Beech Tree News Network

Mackinac Island has never been high on my I-want-to-visit-that-place list, but a week ago my daughters and I participated in an eight-mile run-walk event on the island. I came away wondering why I hadn’t known about its beauty. The island is a treasure.

According to Wikipedia (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mackinac_Island), Mackinac Island covers 3.8 square miles in land area and is about 8 miles in circumference. It is located in Lake Huron, was home to an Odawa settlement before European exploration, and was part of the Great Lakes fur trade. This led to the establishment of Fort Mackinac on the island by the British during the American Revolutionary War. It was also the site of two battles during the War of 1812. In the late 19th century, Mackinac Island became a popular tourist attraction. Much of the island has undergone extensive historical preservation and restoration; as a result, the entire island is listed as a National Historic Landmark. It has banned almost all motor vehicles, and more than 80 percent of the island is preserved as Mackinac Island State Park.

Some interesting facts about Mackinac Island include the following (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mackinac_Island):
•    The island can be reached by private boat, by ferry, by small aircraft, and in the winter, by snowmobile over an ice bridge.
•    Motorized vehicles have been prohibited on the island since 1898, with the exception of snowmobiles during winter, emergency vehicles, and service vehicles. Travel on the island normally is by foot, bicycle, or horse-drawn carriage.
•    M-185 (a paved 8-mile road) is the United States' only state highway without motorized vehicles and makes a circular loop around the island, closely hugging the shoreline.
•    The Grand Hotel is a Victorian-style structure that opened in 1887. The 1980 film Somewhere in Time was shot on location at the hotel.
•    According to the 2010 United States Census, the island has a year-round population of 492. The population grows considerably during the summer as hotels, restaurants, bars and retail shops – open only during the summer season – hire short-term employees to accommodate as many as 15,000 visitors per day.

Some of the things I learned on our brief visit to Michigan were:
•    Interestingly, Mackinaw City and Mackinac Island are not spelled the same.
•    The giant wind turbines in parts of Michigan produce wind power – in the middle of cropped fields – and are somehow pretty.
•    With the abundant shrubs and flowers and the waterfront views on Mackinac Island, it’s easy to find a photographic spot.
•    Fudge is available everywhere.
•    Even state troopers ride bicycles on Mackinac Island.
•    If I want or have to, I can walk an 8-mile course.

The actor Viggo Mortensen said, “Life is short and the older you get, the more you feel it. Indeed, the shorter it is. People lose their capacity to walk, run, travel, think, and experience life. I realize how important it is to use the time I have” (https://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/topics/topic_travel.html). Mortensen is right; as we get older, travel is much harder. But I wouldn’t have wanted to miss seeing Mackinac Island.