Mackinac Island/Petoskey - Memorial Day Weekend

Memorial Day weekend we loaded the car, took the dogs, and headed four hours north to Mullett Lake, MI. We rented a house there so we could explore the area. The house was in a great location sitting on a beautiful lake. The inside of the house left a lot to be desired but it was inexpensive and pet-friendly (which is hard to find!).

Friday evening we had a "picnic" on the back deck and then built a fire and watched the sunset. Sunset was around 9:00pm each even and it was still light until almost 10:00pm! The dogs loved running around and exploring the yard. It was too cold to get in the water but maybe next time.

Saturday Dave and I left the dogs and went up to Mackinac Island for a few hours. You have to take a ferry (or you can fly) to the island and no cars are allowed on the island. We thought about renting bikes but we were able to see most everything just walking. You can also take horse drawn carriage rides. We arrived around lunch time and grabbed sandwiches and a beer at Yankee Rebel Tavern. Then we wondered over to Fort Mackinac. It was fun to roam through all the old buildings and imagine how people lived on this little island way back in the day (can you imagine winters...ugh...brrr!). After exploring Fort Mackinac we got some fudge to take home and chocolate covered Oreos to snack on (Dave is a bad influence...I blame it all on him! ;)). I also picked up my souvenir tea towel (see what I did with it here). Then we headed down to The Grand Hotel. It is a beautiful hotel and is quite famous. It costs $10 to get in if you aren't staying there but we were low on time anyway so we just took a few pictures and headed back to the ferry.

 

Sunday, we drove west about 30 minutes to Petoskey. It is such a quaint little town on Lake Michigan. Being a Sunday, the town was a little slow waking up so we wondered into a few shops and then went back up towards Mackinac to drive across Mackinac Bridge which takes you to the Upper Peninsula. We enjoyed lunch in St. Ignace in the U.P. (as Michiganders call it) and then got back to the house in time for a little wine, dinner, and sunset watching. 

I just love quiet weekends away exploring the area. What summer trips do you have planned?