Mackinac Island – the First 24 Hours 8/18/15

There are times when I wish I could pack up every single person who loves Mackinac Island as I do and arrange for them to be sitting where I am at a certain moment.  Tonight is one of those times.

This is my view as I sit down to write tonight. It’s 8:20, the day-trippers have left the island, and the streets are quiet except for the occasional clip-clop of taxi horses bearing folks from Mission Point downtown, to the Grand, or perhaps out to the Woods.

It’s cloudy tonight, with the threat of rain. What few people I see from my window are wearing jackets against a definite little chill in the air.  I can hear the bell buoys clanking, warning boaters the waves are kicking up a bit.  Like the fog horns, I love the desolate clank of those buoys.

Ted and I and our two travel-weary pooches arrived at the condo we’ll be calling Home Sweet Home for the next six weeks around 4:00 Monday afternoon.  We immediately fell in love with our new space and its location.  We are in the Mission District – almost to Mission Point, and away from the craziness that is downtown right now.  As one-time summer residents we know after Labor Day that craziness will turn more toward the approach of fall . . . the island’s slower season, but also one of its most dramatic.  If you ever visit Mackinac after she puts on her September and October colors, you will want to return and experience it again and again.  Trust me on that. 

We’ve spent our first 24 hours stocking the pantry and figuring out where everything is in the condo.  Today we rode up to our old condo at Surrey Ridge and reconnected with Steve and Cindy, who bought our place.  I confess it’s the first time I’ve been able to be within 100 feet of it without crying, but today we went inside and visited with them and their two dogs for over an hour.  When they heard a few weeks ago we’d be here for six weeks, they immediately offered us the bikes we’d had all those summers to use while on the island (we sold them with the condo).  That was a tremendous gift, and Ted and I rode away on bikes that still feel as if the seats were molded just for us.

I’d planned to ride up to the Woods for some last minute photos for the Woods story, but – as normal on Mackinac – we spent too long talking with friends on the street.  Maybe tomorrow!

Before dinner tonight we took Bear and Maddie out for a good walk along the bike path at Mission Point.

True doggie happiness – a hundred new and interesting smells to explore and process!

I know readers used to get tired of me saying this, but – honestly – the flowers this year are the most beautiful EVER!

Caught in action. Otter? Mink? He ran into the tennis court and was trapped for a moment, then scurried through a hole in the fence and into the wetlands nearby.

Two ladies doing what you just naturally do on the island – sit, chat, relax . . . breathe.

If there is a more beautiful putt-putt course on this planet, please tell me where!

What it’s all about – pure Mackinac.

I rode into town late this afternoon to pick up a book the Island Bookstore was holding for me.  As I pedaled home past Doud’s, I heard someone call, “Bree! Bree!” I turned to see a beautiful lady with a huge smile, hailing me from across the street. I did one of my famous u-turns against traffic, and that’s how I got to meet Beverly Polk, a blog reader from Venice, Florida, who worked as a young woman at the Grand Hotel.  She has been on the island three days and had rented an electric scooter and rode around the island, up to the cemetery, and through Hubbards Annex.  Today she spent most of the day at the Grand and also viewed art exhibits at the library and art museum.  This lady knows how to reconnect to Mackinac!!  So glad you hailed me down, Beverly – it was a pleasure talking with you!

So – that’s our first 24 hours on Mackinac.  We are blessed to be here for this extended time, and I hope you’ll enjoy coming along with us as we see what’s new, visit the familiar, and have a few adventures along the way.  Stay tuned!

God bless.