DOWNTOWN MACKINAC 

Fittingly enough, Downtown Mackinac Island is a 

horseshoe-shaped layout of restaurants, hotels and B&B’s, 
with galleries, antiques, upscale boutiques, a book store 
and multiple souvenir shops. It’s a place with very few 
chain stores (there’s a Starbucks, for example), but very 
many independent fudge shops. In peak season, about 
10,000 pounds of fudge are made in and leave Mackinac 
daily, and 10 tons of Michigan sugar arrive by boat each 
week. The locals’ nickname for tourists is “Fudgies,” and 
since tourists have been eagerly consuming confections 
since 1887, the name fits.

Downtown also offers an ample selection of older 

hotels and B&Bs. But be sure to research in advance as 
rates vary (and bargains can be found). The same can be 
said of restaurants. A wonderful lunch at the Jockey Club 
(the outdoor café at the stately Grand Hotel) or assorted 
waterfront venues costs about the same as a crowded tourist 
restaurant downtown. The CVB’s Inside Mackinac guide is a 
great starting place for lodging, dining and shopping options. 

WHAT YOU DON’T DO

Even at peak season, Mackinac offers a vacation retreat 

in the best sense.

I felt my blood pressure drop on Mackinac Island. I 

lounged by the Grand Hotel’s serpentine pool (named after 
Esther Williams because her 1947 movie This Time for Keeps 
was filmed here). I tossed bocce balls on the green, spent an 
afternoon on a horse-drawn history tour and indulged in High 
Tea (with finger sandwiches, sweets and champagne). I walked 
some (OK, a couple) of the 60-plus miles of twisting trails in 
the state park. I visited the fort and other attractions, walking 
to all of them. I paid my respects one morning in the Post 
Cemetery, where I was surrounded by the graves of British and 
American soldiers from the War of 1812. I watched red-sky 
sunsets from a rocking chair on the hotel porch. 

But it wasn’t so much what I did do as what I did not 

do. I did not get in a car. I did not eat hastily. I turned off 
my cell phone. I did check email, but only once a day. (OK, 
twice a day.) I sat doing nothing, book lying in my lap. 

And I biked. 
I pedaled the 8-mile perimeter of the island one day 

… and came back the next morning to do it again. It was 
glorious. 

I found my balance.

ISLAND  

ATTRACTIONS

HISTORIC FORT MACKINAC: Built in 1780, with 14 
original buildings inside the fort walls, this is a living history 
mecca: reenactments; bugles, fife and drums; costumed 
interpreters; demonstrations; Victorian children’s games 
and more. Eat at the Fort Mackinac Tea Room, under a 
yellow umbrella at a table on the back deck for one of the 
best views on the island. In season, the admission fee 
extends to include five historic downtown mansions.

CAPTURED SPIRITS: Portraits of Native Americans 
dating from 1820, along with other cultural items. Free 
admission. 

GRAND HOTEL HORSE STABLE AND CARRIAGE 
MUSEUM: A stroll from the fort, with 20 antique 
carriages and the Grand Hotel’s very special horses in a 
stable so lovely you’ll want to sleep there. Free admission. 

RICHARD AND JANE MANOOGIAN MACKINAC ART 
MUSEUM: Three levels of historic to current work that 
features the state park. Free to anyone staying on-island. 

IMAGES OF FAITH MUSEUM: Shows settlement of 
Mackinac through immigrant groups and the religious 
history of the island. Located in Ste. Anne Church; free 
admission.  

MACKINAC EQUESTRIAN MUSEUM: A photo exhibit 
that highlights horse history and culture on the island. Free 
admission.  

STUART HOUSE: 1817 headquarters of John Jacob 
Astor’s fur trading company. Admission by donation. 

BUTTERFLY (AND INSECT) HOUSE AND BUTTERFLY 
CONSERVATORY: One small island and yet two distinct 
butterfly exhibits. Admission fees. 

HAUNTS OF MACKINAC: custom guided history tour 
of the mysterious, haunted and legendary. For kids, the 
Haunted Theatre will elicit some screams. 

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LM

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