June 28-30 Mackinac Island, MI

John and Julie and family (Christopher, Jack, Ryan, Tommy, Gracie and Mia) have arrived by car, after a two day drive from Hickory, NC, to join us aboard KOKOMO II for the next 10 days. They find us in Mackinaw City, in the marina, and we load their gear and, about 4pm we head over by boat to Mackinac Island for three nights of 'island time'.

Christopher makes a 'chain' with the extra length of our dock line.
Makes our boat look ship shape.
Looks nice.

Mia

Gracie

We have some rain showers off and on all day. But still enough dry weather to walk the streets of town and see the shirt shops, and all the fudge and ice cream offerings. There are no cars on Mackinac Island, so we only see horse drawn carts and carriages, and bicycles. John and Julie brought three bikes and they were in use all the time, even in the rain.

Linda, Gracie and Mia in the rain.

Julie, Mia and Gracie on a 'turtle' which is the indian symbol for Mackinac Island.

Jack, Al Capone, Mia and Gracie.

Feeding bread to a family of ducks at the boat.

Julie, Tommy and Chris playing Bananagram.
Tommy organizes a tournament.
Jack wins.

Chris in front of a great looking team of horses and carriage belonging to the Grand Hotel.

Fort Mackinac is located on a bluff overlooking the town and the harbor. This is something we have been meaning to see on past visits but never did. So this time we hiked up the big hill and spent several hours touring the grounds and buildings. Fort Michilimackinac was origionally located in Mackinaw City and was occupied by the British during the American Revolutionary War. The British feared an attack by the Americans and so they moved the fort from Mackinaw City to Mackinac Island as a more defenseable place, and renamed the fort Mackinac. The new Fort Mackinac sits on a bluff overlooking the harbor and the straights and is a very substantial place. The British did not lose the fort in battle but did lose the fort to the American's as a part of the peace following the Revolutionary War. The British then recaptured it in the War of 1812 as the American defenders were outnumbered and surrendered. The British then gave the fort back to the Americans a second time as part of the peace treaty following the War of 1812. It has been an American fort ever since and has been a tourist attraction for over 100 years.

View of our marina from the fort.

Firing the cannon.

Julie, Mia and Gracie with a costumed tour guide learning to play a game from 1890.

Jack, Christopher, Ryan and Tommy try their hands at the games.

Tommy and Gracie participate in a military drill unit and are rewarded by being allowed to hold the rifles.

We think the highlight of this island adventure was the bike ride all around the island. john and Julie rented additional bikes and took the whole family on an eight mile ride. The rain showers held off and they made it all the way around without getting wet. Beautiful. Linda and Owen decided not to risk the rain and had some quiet time while they were gone.

Tommy and Gracie.

Mia and Christopher.

The whole crew ready to ride around the island.
Jack, Christopher, Ryan, John, Mia, Julie, Tommy and Gracie.

Mackinac Island is a unique and beautiful place and it was especially nice to be in the marina close to town and to be able to look at the town and the fort from the boat. The ferry's come and go from the ferry dock next to our marina every hour or so all day long and into the evening. So, with the horses and bikes on one side of the boat and the ferry's on the other side, there is lots of activity around us. We enjoy our 'island time'.

June 24-27 Mackinaw City, MI

We motored out of Cheboygan into Lake Huron and travelled about 15 miles west, in FLAT calm water, to Mackinaw City. We are at the Mackinaw City Marina which is right at the foot of downtown and all of the shops, restaurants and attractions. There is lots to do here.

Mackinaw City Harbor is busy

Para sailing

Approaching the marina

Mackinaw Crossings is an upscale outdoor shopping center
across from our marina.

The Gateway to Mackinac Island - no cars allowed.

Dixie Saloon - restaurant.

Main shopping street Mackinaw City.

This plaque celebrates 'Dixie Highway'
which runs from Miami, Florida to Mackinaw, Michigan.

Victorian Architecture on a local motel

Logo for the local trail system

Mackinac Bridge from Mackinaw.

Mackinac was the name for the area used by the French who were early missionaries and settlers. It is pronounced 'mack in aw'. When the British and Americans became the majority in Michigan, they spelled the name as it sounds, Mackinaw. So we have two different spellings for the same name used in two different locations, Mackinac for Mackinac Island and the bridge and Mackinaw for the city in Michigan (both pronounced the same). Confusing!

Mackinac Point Light.

Costumed 'Redcoats' firing a real cannon.

Old Fort Michilimackinac, reconstructed.

'Levi' the local Odawa Indian and Linda making friends.

Fort Michilimackinac has been a archological dig since 1956, and the fort and buildings have been reconstructed based on what has been found by the digs. The new buildings are 'true to history'.

Car show this weekend in St Ignace. Here are three including a '57 Chevy'.

Lots of neat cars on the street. Here a DeLorean, made with a stainless steel body. Produced in Ireland for DeLorean Motors, an American company, only in 1981-1982.

A craft show in Mackinaw City. Here a woodcarver uses a chainsaw to make a bear statue.

Craft booths are very different here than in Florida. This booth sells stuff made from discarded antlers. Like lamps.

Linda finds a pretty paper hat. Could be another 'Princess Hat' for the Bahamas.

Retied Coast Guard Cutter icebreaker MACKINAC is open for tours.

BIG propeller. This boat has a propeller in back and another in front to be able to manuver back and forth if stuck in the ice..

Windy day - flags are flying.

June 22-23, Cheboygan, MI

We are moving from Hessel, which is on the upper peninsula of Michigan, about 25 miles, to Cheboygan, which is on the lower peninsula.

Lake Huron is FLAT calm.

There is no wind this morning and Lake Huron is FLAT calm. Just the way we like it.

Large hotel, the Mission Point Resort, on the eastern side of Mackinac Island.

Fort Mackinac above the marina.

Downtown Mackinac with the Mackinac Island Grand Hotel above.

Passage Light Round Island Lighthouse is on the north side of the channel between Mackinac Island and Round Island.

Point Light Old Round Island Lighthouse is on the south side of the channel connected to the shore of Round Island.

Boats from St Ignace and Mackinaw City bring passengers back and forth to Mackinac Island.

We cruise in front of Mackinac Island as we motor around Bois Blanc Island (pronounced boys blonk) and enjoy looking at the sights. We can see the big hotels on Mackinac Island including the Grand Hotel with it's loooong white porch, several large homes on the cliff beside the hotel, the downtown area, Fort Mackinac, the marina (which looks to be almost empty) and the active ferry boats coming and going from St Ignace and Mackinaw City. We can easily see the Mackinaw Bridge in the background. This is a pretty place.

Freighter INTEGRITY.

INTEGRITY is pushed by a big tug.

As we head back east, we encounter a freighter (one of the new type without an engine) being pushed by a tug. When the engine wears out, you just get another tug and the freighter will have a longer life.

Large Coast Guard ice breaker MACKINAW is based in Cheboygan.

We enter the harbor at Cheboygan and go through the basqule bridge to our wall location at the Washington Street Park. This is a pretty location to tie up and we have 50amp power here and showers (not as nice as Charleviox) and are next to the main street in town. So this looks like a nice place to hang out for a few days.

Main street Cheboygan.

Cheboygan looks to be having a tough time as about 20% of the stores are vacant and several restaurants have closed. We have internet wifi (some store or office nearby) and it is strong enough for both computers. We walked the main street and find several restaurants that look good and some nice stores and a movie theater with five screens.

Cheboygan Opera House has a summer and winter series of programs, plays and name entertainers. This summer highlight will be Garrison Keeler August 1, 2009 at $100 per patron. Already sold out.

Libby's had great food!

Water Street marina within walking distance to downtown.

These are working tugs. Part of the Cheboygan waterfront has an industrial feel.

Cheboygan Crib Lighthouse on the entrance breakwater wall.