It’s always been a personal favorite, but I was still a bit surprised to learn that Mackinac Island, nestled between Michigan’s Upper and Lower Peninsulas, had been voted the number one Best Summer Destination in the United States in the 2023 USA Today Readers’ Choice Awards.
Mystic, Connecticut, with its historic seaport and aquarium, was number three. Nantucket, Catalina, the San Juans? Oh well. Lots of people love Mackinac (pronounced “Mackinaw”), and for good reason.
A four-acre island at the top of Lake Huron, just around the corner from the top of Lake Michigan, Mackinac has been a major tourist – and boating – destination for more than a century. It’s an icon for sailors. The 114th Mac Race, covering 333 miles from Chicago up Lake Michigan to Mackinac, starts on July 23. Some 240 boats are entered.
Mackinac’s Grand Hotel is even older than the race. It opened in 1887 (the same year as the first fudge shop); it’s famous for its 660-foot-long front porch, which the hotel says is the longest in the world. Now listed as a National Historic Landmark, the Grand Hotel has welcomed guests from Mark Twain to John F. Kennedy.
There are no bridges linking Mackinac with the mainland. You have to arrive by boat, either your own or by commercial ferry from St. Ignace or Mackinaw City. No cars are allowed on the island. Motor vehicles have been prohibited since 1898, ten years before Henry Ford rolled out his first Model T. On Mackinac, you get around by horse, bike, or on foot.
There are three marinas on the island. The public Mackinac Island State Marina has 80 slips, with electricity, water, restrooms, showers, pump-out facilities and Wi-Fi. It’s just across the street from Marquette Park at the foot of Fort Mackinac, built to protect the Straits of Mackinac in 1780. Soldiers now dress in period costumes to relive the times when American, French and British forces fought over the area because of its strategic location on the Great Lakes.
Read more: http://mackinacisland.org
