Upper Midwest Tour, Day 18 and 19, July 27 & 28th

Yesterday was catch up on the previous day's post so today, I needed to cover both Thursday and Friday.  Thursday was a multi-modal travel day with one stop (at Soo Locks) and water taxi from Mackinaw City to Mackinac Island.  

Soo Locks, in Sault Set. Marie, is the 21-foot drop from Lake Superior into Lake Huron on the border between the US and Canada.  The locks, of which there are 3 and maybe a fourth under construction, allow ships to move from one lake to the other.  They are operated by the Corps of Engineers and have a very nice visitor center with full explanations of navigation locks.  Sorry, I am not going to go into that.  We watched two tourist boats enter the lock and rise from Huron to Superior.  The Corps workers on the dock ride around in neat little motorized carts; we saw none of them walking.  

A photo of the Soo Lock Complex.  The natural river with rapids is to the right (with fish passage).  There is one additional lock on the Canadian Side which would be in the far right of this photo.

The nearest lock chamber with the lower gate opening.

No walking is necessary.

Except when hooking boat lines to bollards

The first lock - note the sailing ship.

After the Soo Locks, we drove south about 50 miles to St. Ignace, MI, which is one of the water taxi ports for Mackinac Island, but decided to cross the Mackinaw Strait on the "largest suspension bridge in the US."  

 

There is a modest toll to cross the 4-mile long bridge, which stitches the Upper Peninsula and lower Michigan together and allows huge freighters to pass underneath.  We arrived in Mackinaw City, the other port for water taxis to Mackinac Island.  We bought tickets, bike licenses, checked our luggage, unloaded the bikes, and parked the car in a nearby lot.  We then boarded a Star Line Ferry, with our bikes.  

The ferry service runs about every half hour.  The trip is 8 miles in distance and takes about 30 minutes.

First view of Mackinac Island Harbor/waterfront.

The Grand Hotel.

The Round Lighthouse.

The Red Lighthouse.

We disembarked and claimed our bikes when the crew unloaded them.  We also identified our luggage to a bicycle-riding porter for our hotel, who delivered them to our room.  We rode through the throngs of tourists to The Harbor View Inn, which is located 1/4 mile from the main downtown area and is a block off the water front.

The Harbor View Inn, the main house (noted below), with 2 additional buildings behind it.

We checked in, stowed our bikes, had a snack of Wisconsin cheese and then strolled through the town.  It was still busy with day-tripping tourists.  We walked the length of the marina piers, seeing many very nice yachts and a few nice sail boats.  Nearly all of the vessels had Michigan registrations.  After walking to the approach for the Grand Hotel, we cut across a golf course (probably not allowed but there were no golfers) and ended up in Marquette Park.  We hung out until 6:30 pm to listen to the beginning of "Concert in the Park."  After a few numbers by a solo guitar player, we want to the Ice House Restaurant and had dinner -- spinach salad and very tender brisket, with a beer from Bell's Brewery (for me) and sangria (for Betsy).   Thus ended yesterday.

Today, we rode bicycles in the most stress-free manner possible.  The island has no cars nor any motorized vehicles (except golf carts and possibly fire engines).  Bikes and walking are the primary modes of travel, but taxis, tourist coaches, and island utility services are horse drawn.  Mackinaw Island feels like a New England coastal village, with sea gulls but without salt water.  

Our first ride was clockwise around the island along the road which follows the shoreline.  Most tourists chose to ride counterclockwise, so we encountered lots of oncoming traffic but had relatively open lanes on our side.  Cyclists are supposed to give way to the horse-drawn surreys and carriages but the horses seemed pretty chill and not easily stressed by wavering riders.

Limestone rocks of various sizes make up the beaches  We waded into the water, which is challenging since one is walking on ball bearings that shift with one's weight and hurt the feet.  The water was clear and not that cold. 

Garage "truck."

Arch Rock, a limestone arch created when the lake level was much higher.

Our first ride was 9 miles.  We then rested a while at the Inn's gazebo and had some fruit, before venturing out again to ride the interior of the island.  We rode uphill, arriving first at the airport, then going on to Wawashkamo Golf course, and then  British Landing.  We retraced our steps back uphill past the golf course and airport to Fort Holmes.  The island has two forts, both constructed originally by the British to protect their interests in the Great Lakes.  The area between British Landing and the Golf Course was the site of a battle during the War of 1812, that took place in 1814 - the British and allied local Indians whipped the American force.  We conquered another high point - not a state high point, but an island one.  We followed bike-only paths to the top of Arch Rock and back home.

Wawashkamo Golf course (with a historic clubhouse) located at the site of the 1814 battle, specifically where the British line was.

A horse-drawn street sweeper, manually unloaded by shovel and wheelbarrow. 

Fort Holmes.

The Blockhouse at Fort Holmes.

Reconstructed in 2015 using mortise and tenon-fitted, hand hewed timbers.

Sugarloaf Rock

View from the High Point.

View through Arch Rock.

Fort Mackinac

A typical residential street - very nice Queen Anne buildings with just the right amount of gingerbread trim.  Most of the island is a state park, with the hotels clustered around the port, but there are also number of private homes, probably very pricy.

We walked away from town to the Round Island Kitchen for dinner and had another fine meal, with beer from Potesky Brewing.  We liked dinner so much, we made reservations for tomorrow night, too.  The restaurant is part of the Mission Point Resort, a mega complex.

On the walk home we saw the Amazon Prime delivery guy -- horse drawn.