Waking up this morning..when the sunrise is so beautiful you just know it’s gonna be a great day!When we lived for 20 years in Wisconsin, and the 4 years in Grand Rapids Michigan I always planned a trip ( in my head, of course) to visit the famous Grand Hotel on Mackinac Island. Never did I actually manage to pull off that vacation and I figured it would never happen. Today is the day!!!!!
If you look very closely there is a blob of white on the picture’s right cliff.. the Grand Hotel
Main Street is different in that there are no motorized vehicles allowed on the island. Hundreds of bicycles but NOT a single car.We were meeting friends we made on our World Cruise in 22/23 who live on the mainland. We were excited to walk around the island and have our own personal guides! 
We still get to see hundreds of flowers in the beds. 
The exception to the rule is a fire truck!
Just a local home!
Fort Mackinac.. a British/American military fort.As always, it depended on who was winning at what time…they got the fort.
Walking up the hill and viewing The Grand Hotel!
Al and I on the wrap around porch. The entire porch overlooks the lake and provides a beautiful rocking chair to sit in. While there, Wes and Lori took us up to the top of the Cupola where we could see for miles! We were able to see our ship anchored in the bay.
One of the lighting fixtures in the Copula. Every bit of the hotel has been kept as it was when it was it opened. The decorating was fantastic.
Inside the great hallway of the hotel
The movie “Somewhere in Time” was filmed here with Chrisopher Reeves and “This Time For keeps” with Ester Willams ( who asked for the hotel to build a pool for her and then needed it to be heated as she forgot it would be cold in Michigan!)
After leaving Wes and Lori, we joined our tour of the island by horse carriage. These carriages were big enough to hold 12 passengers comfortably and off we went. Our horses were named Larry and Grant and they were very strong!They are Belgian horses are were were told they absolutely want to drag us around! The horses only work 4 hours a day and are well cared for. They are transferred to the mainland during the winter and live there until time to return to work. The carriage company has approx. 500 horses in their stables on the island during peak tourist season. They also provide horses for taxi services, weddings, and anything that would be done by a car.
The corner grocery store. There are about 500 permanent citizens on the island so they need all the same services as you or I do.
Meeting some locals on their way to town
Another vehicle
A taxi cab
Our horses Larry and Grant
The Arch Rock. This geological feature reminds os of the Apostle islands.
Arch Rock with intrepid travelers
More of the end of summer flowers. Remember I’m from Tucson and I mostly see cactus flowers! It was exciting to see the flowers of my childhood.
This was our carriage around the island
And this was our carriage Off the island! It was a great day and It was worth the long wait to visit.
Wes,Albert,Lori and Linda
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