I was aware of Mackinac Island ever since the 80's when the movie "Somewhere In Time" came out with Christopher Reeve. Nearly the entire movie was filmed on site. In the movie the hotel hadn't been renovated so it didn't capture by attention....especially as a teenager. It was more of the science fiction aspect of time travel that really had enticed me. It was until much later when I found out about the island itself and the characteristics of Grand Hotel itself that made me want to visit.
So the initial reason to travel to Michigan was to first see our niece graduate from the University of Michigan. Second, for my wife to see her sister, they hadn't visited for a long time. That was a real need for her......and yes, we might as well take a few days to hit a bucket list item......oh yeah, and another marathon!
So to start off the trip we had made all the arrangements. The trip was to start off with several days on the island ( the only time we could really incorporate), graduation and family time....and then wrap up with a marathon. I was beginning to worry about the Hotel. As I dug into the reservations I began to find out more of Grand Hotel history and how everything worked. The first hurdle was that they officially did not open until May 1......and we intended on being there a few days before. They literally do not open! I'll share more later but we were able to register as they take only a few before hand.....we made the cut!
The next hurdle was all the scheduling. It was a mess! Here is the run down of what we had to do to make this VACATION work:
Fly to Detroit
Take a puddle jumper to Pelgram which is closer to Mackinac Island
Rent a car to drive to Ferry (the only way to the island)
Put the car in storage at Ferry station (no cars allowed on island)
Stay on island
Take Ferry back
Drive to Ann Arbor for graduation
Find a motel room open......yeah right
After graduation drive to Kalamazoo for Marathon
Run marathon
Drive to Detriot to fly home.
I'm tired just thinking about all of that again. The flight was pretty normal, nothing special or dramatic. That is always a good thing. Often times I have something to share about my flight but not so much this time. Arrived in Detriot early and then caught a little puddle jumper to Pelgram. Yep it was a puddle jumper! Straight forward flight here as well.
When we got to Pelgram we knew we were in the boondocks. If you don't know what boondocks are then if you look it up in the dictionary it will list the city of Pelgram next to it. We got out of the plane and walked down the steps across the Tarmac to the building terminal. A small building with a feeling of woodsiness about it. We grabbed our bags from the smallest baggage claim in the world and headed over to the car rental......there were three of them......really!?
So my philosophy of renting a car is that you almost always pick the economy version....unless of course there is a special need or you have more than two people expected to travel in the car. Inevitably the car rental won't have that type and up grade you. It happens to me nearly every time. They always ask to upgrade the insurance and I already have enough insurance to cover me on my trips. This time the nice gentleman asked if we wanted to upgrade because we had a Spark. He asked me if I knew what a Spark was and of course I said I did because I didn't want to give away that I had no clue or did I want to pay for any kind of upgrade. Well shortly after I found out what a Spark was......it is only half a car. Only one small bag fit in the trunk and the other in the back sit.
We hustle down to the Ferry where we will store the car during our stay on the island (remember no cars allowed). There isn't a lot of time because the ferry's schedule this early in the season is sparse. We really don't want to wait too long and miss spending time in and around the hotel. The spot on the map where we take the ferry looks like it exists primarily just because of the ferry. It looks like a really neat tourist area but again not much time to waste. We saw a hot dog building that was out of this world. Maybe IONIC could design their expansion plans.
We get everything set and jumped on board the ferry as it made its way through the ice bergs......yes really! The water is so cold that large chucks of ice hasn't broken up yet and the boat has to go very carefully as it departs from the pier. We sit on top out in the open.....note to self don't do this on the way back....it's freezing cold. We can see everything as we make our way across the sound towards the island....our home for the next several days.
to be continued
to be continued
