Somewhere in Time.......

We just recently returned from our yearly vacation to the Upper Peninsula (U.P.) of Michigan (Mackinaw City, St Ignace, and Mackinac Island to be exact).  This is either our 7th or 8th trip there.  The first time I went is when my boyfriend (who now lives here) came up from Texas to visit me.  It was February and he took me there to visit some of his old friends, and show me where he lived.  Although it was in mid February, and absolutely FREEZING (and I've lived in Alaska....I've never been so cold as when we went to Michigan), and the lakes were frozen solid, it was the most beautiful place I've ever been to.  I just fell completely in love with it.  We went again in the fall, and all I can say is........go there in the fall!  It's so beautiful.  All the trees are so colorful, the lakes are sparkling and because it's past tourist season, it's not crowded at all.  We were gone 7 days and I've never been more relaxed in my life.  We always stay at The Driftwood (which is in St Ignace) and then just travel across the Mackinac Bridge when we want to go to the lower peninsula.  This time, we stayed at The Lamplighter Inn in Mackinaw City for 3 days, did all our exploring below the bridge, then went north and stayed at the Bay View Hotel and did all the U.P. stuff.  More economical that way since one way across the bridge is $3.50.  Both motels were great, for different reasons.  The Lamplighter Motel was so quaint, a lovely room, designed to resemble the movie "Somewhere in Time" with Jane Seymour and Christopher Reeves.  The bed was a four poster and huge!  Not much room to walk around in the room, but the decor made it all worth it.  They even have nightly bonfires for the guests, what a great idea!  Unfortunately they didn't have them while we were there, it may be more of a tourist seasonal thing.  The Bay View Motel we stayed in when we went up to the U.P. was quite large, and on the water!  We opened our two HUGE windows, and could see and hear the water lapping up on the shore.  I could actually sit on our bed and watch the waves, it was gorgeous.  There was a nice sized table with two chairs in the room, and lots more room to walk around.  The decor was more like a standard motel room, but beautiful none the less, largely because of the view.  The only downside to this room was cell phone reception.  It was sketchy and there was no phone in the room.  Which was ok, because, after all........we were trying to get away from all that.  I'll post some pictures below of some of the highlights.  If you get a chance to go.....I HIGHLY recommend both motels, and Michigan in general.  Quiet, calm, lots to do and see, and fantastic food.  What more could you ask for?

Here are a few pictures of some places we visited.

"Screams" Ice Cream Shop, in Hell, Michigan.  A stop on the way.  We ate the "Gravedigger", a three scoop concoction that was gooey and delicious.  We received a "death certificate" for finishing it lol

Pretty flower bed behind the shop, with picnic tables and mini golf

A beautiful inn on Mackinac Island.  You get there by boat only, no motorized vehicles are allowed on the Island, including cars.  We had a lovely horse (thank you Rex and Dobbin!) and carriage tour around the Island.

Some scenery while we toured the Island (notice the bike rack?  Lots of bikes on the Island, pretty much the only way to get around.....snowmobiles in the winter!)

Never seen a see through butterfly before!  This was at one of the Butterfly Houses on the Island

The Legs Inn in Cross Village, Michigan.  Awesome Polish food and an even better view!

Yummy Polish food and I order a burger lol.  It was delicious!  A pretzel bun!

The "backyard" of the Legs Inn.  So pretty!  When you turn around, you face the lake.  :-)

Taquamenon Falls, the water is tea colored because it gets its color from the Cedar Swamps

Those are just a few of the places we went to.  We also visited the Garlyn Zoo, the Deer Ranch, and Oswald's Bear Ranch.  Wonderful time :-)