The Rest of the Story 9/30/2010

I’m sitting down to write at 10:15 Wednesday night.  Just got back home from a girls’ “movie night” at a friend’s house – 14 women watching “Mamma Mia” – so, so much fun!  I promised to share the rest of our ride with you tonight, so here goes . . .

After we visited the Cave in the Woods and the Crack in the Island, we walked our bikes back out to State Road and continued on toward British Landing. About five minutes later, Ted noticed what appeared to be a sinkhole in the woods over on the right side of the road, so we stopped to investigate. We realized then that we were riding along the Wawashkamo Golf Course.

The sinkhole looked like a natural depression, and tree limbs and some tree trunks filled part of the sunken space. We walked through the narrow strip of woods and came out at the third tee of Wawashkamo . . .

. . . where this lovely little "rest shelter" stood. It had been donated to the golf course by the Bankard family in 2007. We are always amazed when we find something like this that we had no clue existed.

The shelter has to be wonderful for golfers who know it is there and get caught in bad weather. The cart path runs right up to the opening of the shelter.

Once again, so many contrasts - fall leaves, the stark white of a dead tree, blue sky, and deep green foliage shaded from the sun.

Back on State Road again . . .

. . . where we passed areas of woods that opened to Lake Huron.

State Road eventually runs into British Landing Road . . .

. . . a few hundred yards north of the Cannonball Drive Inn.

While Ted rode on down to the Cannonball to visit with owner Jack Armstrong, I parked my bike and walked back in the other direction, where two log cabin-type homes were nestled in the woods.

From one of the log cabins, this calico cat wandered down from the porch where she was napping and eyed me like, "Who are you, and why are you invading my space?"

After a few minutes of coaxing, she walked over to weave herself around my legs, purring and enjoying a good ear scratch. Beautiful kitty.

Jack suggested apple cider and fresh, hot donuts as a snack after our long ride - great idea, and yummy!

If you've never visited the Cannonball, this is not just a "snack" shop. Their menu is huge and features everything from hamburgers and hotdogs - to nachos, to chicken tenders, to chili cheese fries, to BBQ sandwiches - and don't EVER leave there without trying their famous deep fried pickles.

As you move all that food over to sit under the trees at the picnic tables - well, you sure can't beat the view!

We walked across the road and parked our bikes on the beach. Looking toward town (a little less than four miles away), we could see the boats of home owners who live nearby. It was on this beach on a June night in 1812 that a small force of British regulars and several hundred voyageurs and Indian allies from St. Joseph Island landed. They marched across the island, occupied what is now called Ft. Holmes - the highest point on the island - and demanded the surrender of Fort Mackinac. Only 57 American soldiers occupied the fort at that time and did not even know that a war had been declared. The fort surrended without a fight.

Brilliant blue, perfectly clear water . . .

. . . gently lapping against the rock-lined shore.

We took the "long way" back into town - a little over 4 miles - so we would come back through Mission Point. I wanted to check out the tree color there. On the way back into town, we passed the Silver Birches Lodge and cabins. The cabins can be rented now, and the lodge is being renovated for future use.

There was very little fall color on that side of the island or at Mission Point. A reader had asked for pictures of The Inn on Mackinac, so I stopped off there to take a few photos, while Ted rode on ahead to Mackinac Wheels to check on a fender we had ordered for my bike (my back fender was damaged when another bike fell against it).

This is definitely the most "colorful" place to stay on the island. The owner has merrily used several pastel shades to make The Inn on Mackinac stand out on Main Street.

The flower gardens around the inn are amazingly still in bloom.

Two of my favorite features - the four story turret on one corner . . .

. . . and the large, painted carousel horse which stands on the patio.

Our three hour trip to British Landing ended with a fast stop at Doud’s, the post office, and the Island Bookstore (where Ted took full advantage of their huge end-of-the-season sale and bought five books). 

This morning was my last day to work at the Stuart House Museum for this season.  I’ve almost come to expect at least one blogging buddy to come in to say hi each Wednesday, and I wasn’t disappointed today. 

Tom and Terri Jozwiak stopped in from Ypsilanti, MI. They visit the island as often as possible, but this was the first time they had actually stayed on the island overnight.

I am going to miss working at the museum and miss the opportunity it gave me to be somewhere downtown once a week where readers could drop in.  I’ve had so much fun meeting several of you over the summer.  Please keep coming by next summer – today I was officially “rehired” for next year!

See you tomorrow for Random Photo Day!