9/20-23
Tuesday the 20th
We stayed at the campground and did stuff around the trailer. Read. Cleaned. Played the free putt-putt they offer. Good thing this is free because it is on concrete and everything is slanted a bit. It was fun to play because it was so funny how awful we were. There's no way anyone could be good 😂
Wednesday the 21st
Mackinac Island
The only things I knew going into this was that the island has no cars, is supposed to be a step back into time, and Arch Rock is here 😅
Today we got ready to go spend the day on the island. Our campground sells tickets at a slightly discounted price, so we purchased them here. We headed to the free shuttle with our bikes to the ferry (also provided by our campground) at 9:30 am. The shuttle was late so we didn't get to the ferry until 9:50am. Which is fine because the ferry goes every half hour and we made it on the 10:00am. The ferry is the same one we went on for our Sunset Cruise at Pictured Rocks. These guys go so fast. Not like your average ferry. The ride to the island was pretty choppy. This lady in front of us had her window opened and was getting a few people splashed. She was taking pictures of the Mackinac Bridge and risking it all lol. The ride itself was probably 20 minutes. We got off the ferry and grabbed our bikes to go to the visitors center. Which was not helpful at all lol. They had a lot of information on the history of the place but we couldn't find a map of the place. We knew we wanted to ride around the island since it's only 8 miles. So we headed out to do that. Stopped at Marquette Park to look at the statue of Marquette. This is a big grass park where you could play frisbee or ball and have a picnic. Which some people were doing just that. This park is right in front of Fort Mackinac. We decided not to do this but it did look very interesting. They blow off the canon every hour. You can also blow off the canon yourself. Not sure what needs to be done but they advertise it. Tickets are $15.50 for adults. This was an old colonial fort founded by the British during the Revolution. Then captured by the Americans. First land battle of the War of 1812 captured by the British until the end of the war. This was an active fort until 1895. By the end of its life the island turned from a fur trading post to a summer resort. We continued on and stopped at Arch Rock. Arch Rock was 207 steps to the top viewing platform. Wasn't bad. So many elders going up and down while I'm over here huffing and puffing 😂 We continued on. Our next stop was a small hike to Cave of the Woods and Crack in the Island. This reminded me a lot of Whipp's Ledges back in Ohio. The airport was here as well. A plane happened to be taking off when we were there. So we were able to watch that. The people that live on this island have to be rich. There is no way anyone here can be even middle class lol. Got back onto our bikes and stopped at the next little park. Here they had some stairs and a boardwalk going up to small waterfall that was just a spring. Unsafe for drinking. If you continued on it was a small trail that lopped back to the picnic tables. We ate the lunch I packed while we were here. Rode our bikes past a lot of gorgeous houses with extremely well manicured lawns. The last stop was Devil's Kitchen which is a bunch of sea caves formed by the waves when the water was slightly higher. We finished off through the small city and parked on the side of the road to go get a beer. We went to the Great Turtle Brewery where I got a Sour (one of the best I've had) and Joe got a double IPA and a shot of whiskey. The beer was made on the island and the whiskey was made at their partnered distillery on mainland. There is no way these guys could have a distillery of their own, there is no room. The bartender was telling us it would cost $70,000 or so. A growler of beer here is SEVENTY DOLLARS, back home Fat Head's has growlers for $25, refillable 😂 The bartender also mentioned there are stairs behind the Marquette statue that lead to over 70 miles of trails. I was wearing my Tyler Childers shirt and he recognized him. Joe thinks this is why he was so nice to us. But being nice to us is his job lol. After our beer we started to walk to the Grand Hotel. We stopped at the Little Stone Church on the way. I was in awe of the hotel. 100% lives up to the name. There was horse drawn carriages carrying people and luggage up to the entrance. The employees were dressed in late 1800's outfits. It's $10 to go in and walk around. There is also a dress code. Even if I was dressed properly I would feel extremely out of place if we went inside 😂 Joe and I are white trash and proud 💃💂 We did go into their garden. There's a small outdoor bar here. A few trails along with real putt-putt. People were playing corn hole and croquet. We threw pennies into the fountain wishing for a million dollars 😂 We originally thought we snuck into the garden and that we weren't supposed to be there. So we had a plan, if someone told us we couldn't be there, we'd tell them we were the groundskeepers 😂 The gardens were so pretty. Very well kept, the real groundskeepers do a fabulous job.
We stopped at the grocery store. Doud's Market, America's oldest grocery store since 1884. We each got a boxed wine to go. Joe got some scratch-offs (we were really hoping for that million dollars) We won $10, so we got the money back lol. We decided to ride around the island again. This time we stopped at the first opening to the rocky beach. I've been searching for beach glass while in Michigan with no luck. I hit the jackpot at this little beach. We found a lot of glass and pretty rocks. I put them in my fanny pack (rock pocket) Back on our bikes we went and stopped at the other little side park. This was a boardwalk through a swampy area with information on the plants and animals on the island. Our next stop was another beach opening. This beach was more sandy than rocky so we didn't have luck with any good finds here. We have also been keeping an eye out for Petoskey stones, no luck.
The last ferry to the island was at 7:30pm so we headed back to the Marquette Park. This park is right across from the loading dock. So we parked our bikes and went to the little park behind the art museum. This is also where the stairs are to get to the 70 miles of trails. We went up the stairs and got a great view of the island from above. We only did short trails and came across the Somewhere in Time gazebo. Somewhere in Time (1980) is a movie that was filmed completely on the island except for two scenes from Chicago. The filming of the movie was the only time cars had ever been on the island. We then headed back to the little city and did some exploring before going to wait in line for the ferry. Came across the Missionary Bark Chapel, the Trinity Church, the American Fur Company Store, and the Haunted Theatre. Stopped in a little shop by the ferry and came across a candle that has "Pictured Rocks, Tahquamenon Falls, Kitch-Iti-Kipi, Copper Harbor OH MI!" written on the label. All places we've been to. Smelled good too, so it was meant to be. When the candle is gone we are going to seal the label on and use the jar to store the rocks and beach glass we found while here.
Decided to sit on the top of the boat in the front row. We were going back during sunset and wanted to get some good views. Not realizing that there was about to be a storm and the water was super choppy. It was also 54 degrees out, which is not a problem for us. We thought it was nice out while everyone else was complaining. Basically the ride back to mainland was a water ride. Joe and I were soaking wet. I could not stop laughing. The people on top with us were in the back. They had to think we were insane. It felt like we were going 60mph (we were probably going 30mph) with the water crashing over our heads and getting pelted in the face. So windy. My body left the seat many times, flying into the air. When we got back to land the people downstairs asked how it was. Some guy grabbed Joe's shirt and was like, "Wow! you guys are soaked!" As my hair is sopping wet and Joe still has water droplets on his glasses 😂😂😂😂😂 I had Riders on the Storm by The Doors stuck in my head all day. This was the moment I must of been waiting for 😂 When we got back to our campsite it started to actually storm. So the captain was just trying to get us back before the storm. A lot of people were upset by this but I'm still laughing about it. We won't be forgetting Mackinac Island.
Thursday the 22nd
I came across a bear ranch here in Michigan. So we are on the way to Oswald's Bear Ranch. There are more than two dozens of rescued bears here. Some are born here and obviously stay the rest of their life as well. It is $25 per car. You can buy bags of apples for $4 to feed the bears. You can also get your picture taken with the cubs for $10. They use your phone and take 4-5 pictures. My biggest worry about going here was that the bears would be drugged. Most places like this drug the animals to make them "nicer" and then say that they don't. You can tell these bears are not drugged. They've been with humans the majority of their lives. Which doesn't mean accidents don't happen. They are still a WILD animal. The biggest bear here was named Tyson and he was loved by many. They said before he died he had to of weighted a little over 980 pounds after hibernation 😮 We bought some apples and headed to the female enclosure first. These enclosures are huge! And this is the habitat they'd be in out here anyways. They have everything they need. They don't have to worry about finding food and possibly being shot by hunters.
We came right before they start hibernating. We saw six of the females. One was walking around waiting for apples. The others were further in and digging or relaxing on fallen trees. We went to the yearlings enclosure next. These guys are so funny. They were all play fighting and being so goofy. I have videos but they take too long to upload on here. It's also hard to see because of the fences. There was a black bear (more brown in color) laying on the ground being lazy. He'd swat at his buddy's feet when they'd walk by and he'd try to fight them. Some of them would fight back. But this bear stayed on the ground most of the fights 😂 He reminded us so much of Figaro. He does similar with Cherry. This bear also got stuck on his head and had to roll himself out of the position. Which he struggled with, he looked like Figaro doing this. Then we went to the male enclosure. They were all in the same area because they wanted more and more food. Some of them were fighting and others were growling. There was one that we saw on our way around the enclosure that just dug a hole and must of got tired. He fell asleep half in the hole and half out. Right next to a pile of his poop. This enclosure had a pond and waterfall for them. Sometimes they swim for apples but that wasn't happening today. The cubs were our last stop. They have a pool and a bunch of branches and things for stimulation. They were all playing and being crazy. So much energy. They look like overweight balls of fur 😂 There is also a cute little gift shop here with loads of stuff.
Next we headed to see Tahquamenon Upper Falls. Nicknamed "root beer falls" because of the colors. This is a very tourist-y attraction. A bunch of people were here and they have their brewery in the parking lot as well. It's a small hike to the viewing platforms. You can get good pictures of the falls. I wish there were trails going closer and less people lol. Tahquamenon Lower Falls is a four minute drive from here. So we went here next. Also a lot of people but there's more to do here so everyone isn't in the same spot. This is another boardwalk going to all the different platforms. They recently added a bridge that goes over to the island. The island has actual trails and you can get closer to some of the lower falls. There are SO many little falls here. It really is gorgeous. It sucks that so many people come here and that they built all of the boardwalks and platforms. I feel this allows everyone to come and not everyone is respectful of nature. There's a bunch of signs along the boardwalk telling you not to do this, and not to do that. Which is only going to get worse. We also noticed a lot of newly planted grass where grass does not need to be planted? I thought this was strange. You just get the vibes that the park is trying to keep this as just a tourist attraction.
On our way back we stopped at Bridge View Park that has a statue of an ironworker that Joe wanted a picture of. This park also has AMAZING views. We came during sunset so it was the perfect time. We passed Castle Rock on the way to this park and I looked up the hours. Online said they closed at nine so we headed back to Castle Rock. Only to find a written piece of paper over their original hours that said closing at seven. I looked up any trails near Castle Rock and thought I found one. But this was a completely different trail that would have taken us hours. So we called it quits and headed back over the bridge to our campsite. We ended the night watching Somewhere in Time so we could place all the places we went to on the island. Ended up being a pretty good movie.
Friday the 23rd
Went back to Castle Rock to walk the stairs and get to the top. This is on the other side of the bridge. Every time you cross you have to pay per axel. It's also funny how Mackinaw City is so much more expensive and the people are a bit more clean. Then the second you cross to St. Ignace the prices are back to normal and the people are kind of trashy lol. With that said, Castle Rock was trashed. Graffiti and trash everywhere. I wouldn't say Castle Rock is a must see but at least we can say we did it 🤷 Joe had to stop at a smoke shop for more cigarette tubes. We must have encountered at least three drunk people while in St. Ignace at 2pm 😂 We had our bikes in the back of the truck so we could do the bike trail at Wilderness State Park. Headed there and on the way I was checking to see if the city was still doing fireworks tonight. While looking I found live music at a brewery. Definitely going to check that out.
The bike ride was cut short once we realized the rest of the trail to the beach was extreme mountain biking. I'm not at that level yet. I might never be 😂 We headed back to where we parked and walked that beach instead. The sun was setting and it was cloudy but so pretty. Michigan sometimes doesn't feel real. We learned that petoskey stones are super easy to come by and are basically a white rock that needs to be wet to see the fossilized coral and then polished. We've probably seen a bunch of them without realizing. Still didn't find one though.
Headed to Biere de Mac Brew Works to check out the Jon Archambault Band. This brewery is so cute and everyone was super nice. We made a few friends while here. The band was sooooooo good. They played amazing music, from Soulshine to Purple Rain. The guy on guitar was unreal. The brewery itself had really good beers too. Finally some craft beers that are as good as Ohio's. I had the Bateau Brown Ale and Joe had the Jacob's Farmhouse Ale.
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