Our visit to Mackinac Island left us with many happy memories. Don, Rosie, Pat and I had many laughs about our rough wet wild ride getting there. We toured we partied, we told stories and had a good time.
At the end, Sylvia and Mark arrived aboard their "Heavenly Ours." We had
one day for all six of us to share the experience of Mackinaw Island.
View from our dock. This is the historic Fort Mackinac.
A horse drawn carriage. There are no motorized vehicles on the island except for: golf carts which are restricted to the island golf course property, an ambulance, a police car and a fire truck. That is all. The only polution is, well you get the picture.
Rosie, her brother Rudy and Pat
Edward Biddle was a distant ancestor of mine. I plan on finding out the exact lineage but not at this time. My dad used to talk about him at length--about the fur trade, his Indian wife, the contacts and help she was able to give Edward to help with the fur business. Naturally the language he used was far more colorful that what I wrote here. It is best that I described it in my own way. LOL When his business was at its peak, he would have been comparable to someone like Bill Gates as far as accumulated wealth.
This photo is understated but shows the clear water in the harbor. The water is almost mirror flat and the white thing at the lower right is the swim platform of the boat. The vegetation you see is about six feet down at their bases. The wiggly whitish things you see are reflections from the dock pilings. At night you got the feeling that the boat was suspended in mid air above this vegetation when the underwater light was turned on. It was a weird feeling.
The water is this clear because of the work of the invasive species, the zebra mussels. They pretty much cleaned out the small algae type life in the water. Good for clarity but it had a detrimental effect on the bigger fish because it pretty much collapsed the food chain.
Me with my bicycle. Pat, Rosie, Don and I circumnavigated the island on our bikes.
A view of the bridge connecting the upper peninsula with the lower peninsula of Michigan. I remember when it was being built. It was opened in 1957. It was quite a project.
A horse drawn trash wagon. The horses and the wagon that hauls trash do not have the lines or the style of their counterparts that haul the guests to the grand hotel.
The Fort Mackinac Post Cemetery was one of our stops. It has only 6 civilains buried there. One of them is my distant relative Edward Biddle.
The main entrance.
My distant relative, Edward Biddle's tombstone.
The back side of Fort Mackinac. The fort was built by the French prior to the revolutionary war. After the US won her independence, the fort naturally became ours. It played a role in the war of 1812.
View of the harbor from one of the gun ports.
This is a million dollar view. The picture does not even come close in detail. The front of the fort has a pub that is operated under contract by the Grand Hotel. Don and I enjoyed a couple of beers and while there, I got this photo.
Me and Don doing our part as Mackinac Island tourists.
"Just Rosie" departing after a great few days at the island.
Sylvia and Mark. They arrived a day before Don and Rosie departed so the six of us had at least a day to be together.
Pat and I posing for this photo.
A three horsepower carriage.
Mark, Sylvia, Pat and I toured the island Carriage Museum. This hearse, an antique, is pressed into service when there is a furneral service on the island. That is true to this day. It is the only museum piece that is still active.
An example of an old fire wagon.
Natural arch bridge.
A missionary bark chapel.
Departing the harbor for Charlevoix.
The legendary Grand Hotel. Longest front porch in the world.
Two ferry boats. They are everywhere and do not seem to recognize rules of the road. When you are operating in their area, your mind becomes like a computer, figuring the best route so none of them would hit you. They all spray that stream of water behind. It serves no purpose other than visual. That is what helped us spot them at greater than usual distances.
Coming up on the Mackinac Bridge, about to go underneath.
Arrival at Charlevoix. What a huge boat that is in front of us!
