Mackinac is pronounced [ˈmækɪnɔ] (MACK-in-awe)

We recently had the opportunity to visit Mackinac Island, when Dave had a "Michigan State Miller's Association" meeting at that location! All members of the association are encouraged to invite their wives/families on this trip! There is actually only about 4 hours of meetings, and 2 evening dinners involved on the work side of things.

Mackinac Island is somewhere in between regular Michigan and the Upper Peninsula. It is only accessible by Ferry from either Mackinaw City, MI or St. Ignace. Once you get to the Island you have three options:
1. Take a horse/buggy
2. Ride a Bike
3. Walk

There are no motorized vehicles of any kind on the island! (Although, we did hear one morning that someone had seen a fire truck - apparently emergency vehicles are allowed.)

It is completely beautiful on Mackinac Island.... it is known for it's many, many lilac trees - and they were everywhere, and in full bloom! I can't believe I didn't take any pictures of them. It smelled beautiful.

We were lucky enough to be staying at "The Grand Hotel." Which only deserves to be referred to in quotation marks. "The Grand Hotel" has been the sight of a couple of feature films including: 1946 "This Time for Keeps" starring Esther Williams (and the pool is named after her.), and 1980 "Somewhere In Time" starring Jane Seymour and Christopher Reeves. The hotel itself becomes a little bit snooty at around 6pm. At this time you are not supposed to be seen anywhere in the hotel unless you have on a necktie and jacket (for the men), and dressed in your best (for the ladies.) If you are not dressed in this attire you are to head directly to the elevator and up to your room.

Dave's coworker, Bryan, accidentally got off of the elevator on the Main Dining Room level the first night.... his room was on "2", and he got off when the elevator opened. He then realized his mistake and was awkwardly waiting for the elevator in his shorts and t-shirt. As some fancily dressed folks waited next to him, he informed them of his mistake. The lady said in her best rich voice, "I was just telling my sister that I didn't think they would allow you to eat here in that attire." Anyway - quite funny.

I have a couple of pictures of our room in the slide-show... they called it "a small interior room." Which we just thought was funny, and poor marketing. ha. It was actually a very beautiful place to stay, and quite historic. It is a little pricey - but everyone should stay there at least one night if they visit, just for the experience.

During his four hours of meetings I took the opportunity to go down to "The Grand Hotel" spa to have a pedicure. It was the best pedicure I have ever had! .....so, I took a picture.

We had dinner with some folks from the conference - and those are the pictures with the equestrian caps. I, of course, insisted on pictures with everyone pretending to wear the caps -which actually had light bulbs in them and hung over the tables. (thus you couldn't actually place it on your head.) We all felt silly, which accounts for our silly smiles - except for the last guy. He loved the idea!

The picture with all of the mugs was inspired by our waiter that informed us that anyone could purchase their own mug to have permanently available and all to themselves....they only sell for $30,000. No big deal. ;)

We biked around the island, which is a total of 8miles - not too bad. It was a rather chilly day, even in June. Also, Fort Mackinac is located on the island - this Fort was fought over between the British and the Americans in the War of 1812.

Many shops downtown - we only purchased an ornament for our Christmas Tree, which is a tradition that my mom got me started doing.... oh yes - we also purchased "famous Mackinac Island fudge." There are tons of fudge shops - pretty tasty.

We had a GRAND time.