Family Vacation - Mackinac Island

We recently got back from the last of our summer travels before school starts - a trip to Mackinac Island.  We wanted to go somewhere that we could drive to, somewhere none of us have been to before, and somewhere that would be relaxing.  We thought Mackinac Island would be perfect since there are no cars allowed on the Island, lots of horses, and cooler weather than we've been having this summer.

The drive is approximately 7-8 hours, depending on where in the City you are leaving from and traffic, to get up to either Mackinac City or St. Ignace, the two cities where the ferries depart for Mackinac Island.  We spent our first night in Petoskey, a vacation town located at the top of Lake Michigan, to break up the trip a little bit and to be able to go to the beach.  We were there for less than 24 hours but were able to take in the amazing views and have a good fish dinner.

The next morning we drove up to St. Ignace, which is about an hour from Petoskey.  We chose to take a ferry from St. Ignace because the girls wanted to drive across the Mackinac Bridge (Mackinac City is on the Lower Pennisula side).  There are three main ferry companies and they all leave from both cities.  All three ferry companies, Shepler's, Arnold Transit, and Star Line, seem to be pretty interchangeable.  The prices, schedules, and departure locations are very similar.  I suggest buying your tickets online before you leave, where you can get a bit of a deal.  Kids 4 and under are free and we were able to find a deal for 2 adults and 1 child for $48.  These are round trip tickets and include handling of your bags from the ferry to your hotel once you reach the island.  All of the ferry companies offer free parking at the dock.  The ferry ride is about 30 minutes.  The girls really enjoyed it.  It is a very scenic trip.

On the Island there are lots of hotel choices ranging from very expensive to affordable.  We stayed at the Harbor View Inn, which is located along the main road a little ways away from the bustling downtown area.  It was perfectly nice, clean, and included a very good continental breakfast every morning.

After our exciting ferry ride to the Island and checking into our hotel, we decided to walk up the Grand Hotel to look around.  The Grand Hotel is the most famous hotel on the Island.  It was featured in the movie Somewhere in Time and claims to have the largest wraparound porch in the world.  If you are not staying at the hotel you have to pay $10/adult to see the hotel and grounds.  It is not a formal tour and gives you access to just about anywhere you want to go besides the guest rooms.  The hotel is pretty historic and despite the steep price to see it we all had a good time looking around.  The girls especially loved running around the grounds.  When we walked through the dining area they were serving afternoon tea and it looked really amazing. 

The next day we spent some time at Fort Mackinac.  It is located right downtown.  The Fort was built around 1780 and was interesting even for our daughters.  Since this year is the 200th anniversary of the war of 1812, in which the Fort played a role, there were lots of interesting events scheduled such as a rifle firing demonstration, music presentation, canon firing, and children's program where a costumed guide explained what it was like for children at the fort and let them play with toys from that time period.  We were actually quite surprised by how much the girls enjoyed the whole experience.

The one other big activity that we did, besides eating too much fudge and ice cream, was to go for a tour of the island in a horse carriage.  The tour doesn't go completely around the island but through it.  It is a mostly scenic tour with some commentary on the history of the Island and some of the landmarks you pass.  I didn't think our tour guide was awesome but overall it was an enjoyable ride.  Many people see the island on bike and my husband and older daughter did rent bikes for a short ride but given the age of our family and biking ability seeing the Island by carriage was our best option.  If your kids are old enough to ride 8-10 miles on their bike I would probably skip the carriage ride and go by bike.  You can rent bikes of all sorts for different durations just about anywhere.

There are lots of dining options on the Island ranging for very good to completely touristy.  There were two restaurants that we ate at that were standouts for us:  Mary's Bistro and the Cudahy Room at Inn at Stonecliffe.  Mary's Bistro is located right on Main Street.  There is indoor and outdoor seating and we were able to sit outside and watch the boats going in and out of the harbor.  The signature dish is spit fired chicken, which is quite good.  The restaurant has a kid's menu, is quite casual, and very family friendly.  The Cudahy Room is a bit more formal and pricey.  It is located in the Inn at Stonecliffe, which is located on the western side of the island a good distance from the downtown area.  The Inn at Stonecliffe was about 2 miles from our hotel and we were planning to take a horse carriage to get there, which we thought would only take about 15 minutes.  That was a big mistake.  We found that if you want a private carriage, you need to request one about 30 minutes in advance and then it takes another 30 - 40 minutes to ride out to the restaurant.  We got lucky and were able to grab the last seats on a shuttle going to the Woods restaurant, which is located right by the Inn at Stonecliffe. Even though it is a long ride, it is a scenic one and really a great way to spend an evening.  The menu at the Cudahy Room includes fish, steak, and chicken dishes and there is a children's menu.  The restaurant is a little fancier than where we would normally take our kids, however it didn't seem like a big deal that they were along.  The food was really good and we had a very nice evening.

Mackinac Island was a great place for us to vacation.  It was extremely family friendly and completely relaxing.  Ever since the trip the girls have been asking when we will go back.