Mackinac Island and The Grand Hotel

There's just no way I can give this part of our trip true justice. Mackinac Island and a stay at the Grand Hotel was the crown jewel of the week. When you step off the ferry you feel like you are stepping back in time as there are no motorized vehicles on the island. The modes of transportation are just old fashioned walking, horse drawn carriages or bikes. The clip clop of horses feet was everywhere. What a quaint and happy place to visit! We took the carriage from the dock up to the hotel and the girls thought that was just the best thing ever.

The Grand Hotel is just that, very Grand! It somewhat reminded me of one of mine and Brian's favorites spots, the Arlington Hotel in Hot Springs, Arkansas but on a much larger scale. While poking around on the internet I found a special that I just couldn't pass up. The stay includes a 5 course dinner and then breakfast the next morning. The hotel opened in 1887 and at 660 feet, their front porch is the world's largest. There are over 300 rooms and each one is decorated differently. There are all kinds of fun things to do there at the hotel such as lawn games for the family as well as a huge outdoor heated pool.

During the dinner hour, and I think also around lunch time they have children's activities in a room called 'Rebecca's Room' that include a meal so that parents can enjoy the fancy dinner if they so choose. Emma decided that sounded like much more fun than dinner with us but Ryan felt he was too old, plus he wanted to see what the nice dinner was all about. The children have to be over 5 to participate but we were able to hire a babysitter at the hotel to take Rebecca which allowed her to enjoy some time with Emma and to be able to enjoy the children's activities too. Taking Ryan to dinner with us was well worth it! He was very impressed with the meal, as were we and he seemed to get a big kick out of learning what all the forks were for.

I'd love to share more but too much to do right now, I'll write some more later. There's a whole story involving a bike ride around the island that needs to have it's own post anyway. An 8 mile family bike ride with a family that feels like we're a traveling circus anyway. It's quite funny.