Months ago Alec and I put this past weekend on the calendar for a weekend getaway for us; we decided we would go to Mackinac Island and lined up my parents to come and stay with Brie and Josie. Well of course we made no more planning than that, and didn't book a hotel until 4 days before we left......needless to say hotel space was limited at a tourist destination in the middle of summer! But we found a great hotel in St. Ignace (just on the other side of the bridge in the UP). We had such a good time; we realized it didn't matter where we went, just getting away from every day life and being with just the two of us was amazing!
We left Friday morning and returned Sunday afternoon. It was the perfect amount of time away, any longer we would have missed Brie too much!
Friday afternoon we arrived and walked around Mackinaw City.
The Mackinac Bridge is seriously so amazing; it is 5miles long, connecting the lower and upper peninsula. Doesn't it look amazing all lit up at night (pardon the awful iPhone picture....but you get the idea!). We went to a little museum about the bridge above a pizza place we ate at. It was so cool to see all the facts on the bridge and just what went into building it in 1954. A couple guys actually died building it, crazy.
Saturday we woke up (on our own, with no toddler telling us to get up!), got ready and headed over the boat to take us to the island. The boat we took actually took an indirect way to the island, taking us under the bridge! It was amazing to go under this huge bridge while cars and trucks are whizzing over us.
Under the bridge!
Arriving to Mackinac Island. This is the Grand Hotel, it costs about $400/night to stay there. We won't be staying there anytime soon....but maybe someday!
Fort Mackinac.
Once we got on the island we walked around to the different shops a little bit, sampled some fudge (the island is KNOWN for their fudge!), and then headed to tour Fort Mackinac. I love olden day stuff, it is so cool to imagine that is how people lived. They had some re-enactment stuff that was cool to watch, including firing old muskets (they were LOUD).
We ate lunch at a place called The Pink Pony, they had great food and their own signiture beer (which Alec said tasted like a better version of Oberon).
I enjoyed a good ol' fashion Coke.
We took a carriage tour of the island in the afternoon. Our horses' names were Tim and Arnold.
One of the stops on the carriage was Arch Rock, and we got a great overlook of Lake Huron. Northern Michigan is so gorgeous, why would we ever vacation anywhere else (at least in the summer time!). The weather was absolutely perfect, 77 with very little humidity.
Who knows when we will be able to getaway with just the two of us again....probably not anytime soon with a baby coming. But we so enjoyed our time away together! Now don't go feeling sorry for Brie, she had a vacation of her own here! Having Grandpa and Grandma all to herself..... She got to enjoy the pool, go to the fair, and have endless attention! So thankful my parents were able to come and stay with her, it was MUCH appreciated!!
