Mackinac Island – Geeky Girl Engineer

I’ve always wanted to visit Mackinac Island, but I had never gotten the chance, and also it is really expensive. Hence, when I saw that the planned cruise of the Great Lakes I was taking stopped here, I was really excited. It is a cute island that is mainly concentrated in a small downtown area along with the huge Grand Hotel and its associated land, such as its golf course. There are some private houses further out. However, most of the island is a state park including the historic Fort Mackinac. With the exception of emergency vehicles, all transport is done on the island via bikes or horses. The island offers horse drawn carriage tours of the island, which many of us from the cruise took. We rode one carriage pulled by two draft horses from downtown to what I can only describe as a transit station for horse drawn carriages, where we changed to a larger carriage pulled by three draft horses for the longer island tour. Our tour included a guided tour of some of the downtown highlights then after the carriage change, we went to Arch Rock and historic Fort Mackinac. Finally we went to the famous Grand Hotel, which charges admission unless you pay via your tour. I have to admit that I am very glad I visited, but I really don’t feel the need to return. Downtown was incredibly crowded, and everything is expensive. It is clearly a great place to hike and bike, but I think there are cheaper places to do that.