The Minis take Michigan - 2023 Michigan Road Trip Day Eight: Ferries and Fudge
August 26
The day dawned sunny and so pleasant. We busted out the griddle and cooked up some bacon from Yoder’s Meat and Cheese Company and polished off the breakfast cookie. Then we cleaned up and got ready to head to the ferry to Mackinac Island. Bill drove, but Zappo stayed in camp today. He wouldn’t have liked the ferry, nor the crowded Mackinac Island streets.
The ferry was a hydro-jet, so after waiting about 20 minutes for a ferry to arrive, we loaded up and were on the island in about 15 minutes.
Automobile Ban
There are no cars on Mackinac Island. In fact, the island is celebrating 125 years of the automobile ban. All transportation is by bicycle or horse-drawn carriages. There are plenty of options for renting either one. You can even rent a horse and carriage to drive yourself around the island. More commonly though, you can pay for a tour or taxi ride.
We weren’t quick enough to get photos, but we even saw bicycles with a couple suitcases stacked in the front basket, heading to and from the hotel. The rider had a tall seat, or stood to ride!
Fudge
Aside from the lack of cars, Mackinac Island is probably most known for the fudge. There are apparently 13 fudge shops on the island. Several companies have a store on each end of Main Street.
Our friend Monica said her favorite is Joann’s and that happened to be the first place we stopped in. They were so very friendly, and offered free samples. We teased that they would tire of us asking for samples, but they insisted it was fine!
We ended up choosing the vanilla fudge with caramel. It was certainly not an easy choice; all of the samples were super creamy and delicious!
We also happened to be on the island for Fudge Festival. There was previously a contest to name a new fudge. The winning name was “Crack in the Island Crunch” and six shops invented a new flavor with that name. The offerings included fudge with caramel, cashews, mint, spicy candied bacon, peanut butter, and pretzels.
Oh, and other attractions
We had lunch at a little hot dog stand called the Dog House. It was on a private piece of land overlooking the water and was a really pleasant break.
We did a little window shopping and bought a souvenir for our “places tree” at home. There were some funny T-shirts but we didn’t find one we had to have.
We decided we’d had enough island fun and fudge, so we headed back to the ferry. Once we got back to the truck, Bill headed to Castle Rock where we got some photos of the rock outcrop and the Paul Bunyan and Babe. We didn’t think we had the energy to walk to the top of the stairs, so we got photos from below and checked out the gift shop. Naturally, I smashed another penny!
Another teeny bit of geology
Castle rock is an outcrop of limestone that stands about 200 feet above the surrounding land and water. This sort of formation where the surroundings are eroded is known as a sea stack.
Sea stack, you say? Well, yes. Limestone forms from underwater deposits. Glaciation about 10, 000 years ago caused a lake much higher than the current lake levels, and as the water subsided and eroded the surroundings, Castle Rock stood strong.
Twilight
We stopped for a few groceries, then headed back to camp. Bill grilled some burgers and we ate and chatted until the cool air chased us indoors. As I sat here relating our adventures, I heard fireworks. I went outside and tried to find them but the trees blocked the view. The sound came from the direction of Mackinac Island, but I couldn’t tell if they were from that far away or somewhere on the “mainland.”
All in all, it was a wonderful day.
