Subject to Change

One of the many ideas I’ve had for this blog is to chronicle the places I’ve traveled to. I have dozens of experiences I’d like to share, because I know that if I talk about somewhere you’re going you might latch on to some key piece of information that you can use.

On that note, my family and I found ourselves doing something on Labor Day weekend that we never thought possible. We planned our trip to Mackinaw (pronounced Mackinac) City because we wanted to end our summer at Mackinac (pronounced Mackinaw) Island. We planned to see the laser show at Mackinaw Crossings mall, tour Fort Michilimackinac, and spend a day or two on Mackinac Island.

Due to a late start, we never made it to the fort. We arrived on Saturday night, just in time to see the laser show. Mackinaw Crossings is an outdoor mall full of fudge shops, t-shirt shops, several interactive exhibits, and the usual types of things found in high tourist areas. It has a great play area for kids, which makes it a nice spot to kill some time with a family. The laser show is free and is not to be missed. Colored lasers draw animated scenes to music. The first time I saw this show I was amazed at the colors. Somehow, the laser light is blended to create impossible colors such as yellow and orange. Kids love the loud music and laser beams, of course.

Mackinac Island was the main reason for this trip. If you’ve never been there the main way to get there is by ferry boat. The ride across lake Huron in view of the Mackinac Bridge is one of the many reasons to visit at least once in a lifetime. We even enjoyed a sunset cruise past the bridge on our return trip! On the island there are no cars. Transportation is on foot, by bicycle, or by horse-drawn carriage. Busy days on Mackinac can be quite a mess of all three. Dodging traffic is one of the things I don’t enjoy while visiting, there are way too many amateur cyclists about.

This time, the amateur cyclists counted my wife and myself amongst them. I’ve always wanted to bring my own bike to Mackinac Island, so that I could see things not on the tours and ride the perimeter road around the island. Circling the island is most definitely a bucket list worthy feat. The road is eight miles, mostly flat, and is very scenic. With the slight breeze off the lake I had no problem towing the carrier with my son in it. To make this trip, bring your own bike. It’s the least expensive way to ride. The rentals on the island are also not much to look at, unless you decide to ride tandem. I should also note that it was easy to bring our bikes because Mackinaw City has a bike trail that runs south from the ferry terminals to the campgrounds nearby.

The island also has a tourist friendly Main Street, full of all the same types of shops I mentioned before. It’s like downtown Wisconsin Dells with horses and bikes instead of cars. You really need to avoid main street if you’re like me and just want to enjoy a relaxing day seeing a few unique places. The island is full of uniqueness: a colonial fort, a butterfly house, lilacs (with a festival in spring), horseback riding, carriage tours, carriage rentals, horse poop, giant houses, kites, boats, and of course fudge. If you manage to visit without buying fudge, they ought to pin a medal on you.

We enjoyed a fairly laid-back day on the island. Most of it was spent exploring on our bikes. We knew that we had to pace ourselves for the big day ahead. Upon planning our trip my wife discovered shuttle service from our campground. The shuttle advertised service to the ferries and the bridgewalk. Wait, what bridgewalk?

Even though I’ve heard of it before, it never dawned on me that I could plan a trip to walk the Mackinac Bridge. This is an event held once a year only, on Labor Day. And, boy, does it draw a crowd! Tens of thousands come out to walk the Mighty Mac. We managed to get ourselves up at 4am to join them. You have to arrive early. The walk takes place from 7am to 11am and it’s organized chaos to participate. Half the school buses in the state of Michigan showed up to carry us from the ferry terminals in Mackinaw City to the starting line on the north side of the bridge. Those same buses were used later on to carry people back if they parked on that side of the bridge. They only allow the foot traffic to cross the bridge in one direction, and with good reason. The trip is about five miles over the water and takes two hours to complete.

When you walk the Mackinac Bridge you’ll meet people who’ve been making the trip for ten, twenty, or fifty years. It can be cold up there, and you’re exposed. My wife and I both got a little wind burnt. The suspension part of the bridge sways a nit in the wind. I noticed that my feet didn’t always land where I expected to plant them. Oh, and the inside traffic lane is a metal grate. You can see straight down to the water through the bridge. When people come up to this portion of the bridge they bunch up as a good number of them move into the other lane, while others stop to take pictures. Myself, I was a picture taker. I then proceeded to walk along the grating, while looking down (and up) at the structure of the bridge. I’m not much for heights, but this was too cool to miss.

The bridge didn’t fully reopen until after 3pm, when the last of the walkers finished. Even then, southbound traffic remained very heavy. I assume those people were Michiganders headed home from the holiday. Going north, however, was easy. We crossed the bridge one last time, noting where the stroller wheels got stuck in the gap between bridge sections.