July 11, 2018 – St. Ignace, MI – Pedaled the entire day and ended up in St. Ignace. A tourist town with hotels and shops along the shore.
Not my most favorite thing… and then the owner of Harbor Hope Coffee reached out and did a neighborly thing.
Site unseen Sue, the owner of the coffee shop, offered me a place to sit and rest and stay. Click HERE to watch a video with owner, Sue.
Who does that? Especially in a tourist town?
So I stayed and it was unbelievable. I didn’t think I’d like it and I fell in love with Mackinac Island.
Vehicles are not allowed on the island; it’s bikes and horses and history.
There’s an 8-mile paved route around the island which is full of adventure and includes Skull Cave; sounds like the title of a Nancy Drew/Hardy Boys mystery.
The elegant Grand Hotel was a magnificent display of what happens when a building is maintained. I happened to visit on the 131st birthday of the hotel.
The flowers were brilliant.
The famous people of the past who walked the halls include Presidents Gerald Ford and H.W. Bush, and entertainers like Bing Crosby, Esther Williams and Jimmy Durante.
The horse-drawn carriages and wagons and clip -of the hooves added a bit of Little House on the Prairie to the Island atmosphere.
I found the wagon museum last.
One display was called the “Ransom Carriage.” It was the headline in the Omaha World Herald and in December 1900, Edward Cudahy, Jr. got kidnapped. The Cudahy family got the boy back in part to the use of the carriage because it was used to deliver the ransom.
Eddie was returned; the case was said to have influenced many succeeding kidnappings including the Lindburg baby and Mary Parker. Even though the family hired a detective agency the kidnappers were never found.
The horses, especially those with the Grand Hotel, are well cared for and all seem to have ties to the ponies in the Budweiser commercial – although that comparison doesn’t do them justice.
Shelby was calling it a day with Apollo and Zeus.
“The horses they rent to public,” said Shelby “are forever-and-ever-amen old and they know where they’re going.”
She said the horses are familiar with the trails on the island and that makes it easy to rent them out to the general public.
Theres so much more to spending 10 hours on the island; these were just some of the highlights.
On a side note:
– Got an update from home and Audrey did suffer a concussion in her fall. The doctor said no biking for six months.
– Also a big “thank you” to everybody who has supported the tour and made a donation to the Samaritan Campus in West Bend.
