Day 7
We woke up early to catch the ferry in St Ignace. Before we knew we it, we could see the Mackinac Bridge.
This time we took the Shepler's Ferry.
We just made it onto the ferry that was departing.
We were the last ones to board.
Theo insisted I bring his survival tool along. He put it to good use peering out at the Mackinac Bridge.
The ferry took us under the bridge this time!
I could tell the kids were going to love this place from the second we got off the ferry.
We brought our own bikes onto the island. After arriving we parked our bikes and walked around downton.
Apparently Theo had been asking for caramel corn.
He saw it in a few different fudge shops and so we made it our first stop.
As more people arrived it got harder to cross the street.
We went in search for the perfect souvenirs and bumper sticker.
We had just eaten granola bars for a quick breakfast this morning. By 10:30 we were still hungry. Our favorite restaurant on the island, The Chuckwagon, was still serving breakfast.
Last time we were here we had burgers for lunch. This time the kids opted for pancakes and Brooke and I both got corned beef hash.
The peace sign pancakes for the kids was awesome. Need to do this with our pancakes.
I hope this place is still here next time we visit. Honestly I could've went here for breakfast, lunch and dinner. Too bad they only stay open until lunch.
The best part is sitting at the counter behind the cooks. It was fun watching them switch over from breakfast to lunch.
With our bellies full we headed back on our bikes to check out the island.
First stop was Arch Rock. I love that this island has the touristy stuff and gift shops but also has natural features.
It's 8.2 miles around the island. It's mostly flat and you are stopping a lot.
Google maps showed there was a cave nearby.
The way up was fine, but it's slippery going down.
Theo is my adventure buddy.
Signs with my name on them happen a lot.
The last time we were here this old lodge looked like it had been abandoned for many years. I was expecting to see it had been torn down. Luckily someone had bought it and fixed it up. While we stopped to take photos we didn't realize someone was sitting on the porch. He told us it was called Silver Birches.
That article mentions that it was going to be a boutique hotel, but I guess it's still a private residence.
Rounding the island there was some kind of rescue operation by the coast guard. A commercial boat seemed to be on fire.
Another point of interest we stopped to see was Friendship's Altar.
After this we checked into our condo we would be staying in.
Might have gotten lost in the gated community it was located in. But we made it and dropped off our stuff for the overnight.
The road back to town from the condo passes the Grand Hotel. 
Someday I'll make it inside.
Geeze, we could've went inside if it meant that much. I would love to stay there when we're old fogies.
Brooke made sure to point out the sign. I guess I might have to get a suit someday.
It's still $10 to go inside for non guests.
We told the kids they could each pick out something while we were here. Earlier we saw a store with a kitty purse in the window. They weren't open at the time so we headed back to check it out.
Meadow tried on hats first.
The purse was perfect for her.
Meadow also wanted a keychain which she bought with her own money.
Theo chose ice cream as the thing he wanted. There was an ice cream shoppe in the Grand Hotel so we headed back there.
I don't blame him, ice cream is better than random trinkets. After he had a bit of melt down (and I got crabby too) we were all happy when we got to the Grand Hotel's ice cream shop, Sadie's.
Then we let the kids play at the school playground.
This weekend also happened to be the Mackinac Island Fudge Festival. One of the events was a treasure hunt. There were 17 clues and you had to find the treasure box to claim the prize. We noticed one prize hadn't been claimed yet so on the search we went.
We had to find the highest point on the island. On Google Maps terrain setting it looked like it would be near Skull Cave.
I figured out that it was actually a little further down the road at the Fort Holmes.
We searched and searched. Either they took it away until tomorrow or someone had already claimed it and not turned it in yet.
This was definitely the right place. Ah, well. It was cool to see the older of the two forts on the island.
Nevertheless it brought us to a part of the island we had never been to before.
Now we got to head downhill all the way back to downtown for dinner.
The Mustang Lounge is the oldest pub in all of Michigan. It had been remodeled, but they had OK food and beer. Beer's always good.
I found this completely bonkers sticker when we took a potty break. Who makes these stickers?
Bahahahaha
The nice thing about staying overnight is that once all the day Fudgie's leave for the day the island is pretty quiet.
We headed back in the dark to our very 80's condo for the night. There are 3 buildings next to each other that look the same, especially in the dark. After unsuccessfully trying to get in our place we realized we were at the wrong building. Whoops.
I thought it was funny that this place had the same doorknobs as my childhood home.
I always thought that door knob was so cool.
Day 8
Our room had a mini fridge but no kitchen. We bought a small thing of milk and brought on cereal to the island. Going out to eat here is very expensive. We had breakfast in our room to save some money.
You see, we're cheap and also on a 17 day vacation. So, this was a perfect plan for breakfast.
I love being here early in the morning to see everyone get ready for the day. The streets were being cleaned, plants were watered.
The lobby at Murray Hotel was pretty cool.
We decided to go here due to their early bird fudge special.
We had a hard time deciding what kind of fudge to get.
There was a hotel and restaurant called the Pink Pony. Meadow loved this place so we ate our fudge out front.
We really should've ate there for dinner or breakfast.
I think we had done everything we wanted to do, it was time to get back on the ferry and make our way to Canada.
Unlike the packed ferry we had on the way to the island we were only one of two groups heading back.
See you later Grand Hotel.
Until next time Mackinac Island. Maybe for my 40th birthday?
It would be pretty rad in winter.
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