The wind gusts died down over night and while it was still raining when we woke, it was much lighter rain than yesterday. It was also slightly warmer, 11 celsius (felt like 6).
While we would have preferred clear skies and warm temperatures, we had no choice but to visit Mackinac Island today as we leave for Wisconsin tomorrow morning. For the first time since early June, I put on a pair of jeans and a long sleeve merino wool shirt. We donned our rain jackets and headed to the campground office to await our shuttle ride to the ferry (Connie had purchased the tickets last night and learned that a shuttle would pick us up when we were ready to visit Mackinac Island).
The trip to the ferry terminal was about 10 minutes. We stepped off the bus, handed our tickets to the ladies at the ferry terminal and walked onto the ferry. Since it was cold, raining and the water a bit choppy, we elected to sit inside rather on the open deck up top. It was the right choice.
If you look closely at the photo above right, you will notice what appear to be tractors driving across the bridge and you would be correct. Yesterday when we were driving up from Ohio to Mackinaw City, we were passed by at least a half dozen trucks pulling trailers carrying antique tractors. This morning we learned a tractor parade was planned to cross the Mackinac Bridge from Mackinaw City to St Ignace. I was a little sorry to miss it, especially given my post retirement renewed interest in old stuff.
The ferry ride was just under 20 minutes and we arrived on the island at about 915am. Prior to two weeks ago, we didn’t know Mackinac Island existed. Our daughter in law Carissa came across an Instagram post about it while asking ChatGPT to plan us a route home. Since then we learned that Mackinac Island is home to actor, director and producer Ron Howard and rock and roll singer Bob Seger. What makes Mackinac Island so unique is that automobiles are not permitted (apart from an ambulance and a few fire trucks). Horses, bicycles (and e-bikes with restrictions) and walking are the only modes of transportation. There is a small airport but typically the method of travel to and from the island is by boat.
Movement of goods and materials is done by horse drawn trailers – including Amazon packages. We saw a trailer loaded with gravel and one delivering a load of supplies to the Grand Hotel (see below). There is a US Post Office on the island but mail is not delivered door to door. Residents must pick up their mail and packages the old fashioned way – in person.
There were many horse drawn carriages carrying passengers to and from hotels, shops and various points of interest on the island. Visitors can rent a horse and buggy with driver or a horse by the hour. Bike rental is a thriving business and bike riders mingled with the horses and carriages on the streets.
Prior to the automobile, cities had a horse poop problem. Back then there were few paved roads and none of them were asphalt, only cobblestone. On Mackinac Island horse poop is an issue but there were several people employed to clean it up, like this guy in the photo below right.
When I saw him, I instantly thought of the song by Jimmy Buffet titled ‘It’s my Job’. The first verse and chorus are:
In the middle of late last night I was sittin’ on a curb
I didn’t know what about but I was feeling quite disturbed
A street sweeper came whistlin’ by
He was bouncin’ every step
It seemed strange how good he felt
So I asked him while he swept
He said “It’s my job to be cleaning up this mess
And that’s enough reason to go for me
It’s my job to be better than the rest
And that makes the day for me”
It’s too bad more of us don’t have this attitude toward our vocation. Perhaps there is a little magic in contentment?
There were so many beautiful old homes and several of them were converted to bed and breakfasts.
I saw this sign posted outside one of the B&Bs and thought I’d apply. Unfortunately, the proprietor said I didn’t fulfill the minimum job requirements.
We took some time to visit Fort Mackinac and found it most interesting. Originally built by the British in 1780 and in its control until 1796 when it was relinquished to the Americans. In 1812, the Americans declared war on Canada (which was a British colony at the time), the British attacked and defeated the Americans at Fort Mackinac. After the War of 1812 border disputes between Canada and the US subsided, and the Fort lost its military significance. For a time it was a fur trading post and in 1875 it became part of the second US National Park, Mackinac National Park (Yellowstone was the first). In 1895, the US Congress closed Mackinac National Park and transferred it to the state of Michigan.
We ate a late lunch/early dinner before heading back to the harbour to catch a return ferry to Mackinaw City. The weather was more pleasant than when we left, so I convinced Connie we should sit outside on the top deck for our return. Connie was a bit skeptical but being a good sport agreed. I suggested we sit on the front right behind the ship’s bridge.
There were four seats and I suggested Connie take the one behind the bridge for more protection from the wind. I sat three spots over from her right beside the rail with a view of the front and side of the boat. I pulled out my GoPro and readied it to video the trip back.
As the boat pulled away from the dock, the captain got on the radio to warn us on the top deck that the water was quite choppy and there was a high probability everyone on top would get wet, especially those on the right side. I laughed and looked over at Connie who quickly bundled up to prepare for the worst.
I held the go pro out the side of the boat for as long as I could but I was no match for the cold waters of Lake Huron. My hand began to numb and I had no choice but to bring it back inside the boat.
Furthermore, the spray was hitting me full on, so I slid over closer to Connie. As I moved over the lady behind me yelled: “Hey! Get back in that seat! You were protecting me from getting dumped on.” We both had a good laugh. In fact, everyone on the top deck was laughing despite being soaked from the spray. To add insult to injury, it began to rain. I turned the camera toward Connie and caught her reaction below.
Miraculously, I was only wet on the upper part of my body. My legs and feet were dry. Connie on the other hand told me she was soaked top to bottom, including her shoes. So much for my strategic seating plan. After disembarking we ran over to grab the first available shuttle back to the KOA.
When we arrived at the KOA yesterday, we pulled in beside two large motorhomes from Florida. We wondered why each of them were towing such large trailers. This afternoon, we found out why.
Charlie and Don are both from Florida and they were both in the tractor parade today. Charlie towed his tractor all the way from his vegetable farm in Florida. He has restored several of these old John Deere tractors.
Don is a recently retired pilot, and he picked up this 1959 John Deere from a friend’s place in Kansas. He has restored three John Deere tractors and has them at his acreage in Florida. I told him about my old ford pickup and he said he had previously owned a 1942 Ford F1 and two 1956 Fords including a F600. After we chatted about Borg Warner transmissions and flatheads V8s, he said to me “I miss my old trucks.” I suggested now that he’s retired, he should get himself a project truck like me.
Something I love about this world is that everyone you meet has a story but to hear it, you have to put your phone away and have a face to face conversation.
Until next time, thanks for reading.
Mal and Connie's Cross Canada Adventure 2.0 