Mackinac Island Tour 1999
| Seven years later, in 1999, the island was bright and sunny the entire day and my mother and I didn't leave for home until evening. As such I had a lot of time to take some nice photos of places I had never seen before, plus some familiar spots! I also seemed to have taken care of that thumb problem I had back in 1992. ^_^
Lake Huron from Arch Rock was absolutely gorgeous this year! In all my visits since, I have yet to see the water that color again. There are 103 scanned pictures available from this tour. Thirty-seven are presented here. To view all available photos, please see this album. (Be aware that the page may take a while to load.) |
| The Mighty Mac, that is, the Mackinac Bridge, which connects the Upper and Lower Peninsulas of Michigan; this is one of the world's longest suspension bridges (but not THE longest, as is sometimes erroneously claimed). It's about five miles long, and every Labor Day tens of thousands of people walk this thing...so never, ever, EVER get anywhere within five miles of Mackinaw City or St. Ignace on Labor Day if you hope to get out alive. ^_^ While we're here I want to dispense with two more things about the bridge.
Number one, no, the bridge does NOT swing out to Mackinac Island at a certain time of day. Though it's fun to make people think so. ;D And number two: Rule of thumb for remembering which is Mackinac and which is Mackinaw? MACKINAC with a C refers to the island, the bridge, the fort, and the Straits. MACKINAW with a W refers to the city and the jacket. Yet BOTH WORDS ARE PRONOUNCED THE SAME--MACK-IH-NAW! The hard C is NOT pronounced at the end. Just wanted you to know that so I don't have to grind my teeth every time I hear somebody say Mack-ih-nack. >_<; |
| Mackinac Island from afar, as the ferry approaches. (That long white shape to the right of center is the Grand Hotel.) One theory of how the island got its name is the fact that the natives believed it to look like a giant turtle, hence the name Michinimakinong, or Great Turtle Island. Other theories refer to beings known as the Turtle Fairies or Turtle Spirits who were thought to inhabit the island and dance on its bluffs at night, or even to a primitive tribe who lived there before the Ottawa arrived, and who were largely killed off by an enemy tribe. Why can't we combine all three theories? The island was inhabited by dancing Turtle Spirits who nearly went extinct, and since they were called Turtle Spirits, it was called Great Turtle Island, and...okay, it was just a thought. :) |
| Fort Mackinac from Marquette Park. This is a Michigan registered historic site, and a sign toward the back reads: "Mackinac Island has been called the most historic spot in the Middle West. Fort Mackinac was first built by the British in 1780-81. It was not until 1796, thirteen years after the end of the Revolutionary War, that the British relinquished this fort to the Americans. At the outbreak of the War of 1812 the British seized the island and built Fort George. This fort, which you see to the north beyond the Rifle Range, was renamed Fort Holmes by the Americans who reoccupied the island in 1815. Troops garrisoned Fort Mackinac until 1895." I have never been inside it, nor even up the walk leading to it, so I'm afraid I can't offer much personal commentary. Maybe someday? You guys will be the first ones I fill in. ^_^
Take a peek at that little bit of wall just to the upper left of the big outcropping of rock. We will have reason to look at that piece of wall again in 2000. |
| Father Marquette with a bird on his head!! ^_^ I can't help it, for some reason I just find that funny. |
| A dark photo, this here is the Missionary Bark Chapel in Marquette Park. A Michigan registered historic site, its sign reads: "According to descriptions by Jesuit missionaries, the bark chapels, which were built among the Indians of the Great Lakes, looked like this. In such primitive huts, far from civilization, the courageous French 'black robes' lived and sought to turn the minds of the savages to Christianity. One of this illustrious company, Father Claude Dablon, from the mission of Sault Ste. Marie, and later superior general of the Jesuits in Canada, wintered on Mackinac Island in 1670-71 and carried on missionary work here. It is in memory of these heroic pioneer priests that this reconstruction of a bark chapel is dedicated."
(If you ask me, that sign is just a teeny bit pompous sounding. Courageous? Savages? Illustrious? Erm...whatever. O_o ) |
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