Doug Lemke
586352502
Mackinac City on Mackinac Island in the Straits of Mackinac Between Michigan's Upper And Lower Peninsulas on a beautiful Summer afternoon, Michigan, USA
Want to take a cruise without spending half your vacation getting to your departure point? Consider the Great Lakes, which offer 11,000 miles of shoreline and the possibility of sailing far beyond sight of land. The Great Lakes Cruise Company offers departure hubs in Chicago and Milwaukee from which you can be onboard and en route to a range of destinations in a twinkling. One classic destination is Michigan’s picturesque Mackinac Island, famous for its 120-year-old tradition of no motorized vehicles. Visitors instead get around on foot or bike or in horse-drawn carriages. For those who want to go beyond the fudge-and-tchotchke circuit along Main Street, 80 percent of the island is Mackinac Island State Park. Outfitters such as Jack’s Livery Stable offer drive-yourself carriages. However you arrive, be sure to visit Arch Rock, which affords stunning views. Delve into island lore with a short hike up Anne’s Tablet Trail, which snakes past the gazebo featured in the sci-fi romance film Somewhere in Time and on to the shrine to 19th-century writer Constance Fenimore Woolson, whose novel Anne takes place on Mackinac.
