Mackinac on a Budget

It's possible to see some of Mackinac Island and not spend a fortune. It's not possible to see ALL of Mackinac Island on our budget. First of all, you have to get to the island. No driving, of course, as there's no bridge. Ferry fees are a bit steep, but once there travel is varied, so long as there's no motor involved. We decided that our muscles were too sore to pedal our bikes around, so they stayed behind.

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Now that I know the number of steps that we had to climb up and down, it's probably best that we left the bikes. The only thing left to us were horses, horse and buggy, and our feet. We chose our feet since they weren't charging us anything: remember there's a budget involved.

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The ferry tickets come with a map of the island, which is absolutely necessary. I mapped out a few things that we wanted to see and decided on the order of priority. Since the map doesn't indicate hills and bluffs, we had to just get going. Please note: the short route is always long. Another note: there are no flat areas, so there are always steps. Tell your muscles that early. Try to be in shape.

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Go for the architecture! The homes and buildings are unbelievably beautiful. Go in the spring for the blossoms. Go for the history. 

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Walk a mile. Climb 219 steps up. See a rock. Seriously it was all for a rock. A beautiful rock, yes, but Richard can't take it home, so there was that. Now that it's over and I'm still alive--there was some doubt for a little while--I'm glad that I pushed on. I'm also glad that the rest of the steps were going down.

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We shared a huge scoop of  delicious Mackinac Island fudge ice cream while we sat in the shade to cool off and listen to the live band before getting on the ferry to return to the camper. There was a parade later but we were exhausted and neither of us likes a large crowd unless we're watching from a distance. So an early ferry and the camper won the toss.

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