Time Travel is Possible!

Have you seen the old movie, Somewhere in Time, with Christopher Reeve and Jane Seymour? The story is about a man who travels back in time to meet the love of his life and it all takes place on Mackinac Island at the Grand Hotel. We were just finishing securing our boat in the marina at Mackinac Island. As we were coming into the marina, I was very focused on getting our lines ready, figuring out where our slip was, and wondering if we could get docked before the next ferry came in. The water at the harbour entrance was a little choppy and my duties were all-consuming so I didn't have a chance to look around. Once we were settled, I was noticing a strange but familiar smell. I was also hearing a gentle hypnotic clip clop sound. I looked up to see horses pulling carriages along the road on the shoreline and picturesque vintage homes and old hotels and I suddenly felt like we had been transported to the 1920s!

On Mackinac Island, transportation is via horse drawn carriages, bicycles, or on foot. There are thousands of bicycles that can be rented from several locations on the island. Even without cars, you need to be careful about looking both ways before you cross the road so you don't walk in front of a bicycle or a horse! We were overwhelmed with so many things to do and we only had one day.

Our first task was to take Frodo to shore. It was so funny to watch him when he saw his first horse drawn carriage. He was frozen in place watching the horses as they got closer and closer, and bigger and bigger! However, after his first sighting, the rest of his encounters did not seem to phase him. Then we were off to the downtown, which was unbelievably crowded with tourists. We checked out the shops and stopped at Murdicks, the famous fudge shop, to watch the fudge being made, and sample and buy some. Yummy! We are now addicted to fudge! Then we went on a two-hour horse drawn carriage tour. It took us to all of the highlights including the Grand Hotel, the fort, the butterflies, and the stone arch. We only had time for the highlights so we did not tour any of the locations.

After most of the tourists left on the last ferry, we decided to use our own e-bikes, on power 0 or 1, so that we could bring Frodo along in the basket on Cam's bike. We biked almost half way around the island and back again. We didn't have time for the full loop as we had to dress for our dinner reservation. We got back to the boat and made a super quick change, and hurried downtown to catch our horse drawn taxi to the restaurant. The taxi was on "island time", or horse time, and was about 15 minutes late. It was an hour long carriage ride to the restaurant, and much of it was through the woods, hence the name, The Woods. Our carriage stopped right in front of the historic Grand Hotel to pickup guests who were also going to The Woods, so we got a chance to peak in through the windows. We also got our first glimpse of the Mackinac Bridge!

The food at The Woods was excellent, but we decided that 9 PM was too late for a dinner reservation, especially one that required such a long ride home. Our ride home was not as pleasant as it was very dark and cold and one of our horses was trying to spit the bit, which was clearly bothering her. She was pulling in the wrong direction at times, sneezing, and even tried to rear up once. The dispatch told the driver to head back to the stables so we were glad to know that she would soon be relieved of her discomfort. It's interesting to note that there is one doctor on the island, compared to five veterinarians, so the horses are well looked after!

We had a very fun and full day and enjoyed our time living in the past on Mackinac Island.