Monday 10 August 2015

Drummond Island to Mackinaw Island

Good sleep last night after a good travel day to Drummond Island and new waters!!  Left Drummond Island about 8:30 heading toward Mackinaw Island.  Waters were calm to begin but then out to the open waters of Lake Huron.  It was still pretty calm given the amount of open water.  This water is nothing like we are used to in the Kawarthas.  You don't often have boats looking like this pass by.  Their wake is enough to break a few dishes if you aren't prepared.
I absolutely love Mackinaw Island...Dexter....not so much.  There are no motorized vehicles allowed here so there are literally thousands of bicycles on the streets along with horse and buggies.  The town is sooo clean.  You never even see any horse sh*# .......ever.  Not sure how they do that?? Ok, those last 2 sentences in italics were posted yesterday.  Yes you see horse sh*#, but not very much.  They are very good at following the horses and keeping their town clean.   There are rules here and everyone abides by them....hellllloooo laws...why wouldn't you?  But here it just works.  When we approached the marine we radioed in for a slip assignment and were told no, you can't do that until you are in the marina, this is first come, first serve....very fair.  After we arrived and got settled we took a walk up to the main street with Dexter.  It was just way to busy for him so we brought him back to the boat and went just ourselves.  He was much happier on the boat.  He didn't like the horses at all. 
Now this next picture is for  Len and Gail.  In a town where there are no motorized vehicles allowed.....they have a Harley Davidson store?  Upon approaching the store we see the bike is not motorized.  We laughed as we thought of our good friends.

Day 2 on Mackinaw Island.  What a great day to break out the bikes! There is a road that  travels right around the coast of the island.  It's a total of 8 miles so after Dexter had is morning walk we decided to take it on.  Absolutely beautiful!!  There are mile markers every mile so you know where you are.  We haven't used the bikes much at all since we bought them 3 or 4 years ago.  I'm pretty sure we'll be using them much more now.

 
 As we passed mile one we came upon a beach with hundreds of Inuksuks?  Not sure if that is the proper name.  Someone asked us and that's what I told them.....Steve told him I made it up. Maybe I did??
Mile 6 with the Mackinaw Bridge in the distance.
Arrived back at the boat at about 11am.  We are planning on lunch at the Grand Hotel.  So thought we would exercise Dexter before we left for lunch.  There is a park close and it wasn't very busy as most people stick to the streets....because there are no cars!!  Dexter got his off leash chuck it...soo happy!
It's about a 1/2 hour walk to the Grand Hotel for lunch so we decided to take the bikes.  We love our bikes! We parked our bikes in the Grand Hotel parking lot which looks like this....
 We had a delicious lunch of salad, fresh oysters, fresh shrimp, lamb, pasta, chicken, assorted cheeses, fruits and desserts.  The hotel is very historic.  We had a great view from our table.

When we left the hotel we decided to go up the hill and tour the homes close to the Grand Hotel.  Well we never saw the homes...I guess we took a wrong turn which resulted in a 6 mile bike ride home. Our asses hurt!!
Approaching the boat now after lunch.  The bike ride back was good to burn off many of the calories consumed.  The streets here are riddled with bicycles.  It's no wonder there are no cars allowed because there wouldn't be the space for them anywhere.  On the main street it can be a challenge to find a spot for your bike.
It's been a great day with so much more to look forward to.  When we check in to the Mackinaw Marina they asked us would you like to book for 2 nights or just "One Bay at a Time?"  I smiled.  We will decide where we will go tomorrow over dinner tonight.  Somewhere Northern Lake Michigan, "One Bay at a Time."





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