Mid-Michigan Dining

• 7274 Main Street
• Mackinac Island, MI 49757
• (906) 847-3783
• Website

Mackinac Island

J and I finally feel like Michiganders (or is it Michiginians?).  It seems like every weekend, our friends who grew up here always say they’re “going up north.”  That’s it.  No specific place.  Just up north.  Since we don’t have family here or a cottage somewhere, there’s really no reason for us to “go north.” 

Since moving here, I’ve wanted to go to Mackinac Island.  J went when she was younger.  Her family did the circle tour one year and Mackinac Island was one of the stops.  I’ve never been.  We had plans to go for a couple days in June, but wedding plans made it impossible to take the trip.  A couple weeks ago, J and I were noticing our weekends off, alone together were slowly becoming more and more rare.  We looked at the calendar and figured out the last weekend in July could be the last chance until next spring for us to get away for a day, so we made plans.

Our day started early.  We got up around 7:30 and got on the road about 8:00.  We knew we couldn’t afford to stay on the Island and we knew we couldn’t afford to take the ferry two days in a row, so we decided just to make it a day trip.  Yes, it was a long day with a lot of driving, but it wasn’t as bad as I thought it would be.  Mackinac Island is abouta  3 1/2 hour drive from Lansing, but it’s all four lane highway which is really nice. 

We pulled into Mackinaw City at about 11:30.  We found our way to the Arnold Ferry.  When we pulled in, a guy pointed us to a parking lot across the street.  We parked and walked back to get our tickets.  Arnold was the one ferry company that had a AAA discount.  I showed my card and got a couple bucks off.  The tickets were $22 a piece for the round trip, so the ferry round cost us $44.  I was hit with sticker shock when I first saw the prices, but it’s the only way to get there. Read the rest of this entry »