Mackinaw City and Mackinac Island

slow down and step back in time

Dana Kazel

Walking along South Huron Street in Mackinaw City, with seagulls overhead and ship horns sounding in the distance, it’s impossible not to draw comparisons between this bustling tourist town and Duluth’s Canal Park. Each is largely defined by its location on a Great Lake and boasts a bridge as its most recognizable landmark.

Yet, when you consider that Mackinaw City overlooks not one, but two Great Lakes, plus the historic and unique Mackinac Island, and you’ll realize why it’s a worthy vacation destination even for someone from Duluth~Superior.

And there’s fudge.

Mackinaw City is about a nine-hour trip from the Twin Ports. It’s a beautiful drive, with the final five miles spanning over the famous Mackinac Bridge as it crosses the Straits of Mackinaw, where Lake Michigan and Lake Huron meet. The bridge also serves to connect Michigan’s Upper and Lower Peninsulas.

The region is rich in history, which it showcases for visitors. Mackinaw City traces its roots to 1715 when French fur-traders built a fort there. The British took over the fort in the 1760s, but 20 years later, fearing attacks by colonialists, abandoned the fort and burned it to the ground. The British then moved the settlement to a nearly island, creating Fort Mackinac.

Just as the British chose to move to the island, so too do most tourists, though for largely different reasons. Today’s visitors to Mackinac Island (which is also pronounced Mack-in-naw, though it maintained the French spelling) seek it out as a place to relax and rediscover simpler pleasures.

From a distance, the island beaches look deceptively tropical, with sparkling, turquoise-tinted waters cast against a white shoreline. Get closer and you discover it’s not sand, but small rocks at waters edge. And though the rocks have been polished smooth, aqua socks make it much easier to wade or swim. The shallower areas are warm enough to make you forget they’re part of the Great Lakes, or at least that they have any connection to Lake Superior.

To reach Mackinac Island, visitors can choose from multiple competing ferries, which shuttle passengers on the roughly 25-minute ride from mainland to Island. It’s ironic that some of the ferry companies emphasize the speed of the crossing, considering nothing else on the island seems to be done in haste.

Quite simply, there is no hurrying on Mackinac Island. All motorized traffic is banned, which means to get around, visitors have the choice of horse-drawn carriages, bicycles or walking.

The hub of Island activity centers on the few blocks on either side of the ferry docks. It’s as you walk these busy sidewalks and step inside the many unique shops, hotels, diners and saloons, that you realize there is a near total absence of franchise restaurants and stores. What you will find are plenty of antique shops, plus fudge confectioners on every block.

No one should visit the island without renting a bicycle and touring the outer perimeter. It’s an easy, eight-mile ride over mostly flat terrain, which provides excellent justification to sample just a little more fudge. The views are spectacular, with frequent opportunities to stop, walk along the beach and skip stones in the water. About half way around the Island you begin seeing the Mackinaw Bridge. It’s from this vantage point that you can truly appreciate its enormous size and what a project it must have been to build.

The bike ride also reveals the variety of lodging options available on the Island, from historic bed and breakfasts to the stately Grand Hotel, which has served as the setting for the Hollywood films This Time for Keeps and Somewhere in Time, as well as hosted five U.S. presidents.

Return to the mainland and you find even more to do in Mackinaw City. Depending on your interests and level of daring, options range from parasailing to waterparks to miniature golf to shopping. The retired Coast Guard Cutter Mackinaw is open for tours. Charter fishing for one of Mackinaw’s signature meals – the whitefish – is available. Or just go for a walk and take in the many impressive flower gardens.

Cap off your day with dinner at one of the legendary restaurants such as the Mackinaw Bay Trading Company or Dixie’s Saloon. Follow that with ice cream or fudge as you take in a free concert at sunset, offered twice a week during the summer in the city’s band shell, with Lake Huron as a backdrop.

With so many choices for lodging and activities, you may wonder where’s the best place to stay. Certainly, lodging on the Island is more expensive, but also offers a greater sense of quiet and romance. The mainland, on the other hand, caters to families, including those with small children.

No matter where you choose to stay, be open to adventure and new experiences. It’s amazing what you’ll discover, when you take the time to slow down.