Since early last year, I had been saving the weekend of the Fourth of July for personal travel. It wasn't always easy to keep it free (I'm always so tempted to take every wedding that comes my way!), but it was totally worth it after the fact. Nathan and I spent the weekend in Mackinac Island with his family and had the best time!
Mackinac Island sits right in between the upper and lower peninsulas of Michigan in Lake Huron. And I just want to take a moment right now and say that Michigan is completely underrated. It is GORGEOUS, and those Pure Michigan commercials aren't lying. :) We had absolutely perfect weather (albeit a little chilly) while we were there … blue skies and blue water. It doesn't get better than that!
Except it does because the coolest thing about this island? No cars are allowed! Everyone travels by horse, bicycle or foot, and all the trash is collected and goods are delivered by horse and buggy. Cool, right? I kinda felt like we had stepped back in time. We bicycled around the entire island, which is 8 miles, twice. Renting bikes is definitely a must-do if you ever visit Mackinac. I'd also highly recommend a carriage tour of the island. There's so much history packed into that little place!
When we planned this trip, I decided that I was only going to shoot film while we were there. The fact that I barely have to edit my film images meant that I'd actually have my vacation photos ready to go as soon as they were developed. Usually my vacation photos sit on my hard drive for a few months until I have some time to go through them. No thank you! I wanted these images ASAP. I'm happy to report that this was the best decision, and I'll be doing this for all future trips!
Enjoy a peek of Mackinac Island through my film lens …
We stayed at the Island House--the oldest continuously operating hotel on the island. We decided that we had the best location on the island (not in the middle of all the hustle and bustle, but not too far), and aside from the one dirty sheet we found upon arrival (ha!), we'd definitely recommend this spot.
While the Grand Hotel was not in our budget, we did venture up the hill to snap a couple photos. This place is MASSIVE and has a huge porch (I think the longest in the country if I'm not mistaken!).
Ahhh, Pure Michigan.
These were our horses for our carriage ride. The one in the middle is Travis, and I remember that because the carriage driver kept telling him to "step it up!" Evidently he's the slacker of the bunch.
Where we stayed: Island House Where we ate: Carriage House, Pancake House, Island Slice Pizzeria, Chuckwagon, The Gate House, JoAnn's Fudge (about three times … this was definitely the best fudge on the island; we did thorough testing!) What we did: Rented bicycles, took a carriage tour, toured Fort Mackinac, visited Little Stone Church