Mackinac Island -- Horses, bicycles, horses, bicycles....and lots of fudge!

Wednesday, 5 June 2013.  The weather forecast for Monday, 3 June, appeared to offer acceptable conditions for a day-trip over to Mackinac Island -- something we've really been looking forward to as part of our visit to this part of Michigan.

There are several ferry options to get over to the island and we opted for Star Line.  This company offers an 18-minute ferry ride from both Mackinaw City and St. Ignace (across the suspension bridge) using hydro-jet boats.  Star Line's schedule from Mackinaw City has hourly departures and about three times a day, weather permitting, the ferry boat will take a quick loop under the Mackinac Straits suspension bridge -- our ours did just that and offered me some unique photo ops.

Our hydro-jet ferry boat, the Cadillac.  I sat up-top, first row, right behind the pilot house. 

I took a shot of a photo in Star Line's office since it showed the hydro-jet boats in action, flinging that tail out behind the boat.  And yes, the spray was that high and long.  Amazing to watch!

Another view of the Cadillac just before our departure from Mackinaw City.

View of the five-mile long Mackinac Straits suspension bridge from the Cadillac.

View of the edge of Mackinaw City, with the suspension bridge in the background.  The building at right is the old lighthouse for the Mackinac Straits.

A semi beginning its journey across the Mackinac Straits to St. Ignace.  I'm thinking about 6 June when I have to drive our motorhome, towing our car, across this same bridge.  Pray for no wind.

I guess if these big trucks can do it, I'll be okay.  At least that's what I keep telling myself!

View of Mackinac Island as we approach the dock area.  The large building in the middle is the Grand Hotel, an old historic resort hotel.  It has the longest covered porch in the world.

Closer view of the Grand Hotel as we approach the downtown dock area.

View of downtown Mackinac Island -- a quaint village on Lake Huron.

A few more detailed views of downtown Mackinac Island as we approached.

Mackinac Island dock area with historic Fort Mackinac in the background on top of the hill.

Outdoor patio of a waterfront hotel near the Mackinac Island dock area.

Lynette posing in front of the "Welcome" sign at dock area.

No motorized vehicles (other than emergency vehicles and snowmobiles during the winter) are allowed on Mackinac Island.  The only options for getting around are on foot, by horse (either a saddle horse or a carriage), or on a bicycle.  The pic below is a shot of the carriage we opted for during our tour of the downtown area and the grounds at the Grand Hotel.  This style of carriage holds up to 20 people and is pulled by two HUGE draft horses.  Several businesses offer a variety of tour options. Also, please note the "Ryba's Fudge Shops" sign across the street.  This was just one of many, many fudge shops that abound on Mackinac Island.  More on this later in the blog.

Typical views of Mackinac Island's main street.  Notice all the bicycles...everywhere!

There are so many horses on the island -- and they are such an important piece of the tourist industry -- that there are three vets on the island, but only one medical doctor.

And with all those horses there must to be lots of horse poop, right?  Well, you'd be right.  What to do?  Why, simply have a crew follow the horses around the island, muck up the poop, and then take it to the village compost pile and mix it with other stuff --- and develop your own fertilizer.

The Grand Hotel has its own livery that serves not only to house some of their draft horses that pull their fancy carriages, but also as a museum for carriages used throughout the island's history.

Me posing next to one of the older, finer carriages on display in the museum.

View of Lake Huron from the back doors of the carriage museum.

Hmmmm. Surrey with the fringe on top???

More carriages....and more carriages.....

Handler about to pull these two HUGE draft horses out to harness them to one of the Grand Hotel's many carriages.

Who says Denny doesn't like horses?

Lynette posing between two of the Grand Hotel's finest carriages, often used in one of the many weddings that take place on Mackinac Island.

Perhaps a wedding carriage coming up the road now?

A team of three HUGE draft horses pulling one of the largest carriages on the island; this type of carriage can hold about 50 people.

An outdoor dining area at the Grand Hotel's golf course.

View of the Grand Hotel's golf course.  Not sure where the British call box came from or why its on the golf course in the first place.  Perhaps to call for a mulligan?

Even garbage collection on the island is done via horse-drawn carriages.  

After our island-wide carriage tour, we ended up back in the downtown area to do some shopping and to look for a bite to eat.  Ending up dining at the Chippewa Hotel's Pink Pony, right on the island's waterfront. I had a terrific whitefish sandwich washed down with an Angry Orchard hard cider, while Lynette opted for the French dip and a glass of Pinot Grigio. Here's a couple pics of our view from the Pink Pony dining area -- quite a spectacular view.  And the food was good, too!

So, how about that Mackinac Island fudge I mentioned?  Well, just walking around the downtown area and passing one fudge shop after another soon got to our sweet tooth. Just smelling those mouthwatering aromas became too much to take – we just had to try these delicious confectioneries.  And of course, we bought some -- four different kinds, including blueberry and raspberry. While the island doesn’t claim to have created fudge, after one taste, one might agree it was perfected here. The variety of flavors is almost unworldly. The history of candy making on Mackinac Island goes back to the 19^th century when the Ottawa Indians began making maple sugar sweets in nearby L’Arbor Croche (now Harbor Springs), packaged the candy in birchbark containers and shipped them in steamships touring the Great Lakes to confectioners in America’s big cities. After the Civil War, the tradition of fudge making began and has continued to be the island’s most popular and tastiest souvenir.   Some claim that Mackinac Island’s fudge has become the most popular fudge in America.  I can't disagree! 

All in all, our day trip to Mackinac Island was a great success -- both of us had a really great time and would highly recommend a day trip -- or even an overnight stay (especially at the Grand Hotel if you can find a deal).  Here's a shot of a ferry boat leaving the island on its way back to either Mackinaw City or St. Ignace.

Tomorrow we're heading further north on I-75 to Sault Ste. Marie on the Upper Peninsula's top edge, right on the border with Canada, to take a tour of the Soo Locks.  These locks allow ships to travel between Lake Superior and the lower Great Lakes.  Should be a very interesting trip.

Mackinaw or Mackinac? Either way, a great place!

Wednesday, 5 June 2013.  We left our campground in Milan, MI, around 9:30am, quickly picked up US Route 23, and headed north toward Ann Arbor.  US Route 23 is virtually in interstate condition in this part of Michigan, a four-lane divided highway with limited access and periodic rest stops. We took I-475 around Flint, MI, and finally picked up I-75 in Saginaw.  That meant we were very close to Saginaw Bay, part of Lake Huron.  We followed Saginaw Bay for several miles before heading northwest into the center of Michigan's Lower Peninsula.  I-75 finally straightened out and began an almost "due north" direction toward our destination for today -- and for the next few days -- Mackinaw City.  We finally reached Mackinaw City by mid-afternoon and found our campground, Mackinaw Mill Creek Camping, just a few miles south on SR 23. Fellow campers in South Carolina this past winter -- who hail from Michigan -- highly recommended this campground for our stay in this part of the state.  The campground is situated right on Lake Huron with a beautiful view of the Mackinac Straits suspension bridge.  With over 800 sites for tent camping, trailers, 5th-wheels or big rigs like ours, this campground is an ideal place to stay for a few days while visiting this part of Michigan.  Here's a couple snapshots of our campsite, which, BTW, was quite large by the campground standards we've been using during our travels.

The cabin behind us is a rental unit; the campground has several cabins to rent of various sizes.

A head-on view of LynDenHaus at our campsite.

And a view from the other side.  Turned out to be a nice quiet campsite.

An aerial view of the campground with a view of the Mackinac Straits and suspension bridge in the background.  Mackinaw City is to the left on the bridge, and St. Ignace to the right.

After getting our campsite all set up, we decided to drive into Mackinaw City and check out this small village and try our luck for dinner.  One note: some of you may notice I'm spelling this area two different ways; Mackinaw and Mackinac.  Both are correct and pronounced the same way with the ending as "naw."  The French were here first and named the area Mackinac.  When the British arrived, they heard "Mackinaw" since the "c" in the French version is silent. Thus, both spellings are correct and the words are pronounced exactly alike.  Mackinaw City is certainly geared for tourists with several different businesses offering any number of boating and ferry options, such as a lighthouse tour or ferry rides over to Mackinac Island and other destinations both in Lake Huron and Lake Michigan.  We spotted several fudge shops (more on this later) as well as three different wine shops offering tastings; we stopped in at one later during our stay and bought a couple bottles.  Quite nice, I must say.  For dinner, after spotting several possibilities, we opted for the Dixie Saloon in the center of town and situated just off the waterfront.  And was it ever busy!  Must be a popular place.  Lynette ordered their "Basket O' Shrimp" and a glass of Pinot Grigio, while I opted for their #1 best seller, the Fish & Chips using cod, washed down with a local brew.  Excellent chow and a great beginning to our stay in the Mackinaw City, the gateway to Michigan's Upper Peninsula.

The Dixie Saloon in Mackinaw City, Michigan  

Bookworm wine.....and then comes Michigan!

Monday, 3 June 2013.  Before continuing the blog with an entry about our trip north, I need to mention a little side trip we took on our way home from the Pro Football Hall of Fame (HOF).  On our way to Canton that morning Lynette had spotted a sign on I-77 advertising a couple wineries.  On the drive back to our campground we decided to try our luck and check out the School House Winery, which is located in the Ruslin Hills area, a couple miles off the interstate near Dover, Ohio.  And I think we discovered a nice little gem!  This 127-year old school house has been renovated into a nice little boutique winery.  We sampled several of their wines and they were all quite good.  Since we hadn't eaten lunch today before going to the HOF, we decided to order something to nibble on while we drank a bottle of their Bookworm -- an apple flavored Riesling.  We opted for a meat-and-cheese platter and something described as "meat balls in a bread bowl with sauce and melted cheese."  This latter dish turned out to be very good and we were pleasantly surprised.  We spent a quiet afternoon on their outside deck, eating what turns out to be "dinner" and sipping some surprisingly good wine!  We also took with us another bottle of Bookworm (it really was quite tasty) and a sweet red raspberry wine that we'll use in making spritzers with 7-Up or Sprite.

The first of June saw us continuing our journey into unknown territory (well, at least for us) as we left Ohio and headed west on I-70 toward Columbus, used the bypass to skirt that big city, and then picked up US Route 23 to head north into Michigan.  Route 23 turned out to be a fairly well maintained, four-lane divided highway. Not interstate, but we made good time.   Today's route took us past Toledo (I didn't know this city was located on Lake Erie; learning all sorts of geography as we travel around this great country) and fairly straight north on US 23 toward Ann Arbor -- home of the Fighting Wolverines of Michigan.  And I also did not know Ann Arbor is very close to Detroit; almost like a suburb.  We did run into lots of heavy traffic as we approached the Ann Arbor area.  Our destination for this day was a country campground, KC Campground, near Milan, Michigan, about 30 minutes south of Ann Arbor.  Nice little campground, very friendly, but the exit off US 23 to get to the campground, Plank Road, is just plain terrible. Especially for big rigs like ours.  No shoulder to speak of and when there was it was so patched and re-patched it became quite a game to find solid road to drive on.  I mean, this was one terrible road.  When I mentioned this to the camp hosts at check-in we were told it has been that way for 15 years.  I couldn't believe it!  And other side roads in and around Milan were just gravel or packed dirt.  Strange set of roadways, to be sure.  But all in all we spent our overnight stay without any other hitches.  Even managed to drive into town (I skipped Plank Road and found a longer route but with better roads) and find a nice place to eat at the Milan Grill.  We hit the jackpot since the special this night was prime rib -- which we both promptly ordered and enjoyed.

Here's a couple pics of our campsite and also of the beautiful evening sky and sunset.  The cloud did turn out to be an omen of bad weather, since we had t-storms that evening with some pretty good rains!

Tomorrow we continue our journey north, eventually picking up I-75 at Flint, Michigan, and hopefully end up in Mackinaw City by late afternoon.  We'll be there for four nights / three days, and hope to do some serious sightseeing in the U.P. -- as the locals call Michigan's Upper Peninsula.  Cheers!

  

Pro Football Hall of Fame.....and Joe Namath live!

2 June 2013.  Greetings, blog followers.  Yes, I'm still catching up on my blog entries.  Part of my excuse is that we're traveling again and driving that 35-ft motorhome doesn't let me type on my computer.  And usually after driving all day and setting up even a minimal campsite, I'm tired.  But here we are, settled in at the Mackinaw Mill Creek campground just outside Mackinaw City, Michigan.  Took a quick tour of the surrounding area and caught a glimpse of the towering Mackinac suspension bridge, as well as this quaint little Michigan village, which is obviously geared to the tourist crowd.  But more on that story in a follow-on blog about our four-day stay here in the Mackinaw City area.

On May 31st, we once again headed north on I-77 from our campground in Cambridge, Ohio. Destination this time: the Pro Football Hall of Fame (HOF) in Canton, Ohio. I'd been looking forward to this visit for quite some time; Lynette, not so much, but she was a champ and accompanied me -- and humored me -- thru every exhibit and display I wanted to experience.  Thanks, Sweetheart!  The Pro Football HOF is a must on any football enthusiast's bucket list.  This is virtually a dream come true for die-hard football fans.  There is just so much to see and do and experience.  Display after display, exhibit after exhibit of a huge assortment of artifacts, from pro football's earliest days right up to the present.  For any given record setting event -- be it the jersey of RG III that he wore when he set the rushing record for QBs in a year or the entire uniform Baltimore Ravens outstanding linebacker Ray Lewis wore in his very last game as a player in the NFL -- you'll find it on display at the HOF.  There's a huge number of hands-on displays and exhibits, as well as interactive videos where you can punch in a team, a player, a coach, a year, etc. and watch a video showing such things as the invention of the Y.A. Tittle to RC Owens famous "Alley Oop" pass or the early days of the then struggling American Football League (AFL) before the merger with the NFL.  Just wonderful stuff.  Once again: a MUST see for any football fan.

I'm apologizing in advance for the poor quality of some of these photos. They were taken with Lynette's camera phone since I'd stupidly forgotten my Canon EOS Rebel.  I could have kicked myself.  Anyway, even using my Photo Explosion software some of the pics just aren't what I'd like for this blog, but it is what it is.  Hope you enjoy the pics as much as I enjoyed exploring the Pro Football HOF.

The following photo is a "professional" shot taken when I arrived at the HOF.  When I left, I had the option of what background I wanted for my souvenir photo (the original pics was shot against a green backdrop).  I chose the room in the HOF that displays the individual busts of everyone ever elected to the HOF.  This room is very impressive, very impressive, indeed.  Almost like a shrine of some sort.  I'm also  including a couple close-ups of two of my favorite players so you can get an idea of the craftsmanship of these busts.

                                

                                       Jim Thorpe                                                    Johnny Unitas

Me posing in front of a HUGE mural of Johnny U.

Having a quiet chat with Cleveland Browns superb running back, Jim Brown........

and "Sweetness," Chicago Bears running back, the one and only, Walter Payton.  BTW: Although the above two pics don't show it, these "players" were life-sized and arranged sitting on a bench.  There were about eight players total, in different poses, and all in uniform; I got pics of two I liked.

At this display you could place your hand in a casting of the hand of Patriots linebacker, Willie McGinest.  At 6'5" and 270, this guy had HUGE hands.  It's hard to tell in the photo, but my fingers are probably an inch short.  Brings a new meaning to "What big hands you have."

I did much better in this casting of Troy Aikman's throwing hand.  Guess that means I should have played QB.  But I loved playing defense so much more!

A display of the evolution of the football.   A more rounded shape in its earlier days.

John Elway's (Denver Broncos QB) jersey worn on some day when he broke some sort of passing record (I forget what).  This is really in here for my sister, Sandi, a long-time Denver resident and Bronco and Elway fan.  Go Broncos!

And this is RG III's jersey and shoes, worn in the game when he broke the record for most yards rushing in a year for QBs.  This pic is in here for my son, Kip, a Deadskin fan.

This Sonny Jurgensen (Washington Deadskin QB) jersey is interesting because I never knew some of the older jerseys had the crotch snaps at the bottom.  Hard to see, but that's what it is, crotch snaps, to help keep the jersey tucked in.  Guess it worked.

This pic shows part of the entire uniform worn by former Ravens linebacker Ray Lewis in the very last game he played in the NFL.  Shoes included.

Jerseys of two of my favorite players, Roger Staubach (QB) and Bob Lilly (defensive lineman), from America's Team, the Dallas Cowboys.

Me and Johnny U having a little discussion on what play to call......

An old poster advertising season tickets (10 games) for the Chicago Bears.  At Wrigley Field.  Hmmm, wait a minute; I thought the Cubs played at Wrigley.....

Display showing a handmade letter sweater worn by Jim Thorpe, along with a poster and other memorabilia from pro football's earlier days.

Check out these uniforms and padding from pro football's earlier days.  And yes, that is a leather nose protector on the dummy's face.  Per the accompanying placards, this piece of "safety" equipment actually caused more injuries than it prevented, and was eventually discarded.

Nice photo of Tom Harmon, both an outstanding collegiate and  professional football player and later a sports broadcaster.  He is also the father of NCIS honcho, Mark Harmon.

An actual playbook on display.  Can't remember what team or player.  Just like we drew up in HS.

Me posing with a life-sized bronze statue of the great Jim Thorpe.

And here's a real goofy shot of me wearing one of the helmets today's modern pro QBs wear to communicate with their coaches from the sidelines.  A coach calls a play and the QB hears it thru his helmet.  This exhibit had feeds of actual plays being sent to the helmet.  Man, those plays were so complicated I'm sure I'd most likely just call an audible.  You know: Okay, Horning, you go deep.  Down the sideline, 20 yards, cut in quick, and I'll hit you with a spiral.  Yeah, right!

This mural of the Bears' Walter Payton covers the whole one side of the HOF on the outside.

Entrance to the HOF.  I-77 is just behind the photographer.

One last little story, really a sideshow to our visit to the Pro Football HOF.  Joe Namath (QB for the New York Jets, famous for his prediction that the Jets would beat the Colts in Super Bowl III) was on the HOF grounds filming a commercial for the "Namath Rapid Cooker."  I'm not kidding, that's what it is called.  While they wouldn't let us get too close to Joe, we nevertheless were able to take a couple shots between takes.  I had to laugh because he only had a couple lines on the cue card, but seemed to be having trouble with the wording so they changed the words for him.  Go figure.  Anyway, it was kinda neat to have a "real" hall of famer on site with us.

                     

                                            Joe rehearsing his lines.  All three of them.....

     

              More rehearsing.....                                  Nope can't get it.  Let's change the cue card!

To Joe's credit, he got it right in Super Bowl III and let the Jets to a 16-7 victory over the colts.

Joe stuck around for another day and helped with a "preview" of an upcoming dedication of a new exhibit of the Super Bowl trophy for display at the Pro Football HOF.  Way to go, Joe!