#76 day 4 of trip to michigan

On the 4th day of our vacation we headed about an hour northwest to Mackinaw City to catch a ferry to Mackinac Island.  This little island is pretty unique...it's only 3.8 square miles and there are no motorized vehicles allowed on it {they do have 4 firetrucks and 1 ambulance allowed}...instead you walk, ride a bike, or use a carriage pulled by horses.  It was a lot of fun and a very pretty island.  A little fact from the island:  their two exports are fudge {there are a TON of fudge shops} and fertilizer {I will give you a hint on this one....they have a lot of horses ;)}.  If you want to read more about the island you can click here.

{our captains :)}

{Our ferry went under the Mackinac bridge, which is a 5 mile bridge that connects lower Michigan to upper Michigan.  It also is the dividing point between Lake Huron and Lake Michigan.  We did drive on this bridge later!}

{ferry ride}

{the Grand Hotel on the island}

{a look at one of the main streets....there were TONS of bikes!}

{some more seagull chasing :)}

{some posing at the park on the island}

{a lookout point the boys climbed up to}

{they had to take a lot of stairs up to it}

{we took a carriage ride around the island}

{a church on the island}

{we found a turtle :)}

{looking at some old carriages and sleds}

{a cool rock formation}

{beautiful views}

{a quick pic with some tired kiddos}

{sleepy girl on carriage ride}

{we had to buy some fudge...we got caramel apple pie...yummy!}

{on our way back to the ferry}

{ferry ride on top this time!}

{what our ferry boat looked like}

{it was pretty chilly on the ride back so the kiddos huddled together :)}

{we're on Lake Michigan side now}

After our island trip we headed to Colonial Michilimackinac.  This was a fort French soldiers built and was one of the major fur trading centers.

{canon firing}

{my little Indians}

{checking out the fort}

{blacksmiths working}

{my little soldier}

{yes, Evan is the dog :)}

{the sheep on the fort}

to be continued....