Rain and tourists

I woke up later than I thought, but did manage to get to the office in time to catch the 8:30 boat to Mackinac Island. The weather forecast was iffy, so I was armed with both my waterresistent windbreaker and my umbrella.

The ferry ride was fun, if short; a big catamaran that went fast, and since I rode up top I was a bit windblown by the end. The ferry dumped me out in the middle of the main tourist drag, and I got in line right away for a carriage tour, figuring I'd get a lay of the land before wandering on my own. The first guide (in a smaller carriage) was a bit hard to understand, but luckily she talked in town where I could read the signs myself later. The second (we had to get off in a large barn filled with tourist traps and wait for another carriage) was more understandable, and talked of legends and stories and such as well as seeing the sights. Much of the island is heavily wooded, and there isn't much of a soil underneath; because of that and because of the historical significance of the island, all fires are fought. Hence the presence of fire hydrants in the middle of the woods! Luckily the bugs weren't too bad.

Lots of people wound up getting off at the fort--I didn't, since they wanted more money and I'd just been at a fort in Copper Harbor. So I rode back to the transfer barn and then walked on my own. I wanted to see the Grand Hotel, but didn't want to pay the $10 cover charge to get in. I'd heard that if you approach the hotel from the back, you can get in. So I wandered through some neighborhoods of huge old "cottages", then along a bluff to the "off" end of the hotel, and walked right onto the porch without being challenged. Muahahaha!

The hotel is big and old and the porch is indeed impressive. I walked a bit inside, but people kept asking me if I needed help and I wasn't sure if they were just overly solicitous or had spotted me as a ringer. I did sit on the porch for a while and looked at the view, which was rapidly becoming ominous from all the clouds in the sky. I was trying to decide if I wanted to ride out the rain on the porch or keep going, and I decided to keep going.

I walked down the stairs to the croquet lawn, then to the pool (which looked like a LOT of fun!), and then through a patch of woods down to the shore. The movie "Somewhere in Time" was filmed here 30 years ago, and I found a small monument by the shore marking the place where the two main characters had "met" each other for the first time. It had obviously been placed by the movie makers, in a sort of faux-historical vein, and was being ignored by most of the passers-by.

Right about here it began to rain. I walked past the school (the graduating class a few years back was two) then down to the historical part. Many older buildings, including some near-originals from the early 1700's. I ate lunch at a backyard pub of one of the big hotels, and when I was finished it had stopped raining, for the moment. I walked into a more residential area, then back to the marina and the tourist traps.

It really is neat to be somewhere with no cars. There were bikes everywhere, both alone and hooked to child/freight haulers, and of course the horse and wagons hauling everything from tourists to trash. Someday when I'm rich I'm going to rent a summer cottage here, I think. I really like it--it reminds me of Martha's Vineyard a bit.

After I returned to the tourist traps the rain began again in earnest. I used my umbrella and was fine, while others who hadn't planned so well were in trouble. It pays to check the weather! By the time I was walked out (no, I didn't buy anything, although I was tempted to buy Puck a shirt that read "I do bad things"), the sun was out and it was much nicer. On the ride back to St. Ignace, the water was quite rough and the catamaran was pitching all over the place--I loved it! I almost fell down once, before I realized how rough it was, and it made it difficult to take pictures of the bridge and the island, but still fun. Then I walked around St. Ignace for a while before catching a shuttle back to the KOA.

On to the south today!

By the way, the cats appear to be fine. There has been no more vomit or diarrhea, and both cats seem hungry. Let's hope it stays so!