Mackinac Island Tour 2005
| A closeup of Father Marquette in Marquette Park; you can just see Fort Mackinac behind him. Upon the statue is a dedication to the various missionaries/explorers of local history. It reads: "To Nicolet, Raymbault and Jogues; Radisson and Groselliers; Menard, Allouez, Saint Lusson and Perrot; Marquette and Joliet; Andre, La Salle, Du Lhut, Le Sueur, Cadillac; honored names in the discovery of the Northwest." (No, that's not a typo--way back then, Michigan really WAS the Northwest!) |
| I wished to visit Anne's Tablet and the Cass Memorial--which meant taking a steep little path called Crow's Nest Trail right up past the fort. I was worried that this would take me dangerously close to trespassing (a la the Grand Hotel incident of last year), but ended up having no difficulties...aside from the heights!! This here is Crow's Nest Trail--look for it in the back righthand corner of Marquette Park, when you're facing the fort (that is, the northeast corner of the park); it's hidden near a little play area. |
| AAAAAKK! IT'S A MONSTER!! No, actually it's just a tree... ^_^ ...albeit a very strange-looking tree! This is to be found on the way up Crow's Nest Trail. You can also see rock formations in the bluff on your left as you ascend. This is the same bluff Fort Mackinac is built upon. |
| You have to twist and turn around a little bit before you find Anne's Tablet! But if I found it, then surely you can too. ^_^ It's located on a small overlook and is surrounded by stone benches listing author Constance Fenimore Woolson's works. Woolson was the author of Anne, a novel set on Mackinac Island (it's available at the Island Bookstore in town), and this memorial is dedicated to her. (In case you're wondering, yes, she was related to that OTHER author, James Fenimore Cooper--she was his grandniece) I am afraid I have never read any of Woolson's works, so I can't comment on them. She does have a very nice memorial, though, and some of her other works are available online for free, in the public domain. (But not Anne! :/ ) |
| Here is a closeup of Anne's Tablet. The text upon the plaque reads:
She used to whisper to them to tell them how much she loved them. "Her old friends." She loved the island and the island trees; she loved the wild larches, the tall spires of the spruces bossed with lighter green, the gray pines and the rings of the juniper. Hear the rustling and the laughing of the forest and the wash of the waters on the pebbly beach. In Memoriam Constance Fenimore Woolson Author--Traveller Has expressed her love of this island and its beauty in the words of her heroine "Anne" Isn't that nice? :) |
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