Yes, there's more

There could probably be a whole month of Mackinac Island posts.
If someone were to ask what our favorite place was on this trip, we'd say we don't have one.
But this place keeps coming up in all of those conversations.
It's kinda like that cartoon I saw too long ago to remember when:

King Arthur and his Knights of the Round Table are sitting around that table.
Ol' Art's saying, "The significance of this round table is that we are all equal here.
The significance of this fancy chair I'm sitting in is that I am slightly more equal than the rest of you."

So after breakfast we packed out clothes, set them out to be picked up to go on the ferry, and we went for another walk.

Suitcase, garment bag, and backpack ready to go.

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 The baggage wagon heads to the ferry

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Everything is hauled by wagon on the island.
We were lead to believe the only motor vehicles on the island are firefighting equipment and an ambulance [I did see a backhoe hiding behind a construction fence].

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Another look at the hotel

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 The porch

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 Our room

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The "parlor"

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The promenade

Then we were away.

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Passing by the employee parking lot.

to be continued

We took another walk . . . but first

There was that first evening.
Part of the package for our stay was dinner.
We had to "dress" for dinner, men in coat and tie, ladies in dresses or dressy pants outfits.
We complied.

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  The mirrors on the columns reflect the chandeliers

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 You know it’s fancy when the server put your napkin in your lap for you and you look down to see all these utensils. Oh, and all the dining room staff are wearing tails (as in tuxedo)

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 There was a three piece combo playing jazz selections

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The hotel porch at night

The next morning breakfast was also a part of the package.
We weren't required to dress up.
There are no pictures.

but wait, there's more

Don't ask

So . . .   sometime today I ran across a piece of paper that's been in a filing cabinet since, as close as I can determine, 1986.
It has Levy's Eighth Law:

No amount of genius can overcome a preoccupation with detail.

Those pictures I have been posting would have already been posted if I had taken care of one detail.
Instead I have to reduce the file size of each one individually.
There's no time for that when mixing thin-set mortar.

Random

A couple of more from Mackinac Island day one

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Can't post the oar boat without posting this.

Just walking

Well, not exactly.

First we walked from the ferry to the hotel.
We wanted to get the lay of the land and give them time to get our luggage [such as it was] to the room.

Then we set out to tour the locale.

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Then it was exploration time.

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That meant climbing a few flights of stairs [or walking a lot further and it would still be uphill].

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Then back down again.

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. . . to

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 . . . and then the Governor's Mansion.

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Yeah, a place for the Governor of Michigan to visit in the summer.
There's more.
With any luck it will be here tomorrow.

or next week

I said we took a walk

It was like a hike, but without backpacks.

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We didn't walk the entire Island . . .   only the lower left part, with all of the hills.
When we're finished with Thanksgiving there will be more pictures.
Sunday . . .   maybe?

Guess

North for real

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To Mackinac Island.
Ask the Michiganders how they pronounce Mackinac . . .   and why.
The island isn't marked on the map because Google Maps says you can't get there from here.
They didn't try hard enough, and it's simple, there are ferries.

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Crossing over the Mackinac Straits on the Mackinac Bridge is supposed to be something, too.

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So are crossing the Golden Gate, Tacoma Narrows, and Sunshine Skyway.

On the drive north we began to see the turning of colors in the trees.

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That makes the trip north worth the effort.
(There are better examples, much better, later)

So we boarded a ferry at St Ignace on the Upper Peninsula, hereinafter known as the U.P. [the denizens citizens folks who live there are known as Yoopers].

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 St Ignace lighthouse . . .

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. . . and the lighthouse across the channel from Mackinac Island on Round Island, which, by the way is not really round.

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The world famous Grand Hotel from Lake Huron.

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The standard form of hotel transport has four legs and four wheels.
Our luggage went by horse and wagon.
We chose to walk.
In fact we walked a lot on the island.
The other major form of transport is bicycle.
There are no motor vehicles in use on the island [although I did see a backhoe behind a fence].

Before you ask, yes, we did stay at the Grand Hotel.
MB just happened to run across a special rate for the end of season [they close for the winter in October].
The package included dinner, breakfast, discounted fares for the ferry, and use many of the hotels amenities.
It amounted to a very large saving from the regular hotel rates.
There were great views from our room.

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 The Mackinac Bridge . . .

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The hotel property below the front porch and [not so] Round Island.

Then we took a little walk.

more next time

All hail!

We digress from the recent routine for two reasons:

1) Time seems to slip by so quickly, and
2)The kid in the middle on top of the "1" deserves recognition

We spent a good part of Saturday and Sunday away from home, in Visalia.
That's about 200 miles south and still in the smoke.

But I digress . . .
It was the NorCal Women's State Gymnastics Championships.
Ducky [yep, that's what I call her] was the All Around Champion.
Her combined score for vault, bars, beam, and floor exercise was the highest for her level.
Others were first in each event, but she was best overall.

shoulda been a parade

North to

Frankenmuth, Michigan's own Little Bavaria.
Of course, when one travels there, it is almost obligatory to stop at the Christmas store, Bronner's.

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Since there is still a major holiday upcoming before Christmas, I will spare you the details.
But the place is huge.

The visitor center.

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MB with out traveling companions at the Cheese Haus.
I'm certain there were more pictures, dunno where they went.
Anyway, we had lunch and visited an bunch of shops, refraining from buying . . .    except for some root beer at the brewery.