Today we traveled 46.5 NM through the Straights of Mackinac to Mackinaw City, MI and are docked at Straights State Harbor.
Biddle Point Lighthouse
De Tour Reef Lighthouse
Martin Reef Lighthouse
Round Island Lighthouse
Mackinac Island, MI
The Grand Hotel, Mackinac Island, Michigan, built in 1887
Who knew?!
The Grand Hotel - America’s True Grand Hotel
At 660 feet, Grand Hotel’s Front Porch is the
world’s largest, and is visible as you approach the island from the Straits of
Mackinac.
No motorized vehicles are allowed on
Michigan’s Mackinac Island. All transportation is provided by horse and
carriage or bicycle.
Mackinac Island is accessible only by ferry
boat or plane.
More than 130,000 overnight guests stay at
Grand Hotel each season.
The 5,000,000th guest in Grand Hotel history
checked in on June 26, 2006.
While more than one million people visit
Mackinac Island each year, the island has only 600 year-round residents.
It takes 500,000 gallons of water to fill
Grand Hotel’s swimming pool, which was named for actress Esther Williams who
starred in the 1947 movie This Time for Keeps, shot at Grand Hotel.
The 1980 film Somewhere in Time,
starring Christopher Reeve, Jane Seymour and Christopher Plummer, was filmed on
location at Grand Hotel. The movie now has a huge following, with a fan club
that meets at Grand Hotel each October.
There are more than 500 horses on Mackinac
Island.
Five U.S. Presidents — Clinton, Bush, Ford,
Kennedy, and Truman — have visited Grand Hotel.
Grand Hotel’s kitchen staff of more than 100
prepares and serves as many as 4,000 meals per day.
Each season, more than 83,000 pounds of prime
rib, 23,500 pounds of ham, 83,500 pounds of potatoes, 23,000 pounds of carrots,
14,000 pounds of strawberries, and 6,500 pounds of pecans are served to Grand
Hotel’s dining guests.
One ton of bulbs are planted in the fall,
including 25,000 tulips and 15,000 daffodils.
More than 125,000 bedding plants (annuals) are
used to create the many gardens on Grand Hotel grounds.
The Grand’s famous Front Porch flowers include
2,500 geraniums-the hotel’s trademark flower-in 260 planting boxes with seven
tons of potting soil. More than 5,200 geraniums can be seen in all its flower
beds combined.
More than 50,000 Grand Pecan Balls, the
Hotel’s most popular dessert, are served each season.
Ferries everywhere!
The red and white pole attached to the fire hydrant (which is taller than Charlie) is so firefighters can locate the hydrants when hydrants are covered in snow (that's a lot of snow)
Fudge Shops everywhere....
