Thursday, June 16, 2011

Vacation Chronicles - Mackinac Island

One of the great highlights of our Michigan vacation was the day we spent at Mackinac Island! We drove about 30 minutes from Julie and Bud's house to Mackinac City and boarded a ferry boat to the island. (There are no cars allowed on Mackinac Island.) We were there for the first day of their annual Lilac Festival. The island looked and smelled beautiful!

The first thing we had to do on the island was buy sweatshirts. It was cold! The next thing we did - because Ray was SO excited about it - was rent bikes. Unfortunately, the only bike they had with training wheels was just too wobbly for Adam to ride. So, he and I strolled through some shops. Of course we had to check out the fudge shops! We watched them make fudge and we sampled our fair share! Meanwhile, Jon and Ray rode EIGHT MILES all the way around the island. They had a wonderful time and Ray is so proud! (Somehow I neglected to get pictures of the bikes or the fudge. Oh well!)
Adam loved this turtle. He even ate his lunch sitting here.
We spent a good part of the day exploring Fort Mackinac. We watched cannon and rifle firing demonstrations. We toured all of the buildings and learned what life was like for the soldiers who lived there in the 1880's.
Locked up at the fort with the boys!
Check out these mean soldiers!
Trying out the soldiers' life
Watching a (mechanical) re-enactment of a battle at the fort.

We also visited an island attraction called the Butterfly House. We had a great time observing so many butterfly species from around the world.


Beautiful lilacs, happy mom, goofy boys!

Well, those are the highlights from our Michigan vacation. Thanks for reading! I guess this is the modern version of the old fashioned vacation slideshows. At least you can just skip these posts if you're not interested. :) If you ever get a chance to visit Michigan, I hope you'll enjoy it as much as we do. Don't miss Cross in the Woods and Mackinac Island! They are real treasures of "that State up North!"

1 comment:

  1. Looks like you had a fantastic trip! My kiddos would love the fort, what fun!

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