I'm trying to throw together a partial Lake Michigan circle tour type trip and it's surprisingly difficult. I did this trip with my family when I was in high school. Current struggle is whether to spend a night on Mackinac Island, or just do a long day trip and spend 2 nights in St. Ignace. I'm looking at mid-August and there is still availability either way.
I originally planned to just do a long day on the island b/c I thought it would be easier and cheaper. ST. Ignace hotel has a pool; Mackinac Island hotel does not. There's basically one place we can stay to get all 6 of us in one suite on the island and it's the Bicycle Street Suites.
I still don't really "get" what we are going to do on the island and whether it's worth staying overnight. The kids will have seen the lake a ton already and I know we can tour around in a day...but is it extra nice to have the overnight?? All I remember is doing the bike tour, eating fudge and ice cream, and looking at the Grand Hotel.
Any advice?
Also, if you have done this trip (Pictured Rocks, Tahquamenon, Mackinac, Petoskey, Sleeping Bear), I have more questions if you're up for them.
Post by Mrs. ChanandlerBong on Jun 21, 2021 16:43:39 GMT -5
I don’t feel staying on the island is worth it. Others will have a different opinion. I am familiar with the Sleeping Bear area and can maybe be more help with that part of your trip.
Post by RoxMonster on Jun 21, 2021 16:46:34 GMT -5
We loved staying on Mackinac Island. We actually did two nights. We don't have kids FWIW. We stayed at Main Street Inn and Suites. The first day, we got there like early evening, so we really just had one full day. We rented bikes and biked around the entire island. We went into some shops. Sat on the adirondack chairs on the front lawn of some resort I can't remember. Walked all around the area, down to the marina, etc. At night, we took a carriage out to the Woods Restaurant, which was fantastic, and then had drinks and listened to music at The Grand.
For me, what made the overnights nice was being there early and late when it wasn't busy. Coming back from The Grand on the carriage around 11 PM, there was no one out and all you could hear was the sound of the horses' hooves.
For the rest of your trip, the only place out of those I've done is Sleeping Bear and I loved it! Beautiful area, some fun hiking.
I really like staying in the island. DH and I stayed there before kids and it was romantic and relaxed. With kids, we never stayed so it’s definitely not necessary.
Love Mackinac Island. We go there every May for 4 days and I could easily spend a week there. We love exploring but don't mind having down time. Fwiw, we stay at Main Street Inn and Suites in a one bedroom suite with 4 kids. We do bring air mattresses though.
My kids are 9 and younger but here's what we typically do: -Lots of walking, usually in the interior of the island. I love seeing how the locals live and admiring the big houses. You can get a map and search for the many historical sites around the island. There's a few parks hidden that we like to stop at as well -Private Carriage tour through Gough Carriages -rent our own carriage/horses from Jacks Livery (this is super fun but wasn't open yet when we were there this year) -original Butterfly house -Rent bikes and ride around -Fort Mackinac is fun -I think there's kayak tours if your kids are older but I've never done one, it's too cold when we're there anyway
I love staying on the island, the vibe completely changes when the day tourists leave. If you're not super into nature and exploring, you might be better off just going there for the day
Post by estrellita on Jun 21, 2021 17:58:49 GMT -5
We didn't stay on the island. We stayed in St Ignace and took the ferry over. You can either walk, bike, or take the carriages. We were road tripping so we brought our own bikes and bike trailer for the kids. It's cheaper to pay to bring your own, but you can rent as well.
We biked partway down the road to some scenic spots, went to the butterfly house, just generally wandered. I want to say the island is like 8 miles all the way around the outer road? So if we didn't have the kids we would have considered biking the whole thing. There's a lot we didn't see, so I wouldn't mind going back!
We also went to Pictured Rocks (beautiful!) and Taquemenon (I'm pretty sure I spelled that wrong lol). There was a brewery at Taquemenon! Also a beautiful spot!
The hassle of dragging all our luggage from hotel to hotel is not worth it, to me, for 1 night. I live in MI and have been to mackinac many times but have actually never stayed on the island. That said, I do usually feel rushed to “do all the things” and get back in the ferry at a decent time