August 2, 2017: St. Ignace/Mackinac Island Part I.

We left the anchorage before 9 and wound our way through “Les Cheneaux” Islands which were dotted with cottages and small marinas.

Log cabin house and boat house.

I liked how they built their deck around the stand of cedar trees.

Cool totem pole, lots of stuff going on.

Coincidence? Boat’s name is Old Swan.

The last segment of Lake Huron. Once we cross under the Mackinac Bridge we’ll be in Lake Michigan. Color of the day: gray! Cold and dreary but fortunately no seas.

We arrived in St. Ignace, on Upper Peninsula of Michigan, just to the west of Mackinac Island. The sun came out and really warmed up. We walked over to the ferry dock and caught the 2pm ferry over to the island. The Star Line Ferry logo was the same as the Star Line Ferry in Hong Kong!

The ferry put up a ridiculous rooster tail.

What it looks like from a returning ferry.

First glimpse of The Grand Hotel. This is where the movie “Somewhere in Time” with Christopher Reeves was filmed. Of course we had to rewatch that movie.

Decked out cottage.

Bicycles and horses rule here. Aside from 2 emergency vehicles, there are no motorized vehicles on the island.

Heavy load!

Per guide book the Island has two major exports – fudge (1000 pounds a day) and horse manure (6000 pounds a day)!

We just missed the Chicago-Mac Sailboat Race by a week. Marina was still packed.

Beautiful classic wooden boat.

This Statue of Liberty is one of 200 donated to various places in the USA by Boy Scouts in 1950 to commemorate the BSA’s 40th anniversary.

Mackinac Island Yacht Club. Smaller than I expected.

Looking up at Fort Mackinac.

We did the touristy thing of taking a carriage tour of the Island.

Very quaint post office.

Gardens galore! Small print on the “Gardener Wanted ” sign reads “must look good bending over”!

Side entry of The Grand Hotel.

Supposedly the veranda of The Grand Hotel boasts the longest veranda in the world. Lots of superlatives around here.

Random phone booth and art work along the way.

The first part of the tour ended at a hilltop with walking tours of a Butterfly House and then the Carriage Museum (and of course snack bars and souvenir shops).