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Yeah, heres an idea: change my latitude IN THE WRONG DIRECTION!!!!!

Actually, we take my son up to Soo to meet my in-laws. They spend the summer at a fishing camp in Canada. Was reading ISLANDS magazine website and happened across an article on it. Anybody been??? Looking for a cheap place to spend the night (me/wife/2 yo) and some ideas of what to do there. I'm looking to ride my bike quite a bit, spend some time with the Clydesdales. Any other info or ideas???

Will

Staredge wrote:Yeah, heres an idea: change my latitude IN THE WRONG DIRECTION!!!!!

Actually, we take my son up to Soo to meet my in-laws. They spend the summer at a fishing camp in Canada. Was reading ISLANDS magazine website and happened across an article on it. Anybody been??? Looking for a cheap place to spend the night (me/wife/2 yo) and some ideas of what to do there. I'm looking to ride my bike quite a bit, spend some time with the Clydesdales. Any other info or ideas???

Will

You will love the island. Realize that it is small, and the main strip where the ferrys dock is about all there is to the island.

http://www.mackinac.com/

We have been often, including spending a couple nights of our honeymoon there. No such thing as a cheap place to spend the night on the island, but almost any of the bed and breakfasts are memorable. If you want to sink a large sum, and make advance reservations; the Grand Hotel is spectacular. The island has a bike path that circles the island, about an 8 mile trip; there are LOTS of places to rent bikes. The place is very crowded during summer weekends, less so during the week. If you go up sometime other than July or August it is much less crowded.

If you are looking for somewhere cheaper to stay, St Ignace on the UP side of the bridge, or Macinac City on the lower end have lots of reasonably priced places.

z-man wrote: You will love the island. Realize that it is small, and the main strip where the ferrys dock is about all there is to the island.

http://www.mackinac.com/

We have been often, including spending a couple nights of our honeymoon there. No such thing as a cheap place to spend the night on the island, but almost any of the bed and breakfasts are memorable. If you want to sink a large sum, and make advance reservations; the Grand Hotel is spectacular. The island has a bike path that circles the island, about an 8 mile trip; there are LOTS of places to rent bikes. The place is very crowded during summer weekends, less so during the week. If you go up sometime other than July or August it is much less crowded.

If you are looking for somewhere cheaper to stay, St Ignace on the UP side of the bridge, or Macinac City on the lower end have lots of reasonably priced places.

Yeah, shoulda specified cheapest available. The old lady loves SOMEWHERE IN TIME, but I can't afford the Grand. Maybe when I hit the lottery. Of course if I do that I might just move there. Something about a place that doesn't allow cars (and in MICHIGAN for God's sake) appeals to me. Will be first part of June, as soon as school lets out. (Probably the weekend of the Lilac Festival, meaning huge crowds)

I just like the idea of taking my (aluminum) pony to the shore!!!!

Will

Like z-man said, your only inexpensive lodging choices would be St. Ignace or Mackinaw City, but both have lots of choices. Many of the chain hotels in both cities, plus "mom & pop" type places. The island is only a 15 or 20 minute ferry ride away, and you can bring your own bikes for an additional fee. Three ferry companies, that I'm aware of.

http://www.sheplersferry.com/
http://www.arnoldline.com/
http://www.mackinacferry.com/

On the island, your transportation choices are foot, bicycle and horse. The bike path around the island is fun, and the kids would love a horse-drawn carriage ride, I'm sure. Watch where you walk when crossing the street

Temps can be much cooler than the mainland even on a warm day, so take a sweatshirt just in case.

No, since we're only going to be there for a night I want to stay on the island. Looks like the B & B's are the best option. Problem is getting the reservations. Guess I'll see what happens. We could stay in Soo overnight like normal and then spend the day there. Roll out & hit a rest stop later that evening for some zzzzz's. Hotel room works better with my 2 yo son though.

Will

the Island is lovely. If you stick to the fudge shop strip, you miss the best part.

There are wonderful trails for hiking and the interior of the island is really beautiful. There is a lot of history there too. The cemetaries, as odd as it sounds, are very interesting too.

Have a great time!

Combine Michigan's current economic woes with the return of $2.50 gas, and you'll probably find half the tourists missing this spring.
Probably a good time for the trip.
We get up there every summer, but just for a day.

If you're a tourist in that area, the locals will call you a "fudgie". Sometimes even affectionately, if you spend enough money.

I love being a "fudgie" chocolate peanutbutter is my favorite

Just a warning the fudge shops vent the chocolate scent out onto the street and it is very hard to resist....

Even you "middle of the mitten" folks are fudgies?
I thought they reserved that moniker for us that reside south of I-69 !

We've gone to Soo for the last two years. As much as I hate sending my son with the in-laws for 1-1/2 months (I'll leave it to you to decide why!!! ) I like the area. Always had a hing for the Edmund Fitzgerald, so we hit the museum and the lighthouse nearby. (have a thing for lighthouses too) Figured this would be a good excuse to do something different, although we'll still hit the museum!!!!

Have a thing for fudge too!!!! Partial to maple walnut or oreo.

Will

It's been several years since I was up there, but it was a fun time. We stayed in St. Ignace, and there was this local restaurant whose specialty was sauteed whitefish livers. Not exactly the most appealing sounding dish, but once I tried them, we went back two more times and that's what I had. We also hit the shipwreck museum, and Tahquamenon Falls State Park. We only spent a day on the Island, and did the usual. Definitely take a tour of the Grand Hotel, and the carriage ride was fun too. Speaking of fudge, when I went to Cedar Point last summer I ate a 1/4 lb chunk of chocolate peanut butter all by myself in one sitting. Not nearly the quality of the stuff at Mackinac though

Mackinac fudge is the best!
We spend time every summer on Lake Huron near East Tawas, but we try to get up to the big bridge and the little island every few years.

z-man wrote:Mackinac fudge is the best!

Naw. Long Beach Island in NJ. I'll give Mackinac 2nd though, even though I haven't had it yet.

Staredge wrote:

z-man wrote:Mackinac fudge is the best!

Naw. Long Beach Island in NJ. I'll give Mackinac 2nd though, even though I haven't had it yet.

I thought NJ was salt-water taffy country, not fudge.

chippewa wrote:

Staredge wrote:

z-man wrote:Mackinac fudge is the best!

Naw. Long Beach Island in NJ. I'll give Mackinac 2nd though, even though I haven't had it yet.

I thought NJ was salt-water taffy country, not fudge.

Yeah, they got that there too. Country Kettle Fudge rocks though. You can order it online!!!!!!!

http://www.countrykettlefudge.com/

And there's a lighthouse up the island!!!!

Mac Island is awsome! I love it. While you are up there make a short trip to a town called Bliss and look for a bar called Legs Inn. I believe that is the name. It has been a very long time since Iv been up that way. But that bar/ resturaunt is the most amazing place I have ever been. When I was up that way it was run by a polish fella named George. Great food , great music, and it takes you completly away from the world.

Very small town atmosphere. What KW might have been 20 years ago before tourism ruined it. Oh and its colder of coarse

We were there 16 years ago. We stayed at the Mission Point Resort. It couldn't have been too expensive because we couldn't have afforded an expensive place.

We were there when the boats from the Chicago to Mackinac race were arriving. Made for a colorful scene.

The first or second week of June is the lilac festival They have a parade on the Island and other acttivites

We stayed there 3 or 4 times back when we lived in the Great Lakes area. Usually fairly expensive, but it is worth it to stay on the island because when the day trippers leave at day's end, it becomes a whole different place. Love the old fort, riding bikes around the perimeter road, but the thing we liked the best was renting a horse and carriage for a half day and DRIVING ourselves all over. (This does not work if you are not comfortable with horses, but Jimmy is a good horseman and grew up with them.) Particularly cool to drive past the Michigan governor's summer home, and the other big and gingerbready Victorian homes on the cliff. You can go have a meal at the Grand to soak up the ambiance without the cost of actually staying there, or if you are a golfer, go play there. There is also a very old, famous classic 9 hole golf course up the middle of the island. And a couple of cemeteries dating back to the War of 1812. MUST buy some fudge, but avoid the t-shirt shoppe ish main street during day when the boatloads of 5 hour people are mobbing it. It's very green and flowery... once, I think it was the Summer of the Drought, would that be 1988? ...we met some people up there who were just sitting out on the point and sort of staring and we asked if they needed help and they said they were just looking at all the green and blue, seems they were from Kansas or Dakota or someplace that was just being blown away in dust that year, and they had simply gotten in their car and driven until they got to this green island in a deep blue lake where they could not see any dust. It was very touching. It is sort of closed in winter, only a village of a few native Americans who use snowmobiles in winter, the horses that power everything in the summer are moved to downstate Michigan in the winter. Be cautioned, there is a major sailboat race, a regatta, similar to the Newport-to-Ensenada, that is the Chicago-to-Mackinac race, and if you happen to stay on the island the weekend that the race ends up there, you will not get any sleep, as the crews celebrate all night. Think it is the only ocean type regatta held on fresh water. We know, because the first time we stayed on the island, we accidentally booked in on that weekend, had a room overlooking the marina, and even about 6 floors up, could not sleep. Sailors party all night. But all the boats were a lovely sight, and that hotel had a harborside pool and a historic bar, as well. It's a super island in summer!