7 Highlights from Our Vacation to Mackinac Island

This past week, we went on vacation with our extended family on the Pressprich side. My in-laws graciously hosted 19 of us in total, and we spent a week on Mackinac Island. For those of you not familiar with Michigan geography, Mackinac (pronounced Mack-i-naw) is situated between the lower and upper peninsulas. It’s about 4 hours north of Detroit. The island is a popular tourist destination in the summer, though about 500 people live there year round. I’m linking up with Kelly today, so here are 7 highlights from our trip.

1. Not getting in the car

There are no cars on Mackinac Island. You leave your vehicle on the mainland and get to the island via ferry. There’s also a small airstrip on the island. Staying on the island for a whole week meant that we were car-less for a week. Being somewhere for vacation that didn’t require getting in and out of the car for every excursion or activity was, in a word, wonderful. Everywhere you want to go on the island is within biking or hiking distance, though there are lots of hills, and lots of stairs. We brought our double stroller and G’s bike. The big two of our kids did a lot of walking and biking, and Charlotte spent a lot of time in a wrap or a stroller, depending on how far of a walk it was. Everyone got lots of exercise, and as a bonus- the kids slept great!

2. The Views

Mackinac Island is absolutely stunning. The water is pristine, the nature practically untouched. Natural wonders abound. There really aren’t words that do it justice, so here are a few photos.

3. The History

History was always one of my favorite subjects in school, and a my favorite as a teacher. Mackinac Island is steeped in history, which was such fun for me. Fort Mackinac stands on the island, as does Fort Holmes, both of which only saw action during the War of 1812. Fort Mackinac was a great excursion for the whole family- the kids enjoyed learning about what military kids did during the 1800s, seeing the cannon and rifle demonstrations, and dressing up in period costumes. My mother-in-law and I picked up some great books about the island and the War of 1812 for our US history curriculum in coming years, and we’ve already read them all several times.

4. The Butterflies

There is a butterfly conservancy on the island, which was a great indoor activity for one of the rainy days we had on the trip. The butterflies were colorful and abundant, though our particular group of kids got more excited about the insect and reptile room than they did the butterflies.

5. Biking

Mark and I both enjoy biking, but don’t get to do it very often. Since Mackinac Island is a biking paradise, it was great to take advantage of the opportunity to get on bikes ourselves as well as giving the kids chances to get more comfortable riding. We did a whole family bike trip one morning, and rented bikes and a burley for the kids. I wasn’t sure how William and Charlotte would feel to be towed behind the bike, but they loved it. Most nights after dinner we would take a long walk and let all the big kids ride their bikes. William discovered a love of biking, and the positive peer pressure of having a cousin who could ride a two-wheel was instrumental in convincing G to lose her training wheels (which she did this week).

6. Horses

If you ask Gianna what her favorite thing about Mackinac Island was, this is the answer you’d get. She has always loved horses from a distance, so when we saw someone coming out of The Little Barn, we took the opportunity to ask about a chance to ride. We met Gretchen, who runs the Mackinac Island Children’s Riding Academy, who invited all of the kids in our family to come by the stables throughout the week. Gretchen comes from Kalamazoo, MI, where she is a therapeutic instructor, and spends summers on Mackinac teaching riding lessons to the children who live on the island year round. She let our kids help with stable chores like feeding and brushing the horses. They all had multiple opportunities to ride, and even got to be passengers in a carriage driven by one of her students. Gianna was in heaven.

7. Quality Time

This is the best part of the trip for Mark and I. We are blessed to have a close-knit nuclear family and a close-knit extended family. Our kids have a bunch of cousins, and they are all close in age. This vacation meant lots and lots of family time- time our kids got to spend with aunts and uncles, grandparents and great-grandparents, and cousins. It was a good mixture of time spent as a nuclear family and time spent as a larger family, and we are grateful for all of it.