Number of Miles Driven: 10 (to the ferry and back)

States Driven Through: Michigan 

Hours Driven: 15 minutes


Today was a day I was especially excited for – we’ve heard so many great things about Mackinac Island. It’s known as the “Fudge Capital of the World” with 13 fudge shops on the small island, and there are no cars allowed on the island – so all transportation is via horse/carriage/bike.

We had to eat, get ready, and pack up quickly because we were trying to make the 8:30 ferry. We’ve gotten pretty good at it because we woke up at 7 and were pulling out by 8:10. We pulled into the ferry dock around 8:20 and went straight to the ferry line, but I couldn’t find the tickets on my phone. I had previously bought them, but I couldn’t find the email anywhere (still can’t find it and don’t know what happened). I quickly ran inside to see if they had record of my purchase and could give me paper tickets. They found them (thank goodness – it wasn’t a cheap ferry ride), but only 5 of the tickets printed out, so they had to call a manager over. Meanwhile, it’s 8:32 and Michael comes inside to say “We have to go!” – well…we can’t go without tickets. The tickets printed off at 8:35 – right as the ferry was pulling away. Ughh…

We thought the next ferry was at 9 (which was our back-up option in case we didn’t get packed up quickly enough), but it turns out it was 9:30 (even though the schedule said 9:00). So, we sat at the dock for an hour – the kids got a little restless, but it wasn’t terrible. We discovered the lock wasn’t on the uhaul and it had been left on top of the uhaul – luckily it hadn’t fallen off in the short drive from the campsite. But, if we’d caught the 8:30 ferry, our trailer would have been unlocked all day. Silver linings?! A couple next to us had on a Flying Bulls Brewery shirt and it turns out they were Durham. 

Waiting for the ferry

The 9:30 ferry took a detour under the Mackinac bridge, and it was fun to go under the bridge and learn a few facts about it. The ride over was windy and chilly but it was a gorgeous sunny day, so that helped. As we pulled in to the dock, we saw the Grand Hotel (longest porch in the world) and the quaint downtown area. Michael and I both thought it looked like a combination of Edgartown and Oak Bluffs with a mixture of Federal-style white churches/houses and colorful Victorian-style houses.

Mighty Mac in the background




View of Mackinac Island coming in from the ferry

 As soon as we walked off the ferry, there were two very opposite but distinct smells – horse manure and fudge. Luckily, we became accustomed to the manure smell fairly quickly. Our first stop was to reserve a  Carriage Ride because we’ve been told it’s first-come, first-serve and we were already on a boat an hour later than we expected. Luckily, the line wasn’t too long, and we were able to get the last tickets for the 10:30 tour (we later learned that the day before was their busiest day of the season


The horses for our ride were Clark and Gibson, and they were both Belgium horses. We learned some interesting historical facts as we trotted through downtown and up to Surrey Hill. Turns out the Grand Hotel was built in 93 days – the workers were promised 1 million dollars by the Hotel Owners if they finished in 90 days; but the workers learned the contractors weren’t planning to share it with them, so they stretched the labor out to 93 days, and the $1 million bonus was not given to the contractors. The kids enjoyed the ride (but Carolyn was still disappointed we weren’t doing individual horse rides). 

First carriage ride with Clark and Gibson



One of Gibson's Horseshoes

At Surrey Hill, we bought fresh-made doughnuts (delicious!) and checked out a forging shop and the Grand Hotel’s stables. The kids were allowed to forge their own knives from horseshoes, so we made an appointment to come back at 3 for them to do that. We saw lots of beautiful (and HUGE!) horses at the stables, and there was a display of old carriages that have been used on the island.

Yummm...Donuts!

Original carriages from Mackinac Island

Beware Black Bears!

Mackinac means "turtle"

Next, we continued our carriage tour, but this time we were on a larger carriage that was pulled by 3 horses (I don’t remember their names). This carriage ride took us through the woodsy part of the island and to Arch Rock. It was packed, so we didn’t get great photos, but we at least got to see it before we had to return to the carriage. 

Carriage Ride Through the Woods (this carriage was behind us, but I liked their white horses)

Arch Rock

You can kind of see the arch behind us

The carriage brought us back to downtown, so the total trip was about 2 hours. We grabbed lunch at Mighty Mac’s Hamburgers – every place was crowded but we got in and out of there fairly quickly (and the food was good!). We mailed a postcard from their post office (the only post-office in the US that doesn’t deliver mail) and then made the trek back uphill toward Surrey Hill for Andrew, Carolyn, and Matthew’s forging class. Andrew and Matthew made knives and Carolyn made an arrowhead necklace. They seemed to have fun pounding the hot iron. 

The carriage dropped us off at the top of the hill, so we had to walk down it to get to downtown. Lake Huron is in the background

Hiking back downtown

Lunch at Mighty Macs - hamburgers and hotdogs

Just a beautiful church I saw walking back toward Surrey Hill

About to forge their souvenirs

Matthew making a pony knife

Perhaps a little too excited for that knife?!?!

Carolyn forging away!

Andrew's forging techniques - just hit it hard

Andrew's final product - it was quite sharp!

Showing off their labors of love at the forging cabin


After the forging, we leisurely made our way back to downtown (luckily downhill this time) – took some pictures by Grand Hotel and walked along the shoreline of Lake Huron. The kids found the playground at the public school, so they had to stop and play.

Posing along Lake Huron

Of course, we had to buy some fudge at the Fudge Capital of the world. My friend Kylee also suggested a 1 lb fudge-eating challenge for Andrew – and he eagerly accepted. We chose Ryba’s - partly because it was right beside our ferry dock, and partly because they claim to be “The Best Fudge on the Island.” We almost bought Murdick’s fudge because it was the first fudge shop on Mackinac, but we’ve had their fudge on Martha’s Vineyard. Turns out, Murdick’s first opened at Mackinac Island in 1887 and they were famous for making the fudge on marble slabs for the public to see (no one else did that at the time). The only other place they have a shop is Martha’s Vineyard and it opened many years later.  

Watching the fudge be made at Ryba's

1 pound of fudge (.25 lb of four flavors)


I also bought a hat and Michael bought some beer at Great Turtle – the local brewery. Then we lined up around 5 pm for the 5:30 ferry – or so we thought. We were in the right line, but it was already such a long line that we didn’t make the 5:30 ferry. So, we waited for 6 pm ferry. The ferry workers commented that it was “crazy” and “so many people” – so, I’m guessing that didn’t help. They ended up bringing in an extra ferry to handle the crowds so there were two 6 pm ferries. The trip back took much longer because we were on a bigger boat. I ordered pizza while were on the boat, so it was ready when we got there around 6:45. 





We were all tired after waiting so long for the boat and a long day of walking. But Dani curled up into Andrew's side because she was cold AND tired. 

We ate pizza at a picnic table overlooking the Straits of Mackinac and then headed to our hotel room. We intended to camp that night as well, but I forgot to book a site for that night (not sure what happened) and when I noticed my error (mid-April), there were no campsites available. So, hotel it was – and, honestly, it was much needed. We were all dusty from walking around Mackinac all day and a break from sleeping on the floor was much appreciated. Andrew volunteered to sleep on the floor at the last hotel, so he got the bed at this hotel – it was a good choice on his part.

There was an indoor pool at the hotel, so I took the kids and worked on the blog. I finally got to upload entries to the website because I had wifi! I hadn’t been to the website in two years, so I was a little rusty, but it slowly came back to me. The kids loved the pool – especially the hot tub.

We headed back to the room around 8:30, did showers, and then put the kids to bed. Meanwhile, I repacked the packing cubes with enough outfits to get us through the next three days of camping, and then I worked on the blog a lot longer than I should have – but I got 5 days of posts loaded! We won’t have wifi again until Friday, so I had to get as much done as possible.