7 Quirky Tips for Mackinac Island
I am not on Mackinac Island right now. I’m not even in Northern Michigan. I spent this gorgeous sunny day in Pittsburgh and New Kensington, and I had a wonderful time. However, we go to the Upper Peninsula almost every summer. Most of our visits include a day trip to the island. So – I have the island on my mind right now. Here is the unsolicited advice that I just wrote. Take this with a grain of salt.
1.) Research the island before your trip. Prioritize.
I’m lucky. For many people, visiting Mackinac Island is a one-time deal. The ferry ticket is expensive. So are the hotels on the island and on the Lower and Upper Peninsulas. The island has a lot of stuff that people saw on travel shows: the Grand Hotel, carriage tours, saddle horses, bike and kayak rentals, Fort Mackinac, a butterfly house, the Haunted Theatre, the Governor’s House, etc. If this will be your only trip ever to Mackinac Island, you don’t want to miss things. Still, you’ll have less fun if you try to do and see everything. I still haven’t seen everything on the island. Check out rental and ticket prices ahead of time. I’ve watched families argue on the ferry dock and in a restaurant about which activity they should choose.
For a visit or two, Jonathan and I brought our bikes and rode around the island. (You will need to purchase a special ticket at an additional charge if you bring your bike on the ferry.) After that, we left our bikes at home. One year, we toured Fort Mackinac. One year, we watched the sailboats cross the finish line of the Race to Mackinac. (This race starts in Chicago and ends at Round Island Lighthouse off the shore of Mackinac Island.) One year Jonathan flew kites on the beach while I toured the Grand Hotel.
Here are two anecdotes:
Once we toured the Mackinac Island Cemetery because I read a story about its history. A man wearing a t-shirt that said “Mackinac Island Fire Department” showed up and unlocked a shed in the cemetery. We overheard him explain to someone else that a person’s ashes had been buried in a mayonnaise jar in the backyard of one of the private homes on the island. The house’s new owner wanted the mayonnaise jar removed from his yard. The man in the fire department t-shirt planned to move the mayonnaise jar to this cemetery.
On another visit, I toured the butterfly house. This was a bad idea since the day was warm and humid and I already felt hot. Keep in mind that all (or most) butterfly houses are also greenhouses. When was the last time that you toured a greenhouse on a warm summer day?
2.) Don’t go on Fridays, Saturdays, or Sundays if you don’t like large crowds of people.
I know that it’s a luxury to avoid the weekend and visit during the week instead. I stand by what I say. If you hate crowds and you come here on a summer weekend with gorgeous weather, you might hate the island forever. This place is actually pretty tourist trappy.
3.) Watch out for bicycles and horses.
Mackinac Island is a magical place where traffic rules don’t exist. It’s a huge deal to rent and ride bicycles on the island. Most of the rentals are to people who have never seen a bike before. Kids ride into other people. Entire families stop with no warning in the middle of the road. People park their bikes on the bike trails. You will also need to dodge the dozens or hundreds of horses travel and poop on the island roads. Most of this traffic is on Main Street in the island’s downtown. When Jonathan and I rode on the island, we tried to avoid this area.
4.) Save money by eating a late lunch on the island and getting a late dinner on the mainland.
Most of the restaurants on the island have separate lunch and dinner menus. Dinner on the island can be pricey. I bring a few drinks, some apples, and some trail mix for a snack. We eat lunch at 2, and then get dinner after we leave. You may want to review restaurant menus prior to your trip so that you know which places are within your budget.
5.) If you buy extra fudge to take home, plan your purchase.
My mother-in-law always buys it right before she gets on the ferry to go home. This way she doesn’t have to cart around several boxes of fudge in the heat. Note that the fudge shops on Mackinac Island also have locations in St. Ignace on the Upper Peninsula and Mackinaw City on the Lower Peninsula, so you can buy it after you leave the island.
6.) Don’t spend a lot of time at the souvenir shops on the island.
The Mackinac Island sweatshirts, hats etc. all travel by boat from China, etc. to the US mainland. Then they travel by boat to Mackinac Island. Tourists purchase these and bring them by boat back to the US mainland. You can also buy Mackinac Island stuff in St. Ignace, Mackinaw City, Sault Ste. Marie, Frankenmuth, etc.
7.) Pay attention to the ferry schedule.
Last year, the ferry company that we use changed its schedule for the first time in years and it put a crimp in our visit. Also, if you miss the last ferry of the evening, you will need to spend the night on the island. Note that the weather can affect the ferry schedule.
Keep in mind that some of the ferries docked at the island go to St. Ignace on the Upper Peninsula, and some of them go to Mackinaw City on the Lower Peninsula. Make sure that you take the correct ferry to the correct peninsula. Otherwise, the Straits of Mackinac will separate you from your car!
There! I just stood my husband up for dinner to finish this blog entry. As a side note, Mackinac Island and Mackinaw City have different spellings; I didn’t screw up their names. Here are my previous blog entries about Northern Michigan:
5 Ways That Mackinac Island Reminds Me of Home
Sault Ste. Marie Adventure, 2014
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