Mackinac Bound

Alright! Planning a trip to Mackinac Island. My husband thought it would be a good idea to take his son on a trip for his graduation. He asked him where he would like to go – maybe Chicago, maybe Mackinac. My stepson said Mackinac. The Grand Hotel was running an awesome special (but dates are limited and you have to jump at the special when it comes around because the rooms go quickly) so my husband and I booked the only conceivable date that fell under that special rate and worked for all three of us the best. Of course that didn’t work for my stepson – well not really him but you know…petty bitches will be petty bitches. Yes, I said it – petty bitch 😉

Happily, the Grand sent me an email about extending their special. I called yesterday morning to book an additional day for my husband and I so we could stay two nights at the Grand for a deeply discounted rate. Well, the second date I wanted was no longer available but I found out they had added some days to the special. I ended up switching our reservation to an earlier date which will allow my stepson to go. This makes my husband happy 🙂 So now we all get to go and live it up at the Grand Hotel for a couple of days. I can’t wait! I so need that.

I was looking at hotels on Mackinac to book a night either before or after our Grand Hotel stay. I like to spend some time on the island – not just a day trip or one night. Oh yeah, I’ll take it if I have to but I prefer to have time to relax and get into that island rhythm. Looking at all the hotels, I can’t wait to go now. I don’t know where I will end up booking another night but I don’t really care too much. It would be nice to stay somewhere I haven’t yet but anywhere will do, really. I just can’t wait to get out and hike the island, walk down main street, listen to the boom of the cannon from the fort, smell the geraniums (not the horses, ha), see the Straits and all the Mackinac colors. I can’t wait to feel Mackinac.

I used to wonder why I was so enchanted by that small, tourist-y island but I think I hit upon the crux of it today. I think Mackinac is the only place I have ever been that as soon as I step on its sacred ground I forget everything … I am just in the moment. I am pulled right into the sights, (good) smells and sounds of the island. I love the oddly dual nature of the place – the honest hustle and bustle of the main streets and the serenity of the forest paths, limestone and lakes. For me, Mackinac is full of the simple, pure pleasures of the senses and a magical joy. My heart, my senses are so full when I am on the island I don’t have time to think about anything but Mackinac. I really need that right now.

*Me (fat and happy, ha) at the before dinner reception on the Grand porch last fall. It was an enchanting evening: Beautiful sunset washed the porch and Straits a golden hue. Then the deepening twilight at dinner – after a mild full-moonlit night walk about the porch and then down through the quiet, tree sheltered streets of the island.