A Little Night Life and a Lot of Romance 7/21/2013

It’s been a relatively quiet weekend for the Hortons.

The Bayview to Mackinac Race began Saturday, and with winds much more favorable than for the Chicago to Mackinac race last week, five boats have already crossed the finish line.  ll Mostro came in first, second was Wind Quest, and third was Equation.  I’ll try to get a pic or two Monday after I leave the Stuart House.

Friday evening Ted and I met Denise and Mike (from Carriage Tours) for dinner over at the Key Hole Bar and Grill in Mackinaw City.  We’d been hearing about their “all you can eat” perch and ribs special, and we all wanted to check it out.  We had almost a 30-minute wait, but it was worth it!  Ted went through a plate of ribs and THREE plates of perch.  The rest of us just had the “normal” plates, and we were still stuffed.  I have no idea where my hubbie puts all that food!

It’s been a while since we’ve been on the water at night. We caught the 9:30 ferry back to the Island.  As you can see, there was still a little light left in the evening sky.

The Round Island Lighthouse is even more beautiful at night than during the day.

It was so quiet as we coasted past the breakwater  . . .

. . . and pulled up to the Shepler dock. The Great Lakes cruise ship, Yorktown, was visiting the Island this weekend.  The Yorktown accommodates 138 guests in 69 exterior cabins.

We called for a taxi . . .

. . . and while we waited, I walked down to JoAnn’s Fudge and watched a night worker finish up some peanut brittle.

It’s always fun riding a taxi at night. We picked up one or two other folks going to the Village on our way up the hill and arrived home to a happy-to-see-us Maddie and Bear.

Occasionally I receive a really great email from a reader, and this is one I want to share – with  Katie’s permission, of course.  It’s a lovely story of one little girl’s childhood wish to be married on Mackinac Island and just proves, once again, that when Mackinac is involved, wishes very often DO come true.

Hi, Brenda!  Hoping this email address works. I saw it on one of your Lowell posts a few weeks ago and have been meaning to write ever since. I wanted to say that I love your blog! I kept coming across it over the past couple of years and just recently subscribed to the email feature which handily puts you directly in my inbox. I love it!

I was born and raised in the gorgeous north woods of Wisconsin and took vacations with my family to the Island when my sister and I were both growing up. One of those times (I must have been around 10 yrs old) we saw a bride and groom at the Grand, and it was just SO magical.  I turned to my mom and said, “I want to get married on Mackinac.”

In 2007 I took my soon-to-be fiance to the Island, and in passing I’d told him that story, along with many others of our awesome vacations in the UP. Of course, he fell in love with the Island too. After we got engaged, that same year, we started planning a fall 2008 wedding in northern Wisconsin in my hometown (the beautiful Minocqua).  Things just weren’t clicking though.

Some time later my fiance said, “You should have your dream wedding in your dream place. Let’s get married on Mackinac!”  I broached the idea to my parents, who were paying for the wedding, and we decided it wouldn’t be TOO much more costly to do just that!  I was overjoyed!!!

My mom and I planned the wedding and were DIY maniacs to help keep the cost down.  All the invitations, save the dates and thank you cards were handmade by us, as well as the favor boxes and the seating cards. My sister is a wonderful potter and made pots for all the tables as the centerpieces (pink geraniums). It was so much fun!!! Our theme was bicycles (of course) and pink and green hues. We even ordered our flowers wholesale and made bouquets and boutonnières the night before the wedding!

Our wedding was May 9th 2009. The ceremony was in the morning up on the cliff at the Somewhere in Time gazebo.  I remember it was snowing that morning before we left the cottage (my mom rented McGreevy Cottage for the whole week). I wanted my wedding outside at that gazebo, and I wasn’t going to move it indoors (Mission Church was our bad weather backup plan) for a little snow. Tough Wisconsinite talking!  😉 Anyhow, the ceremony was just beautiful. I could go on and on…but I won’t!

Then the sun came out, and my husband and I took off in our gorgeous wedding carriage to take photos!  There were people waving and yelling out their congratulations along the way, and we really felt like royalty!  It made me think of that day long ago when I’d seen that bride and groom on the Island…and it made me hope that some little girl saw us and thought the same thing I had. Mackinac Magic.

Our reception followed in the Lakeview Hotel. Our guests had an incredible time, and we got to have the wedding of our dreams. It truly was amazing.

We were living in Maryland when we went back for our 1st anniversary, again to run the Great Turtle half marathon in October 2010, and again last summer during the Lilac Fest while I was pregnant. We recently moved to Texas (to hopefully start a vineyard) and aren’t sure when we’ll be able to make it up again. So I’ve been slowly going through your blog posts from the beginning and am really enjoying them. It makes me feel like I’m there again.  Wanted to send you my Mackinac story since I feel like I know you from your posts. It seemed only fair that you know a bit of me too! I think Lucy (our 6yr old, 75lb Plott Hound/Lab mix) has a crush on Bear…

I attached a couple pictures for you to see! Kathryn B. Holt did the photos for us. Armand (Smi) Horn performed the ceremony.  Arrowhead Carriages was our carriage company.  It was just incredible.  Also attached a photo of Lucy last summer on Mackinac.

So, finally, it’s nice to ‘meet’ you! At least online! Keep up the wonderful work!

Katie, TX

Thank you, Katie, for allowing me to share your story.  I know my readers are all going, “Awwww . . . . .

The heat wave is over.  We had a high of 69 today, and we have 70’s forecast for the coming week.  AWESOME weather!

We have friends from Georgia coming this week – one couple Thursday-Saturday and another Sunday-Tuesday.  So excited to see folks from home!

I’ll be back in a few days with a Mackinac update.  Y’all have a super week!  God bless.