Sunday, May 6, 2012

The Ottawa and Other Adventures in Traveling

Downtown Mackinac Island was busy today- lots of visitors!


Carriage Tour:








We bought fudge to bring to friends and family this weekend! Phil hit up Ryba's (our favorite chocolate peanut butter fudge) while I picked up some from Sanders (sea salt caramel is scrumptious). Frankly, it's hard to go wrong with fudge on Mackinac Island!


This is the first weekend Arnold Line had boats to Mackinaw City too.


The St. Ignace ferry was running late, so we waited in the sunshine:


Lovely water:


Look! There is a boat docked in the harbor! Only one, but the first we've noticed this season!


Monkey buddy is a helpful little friend. Big sister wore it when she was 2... and 3. (Both girls have no fears regarding running away from us.)


Now the bow and upper decks are open- another sign of summer!


Our ferry arrived to Mackinac Island at the time the catamaran normally would be pulling into St. Ignace. The catamaran was waiting on a part.


It's the Ottawa- we had never ridden it before.








Inside the Ottawa:














Daddy's wallet is apparently fascinating:


A view from the back of the lower level:


The upper deck:


There's that single boat from a higher perspective!











Heading back down:


Horses and their dray through the railing:


It's a longer ride on the Ottawa- but it's not as slow as the mighty Huron we ride in winter.


My youngest fell asleep in my arms:





A faster boat passes us. We were to be the last folks to grace the Ottawa today. The Mackinac Express was going to be ready for the next trip.


We took a rest stop before we left St. Ignace to head downstate to visit my family. It's a long drive, and we'd had a longer ferry ride already.


Gourmet car snack :)


The rest area near Clare:





The girls had dinner at a McDonald's in Mt. Pleasant. Play Places are a definite blessing for traveling families! Mommy & Daddy picked up their dinner from Culver's as a treat :)


We also visited Meijer in Mt. Pleasant. Definitely a store I miss! Someday, I want to bring orchids home! But I should wait until the girls are a little bigger... Aren't they beautiful?


Not too far past Mt. Pleasant, we had a different sort of adventure... We got pulled over by a friendly state police officer. Apparently, the light on our license plate was burned out. We had no idea. Living on Mackinac Island, we don't often drive at night. The latest ferry at this point of the season is the 5pm boat off the island. We stopped by a Walmart near Fremont so we can take care of that light tomorrow! (I did not take a picture of the police officer... That would be kind of weird.)



We made it to my parents' home safely with two sleeping cuties :)

1 comment:

  1. Love the ferry pics! The water of the Huron is simply stunning. We have been saved more than once on family trips by a McDonald's Play Place.

    ReplyDelete