"Great Lakes"front adventures...

Wednesday 29 July - Day 2
Mackinaw City, MI: 0 miles

After a nice continental breakfast at the hotel, we set out for a day-long excursion of Mackinaw City's sites. Mackinaw City really has a boardwalk feel. There is one main street that is lined with T-Shirt and fudge shops. Seriously, there were like 50 fudge stores.

We started our day at Colonial Michlimackinac. Michlimackinac is a fort that was originally built by the French in the late 1600s to early 1700s. Following the French and Indian War, the British took control. The fort is a living museum with many re-enactors walking the grounds. The fort and its community is presented very well. There were tons of archaeological artifacts found over the years.

Here is a view of the fort from the top of the palisade (Lake Michigan is in the background):

Shawn had to try out the soldier's latrine:

Pokey got carried away with the cannons:

After Colonial Michlimackinac, we headed right next door to the Old Mackinaw Lighthouse. The Lighthouse was used from the 1870s up until the construction of the Mackinaw Bridge in the 1950s. The lighthouse and its keeper's house are restored to the year 1910. We did get to climb to the top of the lighthouse. Given Shawn's height, he had some issues climbing to the top...really tight staircases with low overheads and six feet six inches tall men do not mix well.

After the lighthouse, we took a tour of the United States Coast Guard Cutter Mackinaw. The ship was built in the 1940s and was decommissioned in 2006. The ship was used as an ice breaker on the great lakes. She was able to cut shipping lanes open through 4 feet thick ice. The tour took you throughout the cutter.

Gumby enjoyed the tour, especially when we got in front of the pilot house.

Tonight for supper we chose a small mom and pop restaurant on the main strip. We treated ourselves to a culinary treat of northern Michigan; the Pastie (pronounced Paastie). It is essentially a stuffed flaky dough pocket. We had the choice of chicken or roast beef. Along with the meat, they are stuffed with potatoes and other root vegetables. They were served with a bowl of gravy. Let me tell you, that was damn good eating. For dessert Doug ordered a piece of homemade rhubarb pie. It was served warm with a huge scoop of french vanilla ice cream. It was to die for!

Tomorrow we are on to Duluth, Minnesota. We will be crossing the Mackinaw Straits Bridge, riding through the Upper Peninsula and across northern Wisconsin. Tomorrow night will be our first night of camping. Have no fear though, the campground advertises that it has WiFi, so hopefully we will get to publish a new blog post.