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'.