The Senior Companion Program and The Foster Grandparents trip to Mackinac Island on Aug 24 & 25, 2023
To read my full story, scroll down to the bottom of pictures.
We boarded the bus and were on our way to St. Ignace
St. Ignace
Boarding Shepler's Ferry
On Our Way to Mackinac Island
Mackinac Island ahead
Arrival on Mackinac Island
We headed to our Hotels to drop off our luggage
The Lilac Tree Inn
The Chippewa
Then to Mary's Bistro Draught House for lunch
Carriage Ride for some of us
*
I rented a bike here. $16 per hour. They kept my
drivers license until I returned. And I was off to
complete my bucket list for this trip.
I had a bucket list for this trip.
And on my list, first thing was to find
The Secret Garden
I realized I was on the wrong road, so I had
to backtrack to Cadotte Avenue, and then I found a
place that would lead, hopefully to the Secret Garden
Okay, I think this might lead me to the Secret Garden
I see some flowers, I'll just follow them
Hey, that's the Grand Hotel
The Secret Garden
Horses and riders
Could that be the “Somewhere In Time” Gazebo?
Packages to be delivered
I went down Market Street to Fort Street
Fort Street!
Marquette Park
Locked up the bike and paid my way into the Fort
I made it to the top and entered Fort Mackinac
Then I rode my bike down Fort Street to Main Street.
Hey, there's where I am staying, The Chippewa.
I took a left and headed toward St.Ann's Church. The
Butterfly House is behind there. I found it
My next stop on the Bucket list is to see the Arch Rock. I returned to Main Street which lead into Lake Shore Boulevard and followed that along. I passed by statues and a pool of some kind, and then some people playing golf. Then I stopped at Dwightwood Springs. It was a nice ride and I found the Arch Rock. Some beautiful blue flowers along the road too.
On my way back, I stopped to rest on this
bench and watched the horses go by
On my back down Main street to the Chippewa,
I came across these beautiful flowers. I started
taking pictures and I was holding the bike, it
was ready to fall. Some guy came along and
saw the picture I was taking and held my bike
for me, and said “Wow, that's going to be a great
picture.” I was thankful for him for holding my
bike for that shot.
Returned my bike and checked into my room
I decided I had some time to do some shopping
before the stores closed, so I did.
I bought a calendar and some other things at the
Island Book Store
I bought a Tie Dye cap and a Tie Dye shirt
at The Trading Post
Hey, that looks like Frank & Wayne across the street
Then I headed to my room to drop off my stuff.
I went for a walk to catch the sunset. The Sunset
looked better when I passed the Windermere Hotel.
I could see the Mackinac Bridge
and it looked beautiful from here
The Pink Pony is right here at The Chippewa.
It sounded good to me, so I ordered Salmon and
Strawberry Lemonade, which is Pink.
to go for a walk down Main Street
and this “Bride to Be” was drunk, and
she posed for me.
I went in and joined Connie and Kat in the Pink Pony and we listened to Myk Rise perform, while drunks were dancing. It was funny watching them.
Later, I came up to my room and tried to get to sleep, but had a hard time. I finally got to sleep around 2:30 AM. I set the room alarm clock and was hoping I set it loud enough to wake me up at 6 AM. It woke me, and got up and after cleaning up a little, I went for a morning walk in my new Tie Dye shirt and Tie Dye cap I bought at the Trading Post. Caught some of the Sunrise by Hotel Iroquois, and then came down past The Chippewa to St Ann's Church and took pictures around there, and Marquette Park.
St. Ignace in sight
Mackinac Island Trip (Aug 24-25, 2023)
After leaving Escanaba, we picked up people in Rapid River and Manistique.
It was close to a three hour ride to St. Ignace, and I was anxious for our arrival there to take some pictures. The lady who sat next to me, we had picked up in Manistique was a nice lady. Her husband had passed away. I think there's a Senior Companion award named after her husband, who was also a Senior Companion.
We had a nice little break in St. Ignace, and then not long following, we all boarded Shepler's Ferry. I took a window seat so I could take pictures along the way.
I first started with pictures of the Round Island Lighthouse. I took many pictures of the house and other buildings on Mackinac Island, until we docked.
We were told that because we couldn't check into our hotels until 4 PM, we had to head over to them and drop off our luggage. So those at the Lilac Tree Inn, went there, and those at The Chippewa, went there. I was staying at the Chippewa, so we got there and placed all our luggage on the floor not far from the door.
We then headed over to Mary's Bistro Draught House. We ate there last years as well. At first we were told we had to limit ourselves to a certain amount. But later was told we could a little over. So I ordered the Whitefish meal, which was really big and good. They brought many appetizers, and I tried one, but it seemed too spicy hot for me. The lady sitting next to me loved them. I was lucky to get through 90% of the Whitefish and had no room for anymore. I had Ginger ale with my meal and it was good.
After our meal, it was planned that everyone was invited to go on a carriage tour around the island. They boarded just outside the Draught House. Due to my bladder problem, I decided to skip this. I felt sorry for Connie, as she has trouble walking and was leery about boarding the coach. She couldn't quite get her footing. So she watched as everyone else boarded, and they took off. My camera quit working about this time, and I was worried that I might not be able to take pictures for the rest of the trip. I changed the battery, and it worked. I must have forgot the camera was on, and killed the battery. I did charge it up later, at the Hotel room, for the rest of the day.
Now, I was on my own and needed to get started to complete my bucket list for this trip. The first thing on my Bucket List was to rent a bike. The first place I went to wouldn't take money, and they had some good bikes. The next place took money, but kept your Drivers License until you got back. They charged $16 per hour. So I went with it. They had a basket and a lock. Which is what I wanted. It was an orange bike. They lowered the seat for me.
It was odd getting use to this bike, as it wasn't as good as mine at home. The next thing on my Bucket List was finding the Secret Garden. I started off riding down West Main Street and then onto Lake Shore Boulevard. It dawned on me, this wasn't the right way. So I backtracked and headed down Cadotte Avenue. I came to a place that could be where the Secret Garden is. I looked around and saw some flowers and thought they might lead me to them. As I followed them, I looked up and saw I was near the Grand Hotel. So I backtracked again. I asked someone I saw, and this woman said it was just beyond that gate. This brought me back to where I was. But as I looked into the trees by the woods I was near, I saw the colored flowers. Now I needed to find the way to get into where they were. I found a little trail that turned around a bit and then lead to the Secret Garden. It was beautiful! I took pictures, but had to use my bike seat and other places to use my timer on (to get pictures of me).
After leaving the Secret Garden, I saw riders on horses, and also I zoomed in and I believe I saw the Gazebo from “Somewhere In Time.” The next thing on my Bucket List was to see Fort Mackinac. I followed Cadotte Avenue down to Market Street, and took that across to Fort Street. I went up the hill and locked my bike up between the church and the Fort. I paid my way in and went up the concrete ramp. Took some great pictures from up there.
After entering the Fort, there were stairs to go up. I finally made it to the top. As I entered, there were two guys dressed as soldiers from long ago. I looked around and went in buildings and took many pictures. There was one guy dressed as a soldier, and a woman dressed like long ago, and they were telling the story of Mackinac Island and the Fort from long ago. I chatted with the two soldiers at the entrance. I asked them how they stayed so young after so many years. They said two things. “Lard and Salt.” I responded, “ I wonder if cheese with be good too?” They smiled and said “Maybe.” They posed for me before I left.
I hopped on my bike when I got down to ground level, and I headed to St Ann's church, because the map told me that the Butterfly house was behind it. It was easy to find knowing all this. I entered and paid, and walked into the Butterfly room. All kinds of butterflies flying all over the place. I took many pictures. Other people were in there as well. One woman said she wasn't leaving until she got a picture of the large blue butterfly. There were a couple of them. Also there was something running on the ground, making little noises. It was so fast in running, I thought it might be a mole at first. But as I listened, I realized it sounded more like a bird. But unlike any I have seen. I asked one of the workers what it was. She told me it was a Button Quail. It was quite hot in the butterfly room, and I left there.
Let me see, next was to the Arch Rock. Which was to the East of Main Street down Lake Shore Boulevard East. I found it and took some pictures from the road. I could have climbed all those stairs, but after climbing all the stairs to the Fort, I decided to pass on it. I returned my bike and got my Drivers license back and paid for over 4 hours of using the bike.
I decided it was time to go check into my room at The Chippewa. Now, at the beginning it was planned that I'd be sharing a room with Terry Anderson. But on the way, Linda told me that I'd have my own room, because someone canceled at the last minute. I got in and gave the Hotel worker my name. She said I'd be in the same room as Terry Anderson. I told her my boss said I was suppose to have my own room. She said that was what was written down, so she had to follow that. I told her I'd be back. Luckily as soon as I left the Hotel, Linda was across the street by Doud's Market. She saw me coming her way and asked me what the problem was. She came back with me to set things straight. Now the person who couldn't make it, I was suppose to have her room. But after some research and looking at signatures, it turned out Gayle (Frank's sister) had the room I was suppose to have. Gayle was suppose to have her own room. So it turned out that I got the room Gayle was suppose to have. I went up and checked out the Card Key and got into my room. I left my duffel bag and camera bag there. Charged up my dead battery from earlier. I headed down to do some shopping. I first went to the Island Book Store. I picked up a Calendar, a book mark, and a refrigerator magnet. Then I went over to The Trading Post and picked up a blue Mackinac Island cap, a Tie Dye Cap, and a Tie Dye shirt.
I came back to my room to drop them off. I was still not hungry yet, so I decided to take a walk past the Hotel Iroquois which is West on Main Street and leads into Lake Shore Boulevard West. The sun was going down and it had cleared enough outside for me to see the Mackinac Bridge. I got some pretty good ones.
On my way back, I had to think about where I was going to eat. I knew the Pink Pony was still open, so I decided that was just as easy to go there. I ordered the Salmon meal with rice pilaf and a Strawberry Lemonade, which was pink. I was brought to the Bar side of the restaurant to eat. While I waited for my meal, I saw Connie and Kat were across from me. They were halfway or more done with their meal. While I was eating my salmon, they had ordered some drinks. Myk Rise, a regular performer at the Pink Pony, was on stage singing and playing some classics we grew up on. The salmon was good, but I ate only about 90% of it, and was stuffed. I decided to go for a walk down Main street and get some night shots. When I got back, I sat out in front of The Pink Pony. It was perfect weather, not too hot and not too cool. Almost like an air conditioner was on low. There was a Bride to Be all dressed in white who as was quite drunk. She was dancing around with her friends. She walked by me, and I asked her if she would pose for me. She did, and I wished her luck in her marriage.
I came back in and sat and visited with Connie and Kat. Myk Rise was still up on stage performing. We listened for awhile, and then I came up to bed. I had a hard time getting to sleep. I did set the alarm clock they have by the beds. I was hoping it would wake me up, and that it was loud enough. I finally dozed off to sleep around 2:30 AM.
At 6 AM the alarm woke me up. I got cleaned and changed into my new Tie Dye shirt and cap. I grabbed my camera and went to catch the sunrise. I went West, because I didn't know the directions on the Island. But I got a halfway descent one West of the Hotel Iroquois. After that I took a walk down by the Marina on the East side of Main street. I got pictures up by St. Ann's church and Marquette Park, and Lady Liberty.
I returned to the Chippewa and gave Terry a call to see If he was awake. He said he'd be down in a short while. We had planned to eat at the some Pancake place, but he heard it wasn't good. So we ended up having breakfast right there at The Pink Pony. It was Terry, Linda Kraniak, and me. I had blueberry pancakes and hard to eat ham. I even used some French butter (beurre) on my pancakes.
Our boss Linda showed up when we got outside, and we took a little break there. Margaret and I started heading back to the Ferry Dock. Margaret took a break in front of the Taxi Station. We got down there and waited for all the slow pokes, and some hadn't arrived yet and it was almost time to leave. Linda said “If everyone isn't here by our departure time, we're leaving.” I took it upon myself to go check on Main Street. Some were just outside smoking, and others were just arriving. I told them to hurry we only had a few minutes, so they did.
We boarded the Ferry and it was a nice day, and we were able to sit on top. Let me tell you, this is another on my Bucket List for this trip. Renting a bike, Secret Garden, Fort Mackinac, Butterfly House, Arch Rock, and Sitting on top level of Shepler's Ferry. I completed what I planned to do this time. I left Mackinac Island a happy man.
As the Ferry took off, the wind was there, but it felt good. Yes that shadow on that chair in front of me is my hair flying.
I was looking at the buildings and taking pictures. I thought as we kept going, what a beautiful and peaceful place to be. I felt somehow complete now. Yes, I'd go back again next year if it was offered.
