Traveling through Michigan

After a wonderful week at "The Ark", we turned the coach west and headed for Michigan. It only took $67.00 in tolls to get out of New York state! With those fees, you'd think the roads would be in great shape - NOT! I had to go hide in my soft nest on the bed to keep my teeth from chattering.

After one night in Ohio, we stopped in Frankenmuth, MI (just south of Saginaw). My humans tried to do some window shopping and see some of the quaint German town, however a big thunderstorm came up so they settled for going to the Bavarian Village Inn for dinner. So many choices, all the wonderful German dishes, and all you can eat fried chicken, not to mention the desserts, yum, yum.

Next stop was Mackinaw City. They took a boat out to Mackinac Island to tour the Island and Fort Mackinac. The Fort was very interesting, and the guides were dressed in period costumes. They also did several re-enactments during the day which were very interesting and informative. There was a court martial, rifle and cannon firing, music and dancing. No cars are allowed on the island. The only way to get around is walking, bicycling, or by horse drawn carriage. Arriving passengers who are staying over at one of the hotels on the island are met by bell boys with bicycles or horse carts who take their luggage for them. Deliveries for the stores and restaurants are made by horse drawn wagons. After returning from the island, they visited Colonia Michilimackinac which was the location of the original fort and the Point Mackinac Lighthouse.

View from Fort Mackinac

View of Fort Mackinac from the harbor

Two of the wonderful tour guides at Ft. Mackinac

The famous Mackinac Bridge which spans the two peninsulas of Michigan, is five miles long, and is the world's longest total suspension bridge. There is 42,000 miles of wire in the main cables. As we drove north across the bridge, Lake Huron was on our right, and Lake Michigan was on our left. The scenery along Lake Michigan on the upper peninsula was very beautiful, and made for a pleasant drive as we headed for Wisconsin.

You may have noticed that I've used two different spellings for Mackinaw.......one is English, the other French. They are pronunced the same, but are not interchaneable. It would be incorrect to write Mackinac City or Mackinaw Island??? Very confusing for a little kitty.


Horses and bicycles on the mail street.

Island style taxi

Mackinac Point Lighthouse