Mackinac Island, MI: Mackinac Island

After taking the ferry to Mackinac Island, we debated our transportation options. Mackinac Island is one of the few places left where vehicles aren't allowed (except for emergency vehicles). You can get around on foot, by horse or horse-driven carriage, or by a self-powered vehicle like a bike. We decided to walk, and after picking up a few maps, we were headed on our way up the eastern side of the island.

The first big landmark is Arch Rock. (We have seen at least 3 Arch Rocks that I can think of off the top of my head in various places around the US.) Above is looking at it from below on the road, and below is looking down on it after hiking up to it. We had the most glorious weather for this day and it definitely shows in the photos.

Everything about this island was beautiful.

This is looking down onto Sugar Loaf rock (spoiler: we also went to a Sugarloaf Mountain in Marquette, MI!). We also hiked to the base of that rock before hiking above it. We climbed a lot of stairs around this island.

This was some kind of short cut we wound up taking.

The Mackinac Bridge from the island.

Not everything made sense upon first glance. This bust of President Ford is just creepily hanging out around a bend. Apparently Ford was the only president to visit the island (while also still president), and he used to come here a lot growing up.

We didn't go into Fort Mackinac, but walked around the outside.

This is the governor's mansion. My aunt and uncle once met the governor while on horseback when they visited a long time ago.

And of course, one of the most famous landmarks of all, the Grand Hotel. We walked all the way around it, but didn't go inside. It was huge.

Have you been to Mackinac Island? What was your favorite part? We also got fudge (there is a lot of fudge on this island) and I enjoyed watching the horses as we walked around. We didn't make the entire loop (we were only there for less than 6 hours), so maybe we'll come back some day and finish it off :)