We returned to Mackinac Island last week, a two-day excursion we look forward to all year long. Retreating from the headline-heavy world feels really good right now, and the island felt especially welcoming this year. You have to get there by ferry and, as Dash says, there are “bikes and boats and horses–NO CARS.” We usually board the ferry from Mackinac City, but this year we drove over the bridge to take the ferry from St. Ignace so the kids would get the bridge experience.
Bonus–far shorter lines for the ferry. Isaac, Dash’s brontosaurus, was most enthusiastic about his windshield view.
One of my favorite things about returning to the same places every summer is the kids’ familiarity and sense of ownership. Nella off that ferry? She was all “this is MY island.” Knew every turn and where to go. And by where to go, I mean the fudge shop, of course.
I’ve written a Mackinac post now four years in a row, so I won’t bore longtime readers with the same story. Also, I’m in the back seat of a car typing this on our way to Sleeping Bear Dunes, using my hotspot WiFi, and Ella Enchanted is playing so loud, I can barely think. So moral of the story up front: We went to the same places, were smitten by the same views and laughed that the kids maintained the same awe for the horses (which works greatly to our advantage when we’re enjoying a meal by a window and need Dash to settle down).
But pictures, I have a plenty.
If you’re a Midwesterner and haven’t been to the island yet, plan a trip, take your family. An American summer charmer, this little island is.
Dash’s romper from a little Michigan Etsy shop I love, The Little Spoons
We stayed at the Island House again, the oldest hotel on the island. We love all the secret nooks and crannies.
Sunset at the only elementary school on the island–overlooks Lake Huron. It’s heaven, I tell you. Heaven.
Silver dollar pancakes at the Pancake House…every year.
Mission Point lawn is by far the place place to practice cartwheels and handstands in all the land.
And another visit to the public library. Have you ever seen a more charming library? Oh, I’m sorry. Pardon me while I take this stack of books out to the picnic table on the deck that overlooks a Great Lakes lighthouse.
Until next year…we love you Mackinac.
Important question: Ella Enchanted movie or audiobook? (Trying to decide just how deeply your week has sapped into my childhood memories.)
How fun!! 🙂
My grandfather laid the red carpet on the Grand Hotel porch for 25 years. Mackinac was our summer destination for years and years. We took my grandfather back for the last time when he was 90. I’ll never forget his longing look back at the Hotel as the ferry took us back across the lake.
Such a cool fact. Love this so much.
Ever since reading your first post about this place, Mackinac Island has been on my bucket list. I only need to find someone willing to go with me. I.Will.Go.There!
Your children are all so beautiful..you take care of them so well..your pics are beautiful..I just love peeking it..
Oh I love Mackinac Island and Sleeping Bear Dunes! I live in Virginia, but have a lot of family in Michigan. The lakes are beyond gorgeous. Enjoy your time there! I’ll be there in just a few short weeks. 🙂
Was looking forward to this post. While I have wanderlust in my soul, I love going back to places that hold sweet memories. I, too, love the feeling of familiarity, steering first timers to places like I own them..lol. Nothing wrong with familiar views, favourite places, reliving initial experiences as if for the first time. While I love venturing out into the great unknown, I equally love the comforting, the familiar, the “our” places. I’m so glad you’re enjoying your stay. It looks like you & the kids are having a lovely summer.
This looks so dreamy! I can’t quite get over how beautiful these pictures are. This is definitely a place that looks right up my family’s alley. Thanks for sharing this!
XO
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Little piece of heaven up there!! Similar experience for us! Went up with the fam just before the 4th. Kids first time. Relieved they fell in love with it too❤️
Great story! Thanks for sharing!
OK… I’m a Brit, a typical reserved Brit who has been following you for years, smiling away at your stories. Never write comments, far too uptight for that. Anyway I’m a few years in with your Mackinac posts, every year something taps into a story long forgotten. Tonight I remember… BINGO. Onto Amazon, found it:
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Princess-Sweet-Dreams-Melinda-Pollowitz/dp/0553203282/ref=sr_1_fkmr0_4?ie=UTF8&qid=1468961284&sr=8-4-fkmr0&keywords=sweet+dreams+books+amy+painter
I read this story when I was 13. I was a London teenager totally emerged in Mackinac Island. I wanted to go. I wanted to be Amy Painter. I wanted her to be an islander not an outsider! I wanted her to marry Pete and live there forever. Please tell me its the same one!!!
Where did you find Isaac!?? My little guy is almost 4, and that’s the coolest – I know he would love it. Will you share your Dino source?
We visit the same places every year too (though ours are in Surfside Beach, SC) so I completely understand why you do this with and for your kids. I’m about 10 years ahead of you in this Mommin’ gig and I can tell you that my teens look forward to going to certain places every summer. As time goes by, we drop some but add new ones, but there are some hallowed spots and activities that, as simple as some of them may be, they won’t hear of us skipping them.
Sometimes hubby and I feel a tug when our friends with grown kids jet off to yet another couples vacay to Aruba, Hawaii, Mexico or some other exotic location. Then I look in the rear view mirror at all of the heads spread out through the van and relish in the cozy “we’re all together and happy” feelings that come every now and then with the hum of the tires against the asphalt in the background, and I think: Aruba can wait.
Beautiful photos! 🙂
Such dreamy photos!
Oh Kelle, I look forward to this post EVERY year. Mackinac Island is honestly the ONLY item on my bucket list (to see the Grand Hotel, thanks to the movie “Somewhere in Time”. I so appreciated all the info you posted last year.
Continued….I loved the movie Somewhere in Time as a teenager, and did not realize until later years where it was filmed. So, reading your blog for a few years now, I couldn’t believe you went there! As I said earlier, I am beyond appreciative for the info and links from last year. I love your annual MI trip posts each Summer; it is always perfectly timed during our 100+ Summer heat waves. i am hoping next Summer will be my time to make it there, and maybe other parts of Michigan. May you and the kids enjoy the rest of your Summer!
4 years in a row, and not even a smidge less dreamy! Dash is looking more and more like your dad to me! I love how you take summer to the limit each and every year.
My family vacations to the UP every year. My mom and dad lived in a little apartment on the main street of St. Ignace for a few years after they were married. My dad was a DJ/announcer on WIDG (Widg by the Bridge!). He helped to save the Round Island Lighthouse. And my mom was a teacher there. She started out as a sub — sometimes subbing at that school on Mackinac Island! My favorite stories are the ones they tell from their time up there. Like when they packed a picnic lunch and their bikes and headed for the Island one weekend, only to be surprised by the manager of the Grand Hotel with an invitation to lunch — and how embarrassed my mom was at wearing jeans and a t-shirt to lunch at the Grand! Or how they’d watch the Coast Guard “plant” the Christmas trees in the ice to serve as the trail marker on the water from St. Ignace to the Island. They were there when the Edmund Fitzgerald sank. And they were there when President Ford visited the Island. My dad was part of the press for both. When my grandfather would visit them, he loved to sit in their front window to watch the ships.
I haven’t been up in many years. My husband doesn’t care to do the long drive and I haven’t yet put my foot down to say we’ll go back up. But I loved it there when I made it up. My family is up there right now, staying in a house in St. Ignace. So I vacation vicariously through their pictures, and yours. Thank you!
That picture of Nella on the swings in front of the sunset was breathtaking. It captures her somehow in such a unique way. I bet you can’t wait to frame this one