July 7th through August 8th, 2025
Our early summer was so nice in the lower peninsula of Michigan, and we were looking forward to heading farther north and seeing the upper peninsula. We left South Haven and headed for a popular destination, Mackinaw City. The city is at the top of the lower peninsula, connected to the upper peninsula at the Mackinac Bridge. But first, we'd need to remember how to spell all of the things named "Mackinac" even though they are pronounced the same in all cases.
The campground was lovely, and we had a nice spot with patio furniture. Margot set up the canopy with bug screen, though the bugs weren't too bad (we saw mosquitoes in full force a few times). The town, though, was a "fudge and ice cream experience" where the food was overpriced for tourists and not particularly memorable. But it was beautiful.
We are tourists at heart, though, so we loved the attractions. We went to the Jack Pine Lumberjack Show down the road and cheered with the kids and kids at heart as two lumberjacks competed. The jokes were corny, and it was a blast.
During our first weekend in the city, we headed to the Mackinac Bridge to check it out. The smoke from the Canadian wildfires was particularly thick in the morning as we drove across, making it look foggy and weird but somehow gorgeous. The bridge is really pretty.
The upper peninsula met us on the other side, and we found that side to be more rustic but nice. We drove along Lake Michigan to get to the Munising Falls Visitor Center. It was a tiny place, but the town was really sweet. We had lunch before getting on a tour boat to visit the Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore. We had a lovely day, and the scenery was amazing. It couldn't have been a better tour, and it was nice to see Margot able to do stairs to get up and into the big boat.
After a wonderful second week at our campground, we finally got to go to Mackinac Island. The campground offered a free shuttle to the dock, which was nice. But it was going to be a rainy day. We were ready and bundled up as we got onto the ferry. We took lots of photos and were the last ones off the dock.
We had to do the carriage ride, of course, so we went there first. Though it was raining most of the time, the tour of the island was lovely. The horses were huge and so pretty, and we couldn't believe anyone could just rent a carriage and horse or just go horseback riding without any experience. Crazy!
After our carriage ride we walked down a big hill back to the main part of the small town -- yes, we walked. We took our time and Margot was careful, but she was walking! It was so great to see, and Margot was so happy to be mobile.
Before we left, we stopped at the Pink Pony for dinner. It was packed and we couldn't sit outside because of the rain, so we sat at the bar. It was nice to meet some other people and enjoy good food and drinks. And of course, we've been singing "Pink Pony Club" on a loop ever since.
We had a lovely stay in Michigan but we're always looking forward to our next adventure. It was time to see more of the Great Lakes, so we took the motorhome over the bridge this time and into the upper peninsula to head for Wisconsin. This place is great!
