mackinac island (pronounced mackinaw)

After reluctantly leaving Benzie, I headed north toward Mackinac Island for a trip back in time (no motorized vehicles allowed, only bikes and horses), but not before stopping off to visit more of MI's beautiful towns. My first order of business was a quick stop for coffee and a sandwich at Bud's in Interlochen MI (great spot!), then onto Glen Arbor. Glen Arbor is close to perfect in my book. The Sleeping Bear Lakeshore and the towns that border Lake Michigan, and Glen Lakes are home to kayak loving, cycling happy, adventure seeking, healthy living people. I love it here. Who knew Michigan was so beautiful! After a walk through town, sipping my green tea from Great Lakes Tea & Spice, Lu and I decided to head further north to Leland. Leland is another picturesque town on Lake Michigan home to "Fishtown", an old shanty-like fishing village with quaint shops and eateries – a must see!

Lu and I finally made it to Mackinac City around 9:30pm Sunday night (7/25) and “checked-in” to our campsite at the Mackinaw Mill Campground. My timing to visit Mackinac Island is great in that I’m rolling in just in time to witness the longest annual freshwater sailing race in the world, Chicago to Mackinac Sailing Regatta, but good luck trying to find a hotel room! My campground is located just 2 minutes from the Mackinac Island ferry, so luckily I’m in a good spot for some "day" trips!

We rolled into Mackinac Mill around 9:30, but didn’t get settled til close to midnight! I wasn’t loving the first site we were given so after some brief negotiating, we landed a beautiful spot right on the lake shore, and they didn’t even charge me the extra fee! It was quiet, peaceful and perfect. Lu and I planned to sleep in and hit Mackinac Island in the afternoon.

I never went to “sleep away” camp as a kid, but something tells me it’s a lot like Mackinaw Mill! Me getting soap caught in my eyes just as the “shower pressure” ran out was right out of a Laverne & Shirley episode. My eyes burning with soap as I fumbled around blindly feeling the wall, looking for the button to press for 1 more minute of water (water comes in 1 min. increments, who knew?!). Pure comedy. Timberline, my last campground, was the Four Seasons of camping compared to this. Great experience nonetheless and something tells me there will be more unique experiences to come!!

It was 3:00 pm by the time we rallied (because of my shower took so long!) just kidding. Figured we’d head over, check out the town, have dinner and head back on the 9pm ferry. Mackinac Island is a historic american island that has banned motorized vehicle for more than a century and remains a living Victorian community. You can hoof it by foot, bike or horse drawn carriage as means of travel. Turn off your Blackberry and be prepared to relax in Mackinac. You can’t be in a hurry here, it’s perfect!

My plan to catch the 9pm ferry was right on track until I met Larry! Lu and I had a quiet dinner at the Pink Pony, overlooking Lake Michigan. It’s a beautiful spot, life is good. We headed downstairs to the bar so I could finish my beer before making our way to the ferry when in walked Larry. Larry strikes up a conversation. He seemed genuinely nice and not creepy, so we struck up a conversation. Larry was a kind man and completely intrigued by my story and even more intrigued when he saw Lulu pop her head out of her bag. He offered to buy me a beer then told me he had a bunch of friends he thought I should meet….  I’ll save that for the next blog entry! All I’ll say is there's a reason my blogging has been delayed -- and there's a 58’ yacht story involved!! Life is better than good!)