So much to see so little time at Mackinac Island, Michigan! In this video, we take a tour of the famous island that still has no motorized traffic via a horse and carriage, visit the historic fort, and have lunch overlooking the harbor. Visiting Mackinac is like taking a step back in time, lots of history, shopping and beautiful scenery.
For this stop we stayed in a little town on the mainland, St. Ignace, which is located just over the Mackinac Bridge. We stayed at a small campground called Tiki RV park. It was a nice quiet park and while it did not have tons of amenities, the spots at the very front of the park had stunning views of Lake Huron, if you can get one of these spots I’d highly recommend it! The town itself had plenty of little shops and local restaurants to choose from and there were several nice parks to explore. We enjoyed visiting some of the roadside tourist shops that had been there since the 50’s and have funky tourist attractions like a giant Bunyan and Blue statues, rooftop overlook of the Mackinac Bridge, or the mountain side staircase to the top of Castle Rock for a panoramic view of Lake Huron.
Of course the main attraction and the reason for this stop was our visit to Mackinac Island. FYI it is pronounced Mack-in-gnaw not Mack-in-knack, not that I was ever corrected on the matter of course! Anyway, as I mentioned there are no motorized vehicles on the island and the primary way to get there is by ferry. (There is a small airstrip on the island so if you’ve got access to a private plane, you can fly in too!) The ferry ride was half the fun of our trip, the weather was nice and the route takes you from St. Ignace under the Mackinac Bridge and back to island. When you come into port you can see the town of Mackinac sprawl up the side of the hill that is the island and at the top you can see Fort Mackinac.
We explored many of the shops on main street and then hopped in a horse and carriage and took a tour of the island!
This carriage tour is a must because the island is essentially a big hill so unless you’re up for a big climb I recommend the carriage. Plus, you can hop on and off at the various stops and explore each at your own pace. Our favorite stop was the fort and while there are plenty of choices when it comes to restaurants on the island none, has a better view than the restaurant at the fort. The restaurant sits high above the town and offers a perfect view from the patio of the harbor. This was probably my favorite stop of the day!
There is so much to see on the island, if we had to do it over again, I would highly recommend stay a couple nights on the island. There are several bed and breakfast as well as the Mackinac hotel with America’s largest front porch!
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