Alan and Sandra's Yellowstone Vacation 2010 travel blog

Crossing the bridge from the UP to mainland.

View of lake from our spot at the campground.

Bridge in background (we crossed) is the world's longest suspension bridge.

Mackinac Island from the campground.

Boat ferry to Mackinac Island.

Loading the ferry.

Coming in to the island harbor.

Horse drawn carts for carrying supplies, etc.

This pic shows horse and carts crossing over to island in winter.

No motorized vechiles on the island...horses and bicycles.

Beautiful old homes.

Streets are crowded with the horses and bicyles.

Larger carriages can't go through town...one like this took up through the...

Butterfly House we went through.

Lots of butterflies inside.

On the hill walking back to town.

Downtown Mackinac Island.

Horsedrawn carriage rides.

Cart full of luggage.

Hauling luggage by bicycle.

Island UPS???

The fellow that worked with Mike Rowe on "Dirty Jobs".

Return to mainland....we sat up top.

Departing ferry....we're back on the mainland.


We crossed the big bridge from the UP of Michigan to the mainland and arrived in Mackinaw City, MI. It looks just like the ocean when crossing the bridge and seeing the island. We are at a campground that is a 200 acre campground on the shore of Lake Huron...Lake Michigan is on the other side of the bridge. This campground has 1 mile of beach. It reminds us of Fort DeSoto but much bigger. We got a great spot...we can see the water and the island from our motorhome. We took a Catamaran boat ferry to Mackinac Island. One of the "Dirty Jobs" episodes with Mike Rowe was filmed on the island. His job was helping clean up all the horse poo in the streets. I talked with the pooper scooper guy and asked if he was here when the show was filmed....he said "yes, I'm the guy he worked with". The island has a lot of history. Fort Mackinac is located on the island and was built in 1780. They have people dressed in period costumes. From anywhere on the island you can hear them when they fire the cannons. There was a lot of fur trading around the 1800's and we were told that even back then, millions of dollars traded hands. There are no motorized vehicles allowed on the island. Everything is either horse and buggy or bicycle traffic. The traffic cops are on bicycles...the speed limit is 15 mph and you will get a speeding ticket. They use radar guns and you will receive points on your drivers license! Have never seen so many bicycles! You can bring your own over on the ferry boats, or rent one at the many bike rentals on the island. All supplies, box deliveries, luggage, etc. are delivered to the many hotels and businesses by horse drawn carts or carriages. We took a carriage ride that took us through town, then to a Butterfly House, and into the wooded state park. Butterflies were landing on Alan, but they didn't like me. From the fort, we walked down a steep hill back to town. We went into many of the fudge and candy shops. We already had fudge at the motorhome, so Alan bought some Peanut brittle. Yum! We had a great time on the island....it was one of the highlights of our trip.


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