This morning we woke up south of the Mackinaw Bridge in Mackinaw city. We had not crossed this bridge yet, and were scheduleD to do it when we drove across it in the morning. Once again w were thankful for being able to stay in a hotel but at this point I was starting to miss the experiences of camping. Nonetheless we had an itinerary, and it seemed prudent to be able to book hotels and have a better efficient use of time.
Our first order of business today, aside from getting coffee, was to head to the world famous Mackinaw Island. This area was something far out, and unexpected! The island itself is only accessible by ferry or boa, and is visible from the mainland and the Mackinaw bridge. I had no idea (or had forgetten) that it was a tourist destination, and a luxurious one at that. As we disembarked on the ferry that took us there, we immediately were thrust back 75 years to a time where only horse and buggy were allowed to be used to get around, and thus were the rules of this island. There were no cars, only bikes, foot traffic, and horse traffic int he streets. That is the first thing you’ll notice upon arrival in this island…the next is the old plantation style houses, and whence walking around the grand iconic structure of the Grand Empress hotel.
This was our primary objective to see and explore. This hotel is considered tome on of the most luxurious in all of Michigan, and with its historic flares and massive structure, one could spend a week staying there and not see it all. We decided to have an early sit down lunch at the hotel after exploring the interior, and determining the weather outside was too good not to enjoy. We sat behind the last hole of the golf course which is part of the establishment, and we ordered lobster bisque and a nice club sandwich. This was a wonderful experience, and a nice break from the cheap and fast food we have become accustomed to.
After a nice lunch we ventured back to the port dock where we arrived, and since the boat was not ready to take us back and we had an hour, we walked the coastline eastward for about a mile, and then returned to the port. While waiting to board we had a beer and before you knew it is was time to be back on the boat and head to the mainland.
This put us back to the car around 2 in the afternoon, and allowed for us to have a nice drive north into Canada. The last destination for the day was a town called Saint Saul Marie, which is the port/ border town of Canada and the USA. It was recommended to us by our guests in Michigan to check this town out with the huge port boats the come through the channels. There is a series of locks to allow boats to pass efficiency through the river sound. There is also an enormous bridge that comes over the river, and is usually backed up due to the fact that it is a border control check point. We decided to snack and gas up before we crossed knowing it could take a minute, but what was entertaining was being on the bridge watching the process of locks and boats passing through from above.
Once we passed we were able to drive through this sleepy large town, and continue our goal for the night. Since we were ahead of budget we decided to drive all the way to Sudbury in Canada, and get us in position to explore Toronto tomorrow. The town of Sudbury seems like a large town ona map, but in reality is quite small, but plays an important roles on the Trans Canadian highway. This town had wonderful Italian restaurant and we decided to check it out while we were staying in the city. This was one of the best meals we had the whole trip, but this day overall set us back a couple hundred bucks. I knew the few days coming up would be expensive so I was a little skeptical to spend so much at night, but we decided to enjoy ourselves at last after a long day driving and exploring Canada through the woods to get to Sudbury. We headed back to the hotel to relax after this and enjoy the comfort of a nice room once again, and get rest for the next day ahead….Toronto.
EXPENSES
4 bridge
1.73 coffee
52 ferry
7.63 beer
6.99 shirt
55 lunch
12.88 gas
7.78 snacks
3.50 toll bridge
Total American – 151.51
Begin Canadian –
6.20 snacks
77.94 hotel
100.44 dinner
Total Canadian – 184.59