Back in Time

On Thursday we took a ferry over to Mackinac Island for the day.  Oh wow, even before we docked we could see that it was going to be different.  On an adjacent dock there were teams of horses and wagons lined up to receive goods and freight off one of the boats.  On our boat there were even a couple dozen bicycles and a couple of wagons filled with luggage.  Once we got off the dock and to the street, we saw that there were only bikes (2,500 in number) and horse drawn wagons on the street.  There are only a few vehicles allowed on the island; 2 fire trucks, 1 ambulance and 2 police cars.  Everything else is done by horses or bikes; all deliveries, tours, taxi service and even street sweeping.  It is a bit odd because the street sweepers, and they need a lot of them, have a motorized sweeper and vacuum but are pulled by 2 horses.  There are 500 horses on the island in the summer and a full time vet to look after them.  They have a blacksmith that shoes the horses with special steel and composite rubber shoes, about 5,600 each year.  The horses are mostly Belgains and Percherons and almost all are males.  A team of horses will work hard about 4 hours per day and they do work hard.  A team of two will pull carts of 20 people.  When going up hills they have to stop a couple of times just to catch their breath.  A team of 3 horses pulls 35 people but only have 1 hill to climb.  The drivers are responsible for harnessing the horses, hitching up the wagons, bathing the animals each day and generally taking care of them.  In the winter all but 50 horses are taken off the island and sent to a farm in the UP (Upper Peninsula).  There are about 500 permanent residents on the island; the rest, thousands of them, work only in the summer.  Some VIP's, including the Governor of Michigan, have huge summer homes on the island.  Evidently, the current Governor visits 10-15 times per year.

The Grand Hotel, a five star hotel, has 600 employees alone.  It is, however, way too pretentious for us.  It costs $10 just for the privilege to walk in the front of the building (see photo). 
Even if you wanted to eat lunch there, the $10 is added to your $30 lunch.  After 6 PM jacket and tie is a must for men and women MUST were dresses; no slacks allowed.  They have a golf course there which, from what I could see, was nothing special, well manicured but rather short.  Green fees are $118, club rentals $50.  We can wait.

We took the carriage tour and it was well worth it.  The shops are pricey and not much different from Mackinaw City.  In fact, everything is a bit more costly.  Nonetheless we had an excellent lunch on the patio at Mary's Bistro.  Linda found another favorite drink; Guiness, cherry wheat beer and black cherry liqueur (2 pints worth).  We toured some more then met an interesting group from Wales at the Yankee Tavern.  The one chap was in the British Marines on leave from Afganistan.  We got to talking and he spoke of a detail he had in Baghdad were his unit supported the US Special Forces and the Agency (ie. CIA).  He was totally blown away by the technology that he saw there.  At that point a did let out that I was familiar with some of it.  An interesting cat for sure that lasted a few pints.  Linda found a new favorite; the Yankee Doodle Dandy (Jack Daniels, Ameretto and a splash of McGillacuty's (cinammon hearts)).  We had to leave shortly thereafter.  Again, carmel corn for supper.

Well that was yesterday.  I need to search for another coupon already.  This could be bad.
b4n
Tom