This was probably our shortest day on the road thus far. We had a nice ride over from Munising and arrived at the campground in Mackinaw City just after one. A good part of our drive was on Michigan Highway 2, which in this part of the state runs along the lakeshore. That is the northern shore of Lake Michigan. It converges with Interstate 75 just north of the Mackinaw Bridge. It was a very nice drive with plenty of lake views. There was a little bit of a back up at the bridge toll both, but nothing too bad. The toll turned out to be $12.50. Not sure why since the sign said two axles with a trailer was $7.00. The guy must have seen the Florida plates.
The Mackinaw Bridge is similar to the Skyway Bridge in St Petersburg, FL in some ways, but it is over much deeper water. The main channel beneath the bridge is 295’ deep and was originally cut by glacial river flows when the Great Lakes were originally formed. Barbara was just a young girl at the time. Did I mention she had a birthday this week? Yep, she has joined me on Medicare.
The campground check-in is very well run. You can tell they do a volume business. There are double check-in lanes and several windows for the drivers to go to to check in. The young woman checking us in was very nice and very efficient. They even give you printed instructions to your specific site. Why all this attention to check-in? There are 800 campsites and they accommodate campers from tents to big rig RVs. This is like the Disney of campgrounds. They have any number of ways to vacuum your wallet clean if you have kids. Lots of activities like miniature golf and hay rides. They offer a shuttle to the Mackinac Island ferry, too, but their schedule and ours does not match tomorrow so we will drive over on our own.
We walked through Mackinaw City this afternoon. It has its tourist trap area, but once you walk a block away it is very tranquil. The old homes in town are, for the most part, small and there are small parks sprinkled through the area to make it very nice.
We walked the docks and saw a fantastic restored Chris Craft yacht floating in crystal clear water in the harbor. From there we walked to the old lighthouse and watched a young couple wed on the lighthouse grounds. Lots of body art on the backs of the bridesmaids, bride AND the brides mother! What is up with that? The bride also looked like there might be one in the oven. Everyone was having a wonderful time, and that is what counts. We wish them well.
The beach and grassy park adjacent to the lighthouse had a very nice view of the bridge so we sat down and enjoyed the view for a while before heading back to camp.
We really feel like campers. We don’t have the A/C on and there is nothing on TV!
Tomorrow we will take the ferry to Mackinac Island. We have been told that it is pronounced Mackinaw Island, by the way.
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