Les Flâneurs: Mackinac Island day 3

Saturday, September 19, 2020

Mackinac Island day 3

Our second full day on the island began leisurely. We didn’t arise until well after 8am, got dressed and headed downtown to Starbucks where we grabbed our morning coffees. We strolled back to the hotel and relaxed (the operative concept at work for us here) for an hour or so.

Across from our hotel was a bike rental agency — one of a half dozen or so near town — and we picked up a pair of “cruisers” for our tour around the island. Indeed, our singular goal for the day was to ride the 8.2 miles of Michigan state highway M-185, the one and only highway in the state closed to motorized vehicles and that goes right along the coast around the island. And so we did.

Lots of road erosion for the first half or so of the trip but the second half was smooth and clean. We stopped at Arch Rock, or rather the base of it, and cruised on to British Landing, a point of no small historical value for you enthusiasts of the War of 1812. You can find out more about Mackinac Island’s part in the War of 1812 on the Mackinac State Parks website. There’s also a set of restrooms at the Landing and it’s a major junction for those wanting to head inland.

We completed the circumnavigation of the island in just about 90 minutes. After dropping off our bikes we walked back into town and stopped at the Pink Pony in the Chippewa Hotel for lunch. Table service was full but the bar was wide open so we opted to do self-service at the bar. Like Panera they give you a number and bring the food to your table. No muss, no fuss. Susie had soup and sandwich and I went for the whitefish tacos. Quite good all ‘round.

After lunch we both headed back to the hotel. While I took a nap Susie went back out for a stroll around the nearby East Bluff. We met up a couple of hours later downtown for coffee at Moomers and hung around downtown for a bit. Returning to the hotel I caught up on my travel notes and prepped photos for the soon-to-be-published blog notes.

That evening we had a late dinner (7:45) at nearby 1852 Grill in the Island House, probably 200 yards from our hotel. The atmosphere was lovely, we had a table at the front with a gorgeous view overlooking the harbor and beyond. The food was scrumptious: we shared a plate of BBQ shrimp with cheddar grits followed by the walleye for Susie and the wienerschnitzel for me.

A wonderful, relaxing way to spend our final day on Mackinac Island. It’s been probably 25 years since we were here last and the pace (and place) hasn’t really changed much at all.