Summer Vacay: Part II

Probably one of my favorite parts of this trip was visiting Mackinac Island. It was so pretty and the houses were beyond beautiful! Just a short ferry ride across one of the great lakes and you have been transported to an island were horse and buggy or pastel bicycles are your choices of transportation. You know me, I couldn't help myself, I took a picture of just about every house I saw, but I'm just going to post my favorites because if not this post would be two pages long!First up, we had to wait for our ferry ride. We picked the ferry that boasted amazing speed and ability to get us to the island in just 20 minutes. The trip to the beloved island is not an inexpensive one, with tickets costing $24 each, its worth your while to stay on there for at least the whole day. Once we got on the ferry, we picked the seats with the best view...however, once I got up there I realized that it was quite chilly and I was dubious that I wouldn't freeze my ears off...but that's nothing my trusty hood didn't fix! The second we stepped off of the pier we were greeted by all of the amazing carriages with these beautiful horses. Many of them had the word "Taxi" on the side (not a bad way to get around) and some of them were meant for the biggest hotel on the island, The Grand Hotel. Along with the beautiful horses, comes the unsightly piles of horse poo, but all over the island they have people dedicated to cleaning it up and they actually use all the poo to make fertilizer for the local gardens. Thumbs up to them for being green! We decided to pop into a little restaurant called The Pink Pony for lunch that had a nice view of the water and probably the best french dip sandwich I have ever had in my life...next up, it was time to go sight seeing! Right outside there was an amazing field overlooked by the island's old fort. Since Mango and I are from a state where the grass barely bends when you step on it, we were more than excited to go frolicking around all of the lush greenery...and I fell in love with this colossal tree surrounded by little benches dedicated to couples on their anniversary.Now, I present to you, the amazing homes of Mackinac Island. We only saw the houses on the main part of the island, however I told Mango that next time we go back, we should stay there for a night or two and explore the whole island on our bikes! So, hopefully I'll get some pictures of the other wonders around the island.

This was a home that was in the process of being restored. Talk about an amazing fixer upper! This home had a great view of the water and even in its current state was already one of the prettiest houses on the street. There they are, some of my favorites! Especially this last one, it was so big I could hardly get the whole thing in the picture and it was the only one that I saw with this stone style on the outside. Plus, I loved that archway in the front! The house has an amazing view of the lake and can be seen from the ferry as you approach.

In case you are wondering, these were all private residences! I would love to have seen what they looked like inside and how they were decorated. The island is also filled with tons of little B&Bs, so I'm thinking that staying at one of those would be a great way to get a peek at the inside of these old homes!

Perhaps what I loved the most about the island, is the fact that peonies grow in abundance! They are my favorite flower, so you can imaging how I shrieked with delight when I saw these bright fuchsia blooms waving to me from behind the white picket fence.More Mackinac photos to come! Wait until you see the amazing Grand Hotel and little flower filled nooks that we found. Until then!