to drive horses (something "man is intended to do" - we've been quoting him for the past 24 hours, let me tell you :) during the winter months.

Listening to these two men talk about the pleasure they derive from introducing the island they love by navigating the horses they love (the teams of drivers and horses stay together summer after summer) through streets with no cars was enough to make each person on that buggy contemplate the notion of chucking it all and heading to Mackinac to live another life.  After we learned about the island, and, perhaps even more interesting, the workings of the island, we were able to commandeer our own private horse and buggy (let by Mabel and driven by Maddie and Daniel, with Dana and I as backseat passengers) around the part of the island we hadn't yet explored - a stretch of lake where those million dollar homes sit and the residential neighborhood I described earlier.

Maddie behind the reins - not such a problem to take your eyes off the road when no cars are on it!

Mabel :)

Harrisonville, the neighborhood for full-time residents, where it is not uncommon to see a horse hanging out in the yard. 

A few notes about the workings of the island:  There is a post office, but it has never delivered a single piece of mail.  Residents (both summer and yearlong) must stop by each day to pick up or drop off whatever mail they have.  There is a single k - 12 public school on the island (with a spectacular view, I might add) where one year the graduating class consisted of twins ("awkward prom," said Chris, driver #1 :)  - both were amateur comedians and philosophers).  The horses are all taken elsewhere during the winter months, to a gorgeous farm in Michigan.  They have very good lives, apparently, working only four hours a day and brushed down daily by the CEO of the company/family that has owned the business for over a hundred years.  The 75 year old patriarch greets all the drivers each morning by hosing down the path outside of the stable and wishing driver and horse a good day.  The employees, for both this stable and throughout the island, as all the hotels and inns but for one close during the winter, are given room and board during the summer months (both as a kindness and because employers don't want to have to worry about their help arriving late via ferry when they have customers to serve).  There is a burgeoning, but still very small, winter tourism industry for those who love to snow mobile, as the notion of tearing through forest paths and "city streets" covered with snow does sound like fun, I admit.

When we finally had to bid the island adieu and make our way to the 4:00 ferry, we were sad to say goodbye but certain we would be back for a longer visit.  Our waiter last night at Red Ginger, easily the best place we've been on the trip thus far and, according to Dana, the "best Asian food ever," vacationed each year with his entire family on Mackinac Island.  The governor of Michigan has a home there that may be used throughout the summer months.  Apparently this perk was open to others in the government as well, as our waiter's uncle was a senator with a cottage available to him and his family just around the bend from the Grand Hotel (made most famous as the setting in the film Somewhere in Time with Christopher Reeves and Jane Seymour).  Made, he assured us, for an amazing family reunion each year.

One view from the front porch (longest in the country) of The Grand

Rocking on famed porch - if you're not staying at The Grand, you must pay $10 each to tour the hotel

Another view from The Grand

The ceiling of the Grand Hotel is painted blue to discourage nesting by birds or bees

The UPS delivery is on its way!

The stables for the Grand Hotel - they have their own buggies

We made it to Traverse City by 7:30 and our "Wolf Lodge" (whimsical and charming but clearly more so for children younger than ours - we were given wolf ears upon check-in), where the kids slept in bunk beds in the "Wolf Den." Yes, it's ridiculous, but we decided to embrace the ridiculous for the day (this morning we will indulge in the onsite water park in the lobby!) and then to change our second night to a more apt accommodation, right on Front Street and overlooking Lake Michigan.

Charming downtown Traverse City

where all the shop windows are dressed up to honor the film festival - this one was my favorite

We may try to see a film tonight at the TCFF (Traverse City Film Festival, 11 years old and started by Flint's own Michael Moore, who now lives just outside of Traverse City in what is said to be a magnificent home). With a perspective on Robert Altman and premieres of The End of the Road (starring Jason Segal and Jesse Eisenberg), we are keeping our eyes open for any possible celebrity encounters (we were certain there were industry "people" at Red Ginger last night, but none we could name), though we will spend our day exploring the nearby Sleeping Bear Dunes, THE thing to do in these parts.

At each leg of our journey through Michigan we've all echoed the same sentiment - we must come back to this state to spend more time.  That's a pretty good way to feel on a vacation.  As Jared, our second (quotable) driver, kept reminding us - we must not worry about the past or the future and instead focus only on this one moment.  Until abruptly announcing, "Okay... Moment's Over."  :)  That's what a vacation such as this one feels like.  You stay just long enough to want to stay longer.