September 14-16th 2022
9/14
We went to McGulpin Point Lighthouse. This is still a functioning lighthouse. We went during the day but it would be neat to go at night as well. The lighthouse itself is open 10am-6pm everyday. There is also a self guided tour with tidbits along the way. A small trail opens up to a rocky beach with great views of the water and the bridge. It's $3 to go into the lighthouse and climb to the top. The only lighthouse keeper was James Davenport, a single father with nine kids and they all lived in the house. He operated the lighthouse for 27 years. They shutdown in 1906 and re-opened in 2009. The lighthouse itself was not a very good one. Still useful but not how it should have been.
After the lighthouse we went to Headlands International Dark Sky Park. There was a small trail and good views of the water as well. We should have went at night. This is a huge place for star gazing. You can also see the light of McGulpin Point Lighthouse here.
There's Mackinaw Area Historical Society Heritage Village right across the street from here so we checked that out as well. What a cool park! So much to see and so much history. Also self-guided with tidbits along the way. There's also a few trails here. Along with an art trail that has random works of art placed throughout the woods. There was a little nature center that is open all the time, attached is one of those little 'take one, leave one' libraries. I got The Reality of Being. I still have to read my new Colleen book before I start this one.
OH, we also saw a porcupine while on our hike. This is the first time I've ever seen one and to be honest I never even thought of them to exist in the woods lol. He was a goofy looking chunker.
Watched the sunset yet again and made dinner.
9/15
Joe missed out on Oktoberfest in Cleveland and was pretty bummed. There's a German town here, Frankenmuth, that was on our list of places to checkout while in Michigan. I looked up their Oktoberfest dates and just so happened they started today and go through the weekend. So we took the three hour drive to go there. We should go back because there is SO much to see and we didn't see a lot of it. I had to checkout the Greta Van Fleet corner (they originated here)
Apparently this is the only sanctioned Oktoberfest outside of Munich. Pretty neat. We watched the bands and got some beer and food. It was their opening ceremony and they had a keg from Germany that they opened and everyone got a glass. We met another Joe (actually from Germany) and he took us under his wing. He introduced us to a lot of other people and told us a bunch of interesting stories. His one friend has a boat and they invited us to go on it sometime this weekend (one of my goals was to have someone invite us on to their boat while in Michigan lol)
We got a cheap motel and stayed the night. I made sure the cats ate extra and had full water bowls before leaving. And lots of blankets. I wish we had the pet camera set-up because I'm crazy and leaving them for a night without a baby-sitter worries me 😂😅
9/16
Drove home. Back to the kitties! Nothing planned today other than watching the fireworks that Mackinac Island puts on. We will be able to see them from the little beach (technically our front yard)
Very cool!!!
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