Menomonie to Green Bay to St. Ignace to Mackinaw City to Mackinac Island!
1 Molly
2 states
7 passengers
18 hours
982.5 miles
= a great weekend vacation!
I know you all may be feeling a bit neglected, but I promise I didn’t forget about you! My title pretty much wraps it all up – we have just been in hibernation.
Until this last weekend that is. Let me start from the beginning so you know what brought my whole family all the way up to Mackinac Island, Michigan.
I had a student employee named Molly who graduated in May. Over the summer she took a position on the island to work for the Grand Hotel at one of their bar/grills the Gate House. This would be a fun summer experience before she started her master’s program in the fall. As soon as she told me where she was headed for the summer I wanted to take a trip there and visit her. So that is exactly what my family did.
Friday, July 22, 2011
4:00 I got off work and headed straight home to get changed and all last minute things packed before my parents came to pick Chad and I up.
4:30 We hear the honk of our rental van outside – time to go! I know what you are thinking – a rental van? Yep and let me tell you why: there were 6 adults and one child going on this vacation (Bud & Susan, Travis, Jill and Cambell, Chad & I). With the rental van, we had a bit more leg room and a lot more luggage space! Plus, there were air vents for each row (much like an air plane!) But, the best of all was it had a built in dvd player. Of course this was Cambell’s favorite part, I don’t even know how many times we watched ‘Memo’ (Finding Nemo).
We drove as far as Wausau before having dinner at Applebee’s. Then on to our first hotel in Green Bay. This hotel was great because it had adjoining rooms with my parents so Cambell could run between the two rooms all evening. And the continental breakfast was amazing! I love being able to make my own waffle!
Saturday, July 23, 2011
9:00 Van was loaded and we were ready to make our way out of Wisconsin and onto the Great Lakes area Michigan. A couple hours south of our next point of interest near Escanaba, MI we saw a ton of vehicles pulled off to the side of the road enjoying a day at the beach. We thought it looked like such a great experience, we decided to pull off and hang out on the beach for a bit too! The water was amazing, if I lived there, I would plan a beach day all the time. Great way to beat the heat. Once we were successfully full of sand, we were off again to St. Ignace.
When we got into town, we started seeing sign after sign advertising Pasties (pass-tees). I decided I must try one. We pulled off into Bessie’s to check them out. A pastie is a pie crust pocket full off vegetable beef soup! They are amazing and served with brown gravy and coleslaw! We loved them and come to find out my sister has a friend that makes them. So we are going to get the recipe and try them at home. I guess they freeze well so we will be able to enjoy a good pastie year round!
Our next agenda item to check off was seeing the third longest suspension bridge in the world. This bridge connects St. Ignace to Mackinaw City (Mack City). It’s a 4 lane bridge that is just over 5 miles long. The bridge has been featured in several documentaries and even an episode of Dirty Jobs where Mike Rowe had to replace the light bulbs on the top peaks. Once in Mack City we did some fudge shopping and ate at a place straight out of 1983 – the Admiral’s Table. It’s a cute town, but super busy!
Sunday, July 24, 2011
8:30 Van was again loaded and we were off to cross the bridge to Mack City for a second time. We headed straight to Arnold Transit a ferry company that would hold our van over night while we stayed on the island. They took our luggage and tagged it for the Grand Hotel. We boarded our ferry and were off through Lake Huron for Mackinac Island!
Coming up to the island was an amazing sight. Exactly what you expected a coastal town to look like. Sailboats were docked all around the island, shops and hotels could be seen from the distance and church steeples peeked through the trees. The only difference – no cars!
As soon as we hit port, we were off checking out all the different fudge and t-shirt shops. A similar feel to Hayward and Wisconsin Dells.
10:30 We decided to take a carriage tour of the island. This was about a 2 hour long tour of the history and sights of the island. One of the best spots was the Arch Rock. Local legend says it was created by the tears of a local girl whose father forbid her to be with her true love. Scientifically though, the water level was that high in the end glacial period and eroded the limestone to create a cave. Later the cave collapsed leaving just the opening mouth.
After the carriage tour, Chad and I walked up the hill to see Molly at the Gate House. She was still on duty so it was fun to see her hard at work. We didn’t want to interrupt so we just sat at the bar, but it didn’t take long for her to spot us!
4:00 Time to check into the Grand Hotel. It’s an out of this world feeling, knowing you are going to be experiencing the same things as countless celebrities and presidents. The front porch of the Grand is the longest in the world lined with white rocking chairs. It’s really hard to put all into words, just a feeling of going back to a simpler time. Check in was easy and we were all placed in the east wing of the hotel with a street view off our balconies. This was great because we went to sleep that night to the sounds of horses walking by our room. The Grand Hotel has 385 rooms and no two are decorated the same.
Two movies have been filmed at Grand Hotel. 1947 This Time For Keeps starring Jimmy Durante and Esther Williams. 1980 Somewhere In Time starring Christopher Reeve, Jane Seymour, and Christopher Plummer (dad of the Von Trapps in Sound of Music).
With the reservation of our rooms, we also received a five-course dinner and full breakfast. After 6pm all visitors of the Grand need to be in evening apparel. Dress or pants suits for ladies and full suit with coat and tie for men! This was the first time that Chad needed to buy a suit, but boy did he look sharp! I may need to think of more dressy events to take him too. Since we were all dressed up (even Cambell was in a little dress), we thought it would be nice to have a family photo taken on the front porch before dinner.
After dinner, Chad and I met Molly and had a drink at the Cupola Bar in the hotel. It has the best panoramic view of the island and lake. After a tour of our room and quick change we headed off to see where Molly is living for the summer. Much like student dorms here in college, she shares a room with one other gal and has a common dining area. Since she is so familiar with all the ‘hot spots’ on the island, we let her take us around for the full experience. We started by meeting some of her friends at the Seabiscuit Café/bar. One of the first veterinarians on the island started this bar and of course named it after the famous race horse, there is a tv in the corner that always plays the Disney movie about the life of Seabiscuit. Then we headed down the street to the Pink Pony where we were able to sit out on their patio on the water and have an island traditional rum runner. This is made of about 4 different kinds of rum and then some fruity juice to make it taste just like Kool-Aid - more than one would be very dangerous!
Now off for some dancing at the Horn’s Bar and the Mustang Lounge. Finishing the night back at Molly’s bar the Gate House. It was a great evening catching up with Molly, meeting her friends which are amazing and learning the inside scoop on the Grand Hotel and the family that owns and runs it! The current owner is Mr. R.D. Musser II and his wife Amelia. They have 2 children; Danny (R.D. III) and Mimi. Danny is next in line to take over operation of the hotel, while Mimi runs the flower shop in the hotel and does all the grounds planning. Danny’s wife Marlee has an art gallery/shop in the lobby and her artwork graces many walls in the hotel. Danny and Marlee have 5 children; Amelia, Maverick, and Quarto (RD IV, thus the nick name) are the only names I can remember and they have a summer home on the island. I guess their whole back yard is set up as a Quidditch field just like in Harry Potter equipped with hoops and brooms! They are home schooled and their nanny lives in an apartment on top of the children’s play area.
Marlee is originally a Brown and her family are the owners of Arnold Transit ($$ marries $$). Mr. Musser is a very traditional man with small round glasses. He expects to be served from the right and dishes cleared from the left. Mimi is also very traditional while Danny is more laid back and enjoys many meals at the Gate House. Staying in the tradition of being very formal, if something needs to be done around the hotel and other properties it owns a memo is send out by mail. Nothing is done face to face or in email. You will receive a paper memo, I thought this was great and hilarious. With all the people this hotel employs I can just see them taking notes in a small note pad to remember to go back to their office and write up a memo.
Sunday, July 25, 2011
8:15 Time to call our carriage taxi to take us back to the Arnold Transit line. Our driver was telling my dad that last week he had Robert De Niro in his carriage! How wild is that. I had a wonderful time on the island and with Molly. I really wished we had one more day. But, it’s always better to leave wanting more! We will go back, that is for sure.
I found this great quote that sums it up nicely “Travel is ninety percent anticipation and ten percent recollection” –Edward Streeter.
Where have your summer vacations been taking you?
