Thursday, August 24, 2017, Mackinaw City, MI
Day 105

With an early start we caught the 8:30 Shepler’s Ferry to Mackinac Island. The Island has no cars, only pedestrians, bikes, horses and horse carriages. After the 16 minute boat ride, we rented bikes and drove clockwise around the 8 mile perimeter. With several stops along the way, we completed the loop in 1 hour 40 minutes. Then we visited Historic Fort Mackinac just in time for the cannon demonstration. Built in 1780 by the British, Americans took control in 1796. In 1812, the British captured the Fort in the first land engagement of the War of 1812. After the war, it was returned to the U.S. The Fort remained active until 1895. Fourteen of the buildings are original. Lunch at the Ice House Restaurant was a ½ pound of pulled pork, bake beans, cole slaw and cornbread for $13 which was the lone bargain on the Island. I ate all of mine but Rosemary left enough for my dinner another day as the restaurant was willing to place our leftover bag in their refrigerator until we returned at the end of the day. We then hiked the middle of the Island and viewed Skull Cave, Sugar Loaf Rock, Fort Holmes, Point Lookout and The Grand Hotel Carriage Barn. Time of hike was 1 hour 45 minutes. The hike to Fort Holmes was uphill to an elevation of 325 feet so it was a good thing we had already done the biking or we may not have had enough juice left to do it. Fortunately, the second half of the hike was downhill. We walked Main Street where it seemed that every other store was selling fudge. We had our fill of samples but that stuff was so rich and sweet, I could hardly believe how the fudge was flying off the shelves by the pound by seemingly everyone else. Picked up our bbq and took the 5:00 ferry back. A fun day but exhausting. Over 20,000 steps approached but did not beat Chicago’s record.