On The Road Again: Mackinac Island

We took the ferry out to Mackinac Island. There are five or six different ferry services out to the Island. Shepler's being the fastest (sheplersferry.com). They have been operating here for 70 years and three generations. They are not the cheapest but if you book the early morning trip, they take you under the Mackinac Bridge. The company is in the process of launching a new ferry that is 85' long, all aluminum and will carry 281 passengers.

Mackinac (mack-in-aw) is only about 3.8 sq miles and 8 miles in circumference. There are no vehicles allowed on the island, foot, bike or horses are the only means of transportation on the island. Snowmobiles are used in the winter. There are emergency and service vehicles on the island.

During the peak tourist season, as many as 15,000 people tour the island. As the tourist season ends, many of the businesses close. A bank, a restaurant, grocery store remain open.

The island is home to the Grand Hotel where part of the movie Somewhere in Time was filmed. The Grand Hotel boasts the worlds longest porch and several presidents and other dignitaries have stayed here. Several episodes of Dirty Jobs were filmed on the island also.

During the War of 1812, the British captured the fort in the first battle of the conflict because the Americans had not yet heard that war had been declared. The victorious British attempted to protect their prize by building Fort George on the high ground behind Fort Mackinac. In 1814, the Americans and British fought a second battle on the north side of the island. The American second-in-command, Major Andrew Hunter Holmes, was killed and the Americans failed to recapture the island.