We explored the upper peninsula of Michigan over a long holiday weekend. The weather ended up being perfect for the two days we spent here. Mackinac Island, our main destination, was a short 30 minute ferry ride from Mackinac City, across Lake Huron. Mackinac Island is a world all it's own. There are no vehicles on the island, therefore you will find dozens of bicycles lining the main street, horse-drawn carriages, and people walking everywhere. The entire perimeter of the Island is 8.3 miles and offers a trail for bikers, and surprisingly, about 500 people reside on the island year round. Even though it is such a small island, there is so much to do, and everything is in the lower 20% of the island.
The ferry drops you off right in the downtown buzz. There are plenty of shops for souvenirs and, of course, fudge (this is a must-get item). There are so many different types of fudge, but all are extremely rich and delicious. Past the downtown area is Fort Mackinac, which was a former British and American military outpost. It has since been restored to its 1880's glory with 14 original buildings featuring exhibits on the history of medical care and life of the Victorian solider. Exiting out of the back of the Fort will lead you to scenic trails branching out all around the State Park. The trail we took was a gorgeous stroll through the quite forest, surrounded by yellow flowers. We hiked all the way to Arch Rock on the east side of the island before heading back to the downtown area via the shoreline trail.
My favorite place on the island was the Butterfly House. It houses hundreds of live butterflies from four continents, all in an interactive garden. Once you walk through the doors, you are in another world. Magnificently colored butterflies are flying all around you; I even got to hold one. Needless to say, we stayed here for a while.
The Grand Hotel is located on the western side of the island, and offer a nice view of the Mackinac Bridge. The hotel is truly extravagant with extravagant people entering and exiting. It reminded me of the Grand Budapest Hotel or Jay Gatsby's mansion. We walked down to the shoreline near the hotel to watch the Mackinac fireworks for the 4th of July celebration. The fireworks were stunning and ejected from a boat out on Lake Huron. Even though they were over an hour late and we had been freezing since the sun went down, it was worth the wait. After the firework show, around 10:45pm, we rushed downtown to catch the last ferry of the night, which we thought was at 11pm. But unfortunately we misread the schedule and there wasn't another ferry until midnight. So we waited. The ferry ride back to the mainland was silent, besides a snore or two.
