Reentering the US at Drummond Island was much easier than anticipated. We called the marina and requested Customs clearance and a pump out. An agent and dock hand were there to greet us and even caught our lines. The agent jumped on board asked some questions - took our contraband consisting of a lemon and a kiwi - and that was it. He said that if the lemon and kiwi were cut up and in tupperware, we could have kept them. Oh well, cheap price to pay for reentry.
It's good to be back in the ole USA!! First order of business is a phone call to Verizon to reestablish our data plan. I see a night of surfing in our future as we dropped the hook in Pigeon Cove just across Northern Huron from Drummond Island.
Pigeon Cove.
The next morning was clear and sunny, and we looked forward to staying in a marina at Mackinac Island. Some cool lighthouses in route:
Getting closer to Mackinac Isl the boat traffic picks up - both commercial and recreational - in addition, there's all the usual tourist trap tours, ferries, and parasailers. There's no denying that we're back in America!!
Pulling into Mackinac Island - that's Fort Mackinac up on the hilltop.
The marina is right in the middle of downtown.
Here's the view from SeaGlide for the next few days.
Mackinac Isl is awesome. As most folks know, transportation
consists of horse carriages, bicycles, or taking the 11
as my old New York buddy would say (walking it)!
It definitely feels as though you've stepped back in time here.
Our first order of business was a walk about town and the shoreline.
The next morning we beat the crowd to the horse carriage tour
and enjoyed learning the history of this fascinating place.
A different view of Fort Mackinac taken above from the firing range.
The horse stables at the Grand Hotel.
Quite an extensive carriage museum is inside the stable.
The flowers and grounds are just as impressive as the actual hotel.
The Grand Hotel
They boast of having the longest front porch - over 600 feet long!
The hotel pool and sunning area.
A limestone church and local
homeowner's garden (below).
Next up was a tandem bike excursion
(something every married couple needs to try at least once!).
It was an 8 mile ride around the island.
All the blue hues of the water were incredible.
An Executive Putting Course
To make our day complete, a Tall Ship pulled into the harbor -
she was so graceful to watch especially as she rounded the corner.
The next morning we were off to St. Ignace, MI. We went stayed at St. Ignace on our bikes last year coming home (the long way) from Sturgis. At the time we knew we would be making the boat trip and vowed to return by boat to this quaint little town.
Haven't seen a Magic 8 Ball in years!
We strolled about town and the boardwalk with Barefoot'n.
As luck would have it, there was a free concert at the marina that night.
St. Ignace lighthouse at night.
With questionable weather and wave heights we decided to make the short run over to Mackinaw City. We were so glad we did as Straits State Marina was just as nice as reported.
Coming into Mackinaw City.
Straits State Marina
SeaGlide with a Coast Guard Ice Breaker in the distance.
The park in front of the marina.
Cool downtown area - lots of shopping.
Karaoke going on in the shopping district.
We walked out to the fort and along the shoreline
to get a good view of Big Mac - the Mackinaw Bridge.
An old lighthouse and keeper's house.
Lots of small mini-parks all along the shoreline
most dedicated to loved ones.
Loved this little stone wall - trench made in the top
of it for plantings to drape down the wall.
Got back to the marina and walked out to the pier.
Night finally fell on a long, busy day.
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