Bonus Day on Mackinac Island!

This blog will chronicle our (Pat and Patty Anderson's)

cruising adventures on the Great Loop!

DAY 123 - August 1, 2017

We slept in a bit, probably until after 8:00 a.m.  While we were having our coffee, I got this shot of freight getting unloaded and loaded at the freight dock! There is no car ferry nor bridge to Mackinac Island, so whatever freight (including beer kegs!) that comes in or goes out has to be via freight barge! Horse carriages bring freight to return to the mainland to the dock, and take freight from the mainland from the dock back to its destination!

Freight on freight dock - note beer kegs!

Our plan for after breakfast  was to get to a bike shop to have the derailleurs on our folding bikes adjusted. Patty had a hard time shifting to the gear she wanted on our ride yesterday, and both bikes were out of adjustment. There are a lot of bike rental places on Main Street, so we stopped in at one, who sent us back to a place right across the street from the Town Docks!

Casey, the manager, said he could do the adjustments, as they were not too busy. He did my bike first, dividing his time between my bike and tending to the rental customers. He is a very capable mechanic, and quickly sized up everything needed on my bike, which was basically a full tune-up. This included replacing all the cheap cables (both brakes and derailleur) with stainless cables, greasing the cable housings, tightening every thing that was loose (which was quite a bit), lubing pivot points with Boeshield T-9, installing a derailleur guard, and doing a final check and adjustment on everything. Then he did the same for Patty's bike. We chatted a bit about a boat he wants to buy, and I gave him a few tips, which he seemed to appreciate! His charge for tune-ups on both bikes was very reasonable, and it was very enjoyable chatting with Casey while he was doing the work! 

Casey and Pat - folding bike is getting full tune-up!

By the time the work was done and we had paid the bill, it was lunch time, so we asked Casey for a recommendation for a good place for lunch. He had two recommendations, one of which was right next door. It was the Ice House Restaurant behind the historic Island House Hotel (1852), which features outside dining in the hotel's rear garden patio, which is not visible from the street. There are many things on the menu, but it features BBQ, including brisket, pulled pork and BBQ chicken. I had the brisket plate and Patty had the chopped salad, and we both went away happy!

Historic Island House Hotel with Ice House Restaurant in garden patio behind.

After lunch, we did some more sightseeing on our bikes (boy, how much better they ride after a tune-up!) of historic buildings, including the Union Congregational Church's  LIttle Stone Church, the Mackinac Post Office, and the Grand Hotel. 

The Little Stone Church was built in 1904 of local field stone, although some of the stones for the flying buttresses were probably imported, since they are not indigenous to the island. During its early years, the church was served by Presbyterian, Methodist and Congregational ministers. Its formal name reflects the ecumenical spirit of the founders and their leaders. A few years after it was constructed, the name "Little Stone Church" came into common usage. 

Little Stone Church

The Mackinac Island Post Office, we learned, is probably the only post office in the U.S. that has never delivered a letter! Everyone receiving mail at this post office has to come in to pick it up! Anyway, this is what we were told on our carriage tour the first day! 

This post office has never delivered a single letter!

The Grand Hotel is probably the most recognizable icon of Mackinac Island. Built in 1886, it was designated a State Historic Building in 1957.  In 1972, the hotel was named to the National Register of Historic Places, and on June 29, 1989, the hotel was made a National Historic Landmark. It has hosted many presidents and world leaders. On our bike trip yesterday, we met a couple at a rest stop who had been married on the porch twelve years ago, and return every other year! In order to eat dinner in the dining room, formal wear is required, which kind of let us out!

Grand Hotel

We came  back to the boat and rested up before sundowners, and then headed off on our bikes for a second time to Sushi for another round of their wonderful rolls. This time is was a shrimp roll and an unagi roll! 

Unagi roll - look at that presentation!

On the way back to the boat we stopped a Murdick's Fudge (1887), one of the DOZENS of fudge shops on Main Street for which Mackinac Island is famous, and bought some fudge. We were surprised to learn that fudge is supposed to be kept at room temperature instead of in the fridge! Our next stop was at a Birkenstock store for Patty. She wanted Birkenstocks, which of course they had, but she ended up buying Chacos because she thought they would work better on the boat. Our final stop was at Doud's Market for a bag of ice. Of course we could not buy only ice, and we bought a few other things, including pork breakfast sausage, which as I previously wrote, seems not to exist in Canada along with canned corned beef hash! I also took a couple more pictures of the incredible, non-stop bike traffic on Main Street.

Bikes on Main Street

And more bikes, in an unending stream!

When we got back, we put the folding bikes in their bags and back up on Daydream's roof, had a nice phone conversation with daughter Lydia, and hit the sack pretty well exhausted from a very full day! We will always have great memories of Mackinac Island as THE highlight, so far, of Daydream's Great Loop!