Living Our Dream

More Greenfield Village

Milford, MI - Events of Friday, August 26, 2011

As we explained in our last post, Greengield Village is divided into several areas with different themes. After seeing the Working Farms and the Railroad Junction areas of Greenfield Village, we headed to Main Street where shops and businesses of yesteryear are located.

Some of the buildings in Greenfield Village are of great historical significance, and some are fairly ordinary and are being preserved simply because they help illustrate a past way of life. The Cohen Millinery Shop, which was built in Detroit around 1880, is an example of the latter. Sara Cohen, a young widow, started the business to support herself and her children after her husband died. She made new hats and redecorated old ones to keep women of the neighborhood in the latest styles. Hat making was also a popular hobby back in the 1950s, and both our mothers made hats. That's what sparked our interest in the millinery shop. Of course, Margery HAD to try on some of the fashions. 

Next to the millinery is the Heinz House. The house was built in 1884 in Sharpsburg, PA in our old hometown of Pittsburgh. Henry J. Heinz worked in the basement of the home making and bottling horseradish. Horseradish, not ketchup, was the first product of the H. J. Heinz Co.

The Wright Cycle shop, which has great historical significance, was relocated from Dayton, OH and sits right across the street from the Heinz House. The Wright Brothers used money they earned selling and repairing bicycles in the front of the shop to finance the experimental flying machines they built in the workshop in the back.

As a young lawyer, Abraham Lincoln tried cases in the Logan County Courthouse between 1840 and 1847. The courthouse was originally located in what is now Lincoln, IL.

The J. R. Jones General Store was built in 1857 in Waterford, MI. It represents countless general stores in small-town America that sold everything from clothing to hardware to groceries.

The next area we visited was called Edison at Work, the main feature of which is Thomas Edison's Menlo Park, NJ complex that includes his machine shop, several smaller buildings and his main laboratory, which is shown below. Notice all the copper wires running to the lab from the upper right corner of the picture.

Thomas Edison was one of the most prolific inventors of all time with over 1,000 U. S. patents, and many in Europe as well, in his name. Most of those inventions came from the Menlo Park lab.

On the first floor of the lab, an interpreter demonstrated the use of an actual, 130-year old Edison phonograph. By shouting into a cone, the operator's voice vibrates a needle to make indentations in tin foil wrapped around a cylinder (left). For the playback, the indentations vibrate a needle attached to a diaphragm, and a larger megaphone amplifies the sound (right). This type of phonograph was first made in 1878. The phonographs that recorded onto wax cylinders came a little later.

The second floor of the lab has many of the thousands of bottles and jars originally located in Edison's lab.

It was on the second floor of the lab where Edison developed the first practical light bulb. Edison didn't invent the light bulb - there were over 20 people who had created some sort of electric light bulb before him. However, through perseverance, Edison found the proper combination of filament material (he used carbonized bamboo), vacuum and electrical resistance that enabled the light bulb to work for extended periods outside the laboratory. There are numerous reproductions of early Edison light bulbs throughout the Edison at Work area.

 

The next area of Greenfield Village is called Porches and Parlors, which is a collection of homes. Our first stop was at Cotswold Cottage, which was a stone mason's cottage originally built in England in the early 1600s.

Henry Ford's wife admired English cottage gardens, and the one at Cotswold Cottage is beautiful.

Margery had read about tea at Cotswold Cottage. Margery loves to "do tea," but Paul wasn't too enthusiastic initially. However, the cottage is located at just about the farthest point in Greenfield Village from the entrance; and by the time we got there, we were hot, tired, hungry and thirsty. Paul agreed it would be nice to sit a while and have something to eat and drink.

Cotswold Cottage only serves one thing - afternoon tea consisting of tea sandwiches, cookies and scones for $12 a person. Fortunately, you can substitute iced tea for the traditional hot tea. The photo below shows our assortment of tea sandwiches (bottom), cookies and scones (top).

When our food arrived, the conversation went something like this:

Paul - Doesn't look like much food for $24.

Margery - It's about the experience.

Paul - For $24, we should be able to experience being full.

Seriously, the food was good, if not plentiful. We also had a nice place to sit in the shade surrounded by flowers to rest our feet for a while. The iced tea really hit the spot, too.

After we finished our tea, we headed back through the Porches and Parlors area by a different street. There are a total of about 15 to 20 old homes, some relatively ordinary and some belonging to well-known people like Robert Frost (poet), William McGuffey (writer of McGuffey Readers), and Stephen Foster (song writer). Stephen Foster's house from Lawrenceville, PA near Pittsburgh is shown below.

  

There is a reproduction of the log cabin belonging to George Washington Carver. Carver was born a slave and became a well-known scientist who experimented with peanuts and sweet potatoes.

The last area of Greenfield Village we visited was back near the entrance and is called Henry Ford's Model T. Henry Ford was born in 1863 in the farmhouse in the photo below in Greenfield Township near Detroit.

Ford's father always expected him to take over the family farm, but Ford despised farm work. He was interested in things mechanical, and he left home when he was 16 to become an apprentice machinist in Detroit.

In 1891, Ford became an engineer at the Edison Illuminating Company in Detroit. We showed a photo of a replica of the generating station where he worked in our last post. While he was employed at Edison Illuminating, Ford experimented with gasoline engines on his own time. In 1896, Ford completed his first motor car he called the Quadricycle because it used 4 bicycle tires.

After Ford finished building the Quadricycle in the small workshop behind his home, he realized it was too big to fit out the door. He solved that problem by picking up an axe and enlarging the door opening.

In the same year Ford built his first Quadricycle, he attended a meeting where he met Thomas Edison. Edison approved of Ford's automobile experimentation and encouraged him to keep at it.

In 1899, Ford resigned from Edison Illuminating and formed the Detroit Automobile Company. The company failed and was dissolved less than two years later.

Later in 1901, Ford joined with a number of investors and formed the Henry Ford Company with Ford as the chief engineer. Ford left the company in 1902; and with Ford gone, the company was renamed the Cadillac Automobile Company. Cadillac was bought up by the General Motors conglomerate in 1909.

Ford formed his third and final automobile company in 1902. This company was reincorporated in 1903 as the Ford Motor Company. The photo below shows a one-quarter size replica of Ford's first factory located in Detroit.

  

Inside the factory, Paul posed for a photo with the 15 millionth Ford that was on display. This Model T rolled off the assembly line on May 26, 1927.

  

The Ford Motor Company was born in 1903, but the Model T didn't come along until 1908. Up until the Model T, automobiles were all hand built and were very expensive. Henry Ford came up with a design that was simple, that had interchangeable parts, and that could be mass produced making it affordable to the middle class. With that, he changed automobiles and manufacturing for all products forever.

The Model T was produced until 1927 at which time it was replaced by the Model A. Ford called the replacement the Model A rather than the Model U because they said it was such a radical departure from the Model T that they wanted to start all over with the name.

Greenfield Village is extremely well done, and we loved our visit. There are interpreters in almost every building who present a history of the building and answer questions. The village is also big. We spent almost 5 hours there, and we still skimmed through some of the buildings and exhibits.

We had a few miscellaneous things planned for the weekend, then we planned to hit the ground running on Monday with more sightseeing. Stay tuned.

Greenfield Village

Milford, MI - Events of Thursday, August 25, to Friday, August 26, 2011

It was about a four-hour drive from Traverse City to our next stop in Milford, MI where we stayed at Camp Dearborn. Camp Dearborn is a 626-acre park that is run by the city of Dearborn. It was opened in 1948 and it was known as "the citizens' country club."

Camp Dearborn has a campground that includes full-hookup RV sites, electric-only sites, no-hookup tent sites, and cabin and tent rentals. There is also a canteen that has a fairly extensive snack menu and several lakes and ponds for swimming, fishing and paddle boats. There is a mini-golf course and a full-size 18-hole golf course.

The roads and RV pads in Camp Dearborn are paved, and the sites are grassy and fairly widely spaced. The photo below shows our site at Camp Dearborn.

Most of the full-hookup sites have full sun while the electric-only and tent sites have shade. Unfortunately for pet lovers, Camp Dearborn has a "no pets" policy. Except for traffic noise during the day (our site was fairly close to the road) and some noisy neighbors who showed up a few sites away from us toward the end of our stay, the campground was fairly quiet.

The next photo shows the view down the road from our site.

It was cloudy all day for our drive to Milford, but just before sunset, the clouds rolled back and allowed the setting sun to peek under the clouds and illuminate them with an orange glow.

We had several things we wanted to do while staying in Milford, so with the skys clearing the evening before, we headed into Dearborn the next morning to visit Greenfield Village. Greenfield Village and the Henry Ford Museum together were formerly known as the Edison Institute. Today, they are known simply as The Henry Ford. The Henry Ford also includes an IMAX Theater and serves as the departure point for a factory tour of the nearby Rouge Complex which contains 6 Ford factories including one that manufactures Ford trucks.

We planned to visit both the museum and the village, but since the weather was nice, we went to Greenfield Village first. We'll have more about the Henry Ford Museum in an upcoming post.

Admission to the village is $22 ($21 for seniors over 62), and admission for the museum is $15 ($14 for seniors). There are combo tickets available for $32 ($30 for seniors), but the campground has combo tickets available at an even better price of $24. Not only that, but when we were at the ticket window exchanging the vouchers we got at the campground for regular tickets, Paul overheard the people at other ticket windows being asked if they drove there. When they said they did, there was an extra $5 charge for parking. We were not charged the additional parking fee.

The Edison Institute was originally dedicated in 1929. It was named for Thomas Edison who was a friend of Henry Ford. Ford wanted to show how Americans lived and worked since the founding of the country. There are almost 100 buildings that were moved from their original locations to Dearborn and arranged in a village-like setting. 

Entry to the village is by way of the Josephine Ford Fountain, named for Henry Ford's granddaughter.

In addition to walking, there are several other ways to get around Greenfield Village. The Weiser Railroad travels around the perimeter of the village, and there are three stops. Tickets are $4, or you can buy an all-day pass good for all rides and transportation for $10.

The horse-drawn omnibus makes several stops around the village. Omnibus rides are only available on the all-day pass.

You can also ride a restored Model T for $4 (also included in the all-day pass), but the Model Ts make no stops along their designated route. We considered getting all-day ride passes, but since the stops of the various means of transportation were limited, we decided to walk.

Greenfield Village is so big it's almost overwhelming. It took us a while to get oriented and to come up with a plan of how to see as much as possible. The village is divided into several areas with different themes. Once we realized that, and once we decided to walk rather than try to figure out transportation routes and stops, it made our navigation a little easier.

The first area inside the entrance is called Working Farms. This area includes displays of soybean research, farm equipment, and the farm home belonging to the parents of Harvey Firestone. Harvey Firestone was the founder of Firestone Tire and Rubber and a friend of Henry Ford. The home was built in 1828 near Columbiana, OH.

The Firestone farm is set up as a working farm where sheep and vegetables are raised. There was a cooking demonstration going on in the kitchen.

In the basement, we had just missed the demonstration of cutting cabbage to make sauerkraut. Also in the basement was the fruit cellar where root crops, canned goods, hams and cheese were stored.

Next, we came to an area of the village called Liberty Craftworks where there are several mills and shops that demonstrate old time crafts. In the next photo, Paul is checking out some of the lumber stored outside the Spofford Sawmill.

Some of the buildings in Greenfield Village are original, some are reconstructions using components from original buildings, and others are total reconstructions. The Spofford Sawmill above is reconstructed using some of the components that came from the Spofford Sawmill originally located in Georgetown, MA.

The Weaving Shop in the next photo was moved to Greenfield Village from Georgia, and it is mostly original. The lower floor, however, was intended to be open to allow access for horses to the drive mechanism for the cotton gin located on the enclosed, upper floor. The lower floor was left open for a time after relocating the building to Greenfield Village, and it was later enclosed and now houses looms where various fabrics and rugs are woven.

The Pottery Shop shown below was built in Greenfield Village in the 1930s. Numerous potters work inside creating clay pots, mugs, jugs and tiles. Like most of the Greenfield Village crafts, the pottery is for sale in the Liberty Craftworks Store.

We particularly enjoyed a demonstration of tin smithing in the Tin Shop. Back in the day, the tin smith would have used a charcoal fire to heat his soldering irons; but for reasons of fire safety, they now use a direct flame from an alcohol burner. Alcohol doesn't burn at a high enough temperature to melt solder, so the smithy uses a blow pipe to increase the airflow to the flame and increase its temperature.

We also watched a fascinating demonstration of glass blowing. The artisans use 19th century techniques, but they enjoy the use of 20th century furnaces.

After spending a good bit of time in the Liberty Craftworks area watching numerous craft demonstrations, we made our way to the adjacent area, which is called Railroad Junction. Railroad Junction has an 1884 roundhouse from Marshall, MI.

Workers in the roundhouse service the rolling stock and locomotives used at Greenfield Village.

Near the roundhouse is a scaled-down reproduction of the Edison Illuminating Company Station A from Detroit where Henry Ford worked as a steam engineer in the 1890s. Power plants like this one helped light entire communities.

From Railroad Junction, we headed to Main Street, which is the heart of Greenfield Village. We'll tell you about Main Street and the rest of our visit to Greenfield Village in our next post.

Sleeping Bear Dunes

Traverse City, MI - Events of Monday, August 22, 2011

As we said in our last post, Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore, which is located on the eastern shore of Lake Michigan about 20 miles from Traverse City, was our primary reason for stopping in Traverse City. We headed to the dunes on Monday.

Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore is a strip of land that covers about 45 miles of Lake Michigan shoreline plus North and South Manitou Islands located several miles offshore. Small towns separate the park on the mainland into three sections. The central section seems to be the most popular, so that's where we headed after stopping at the visitor center in Empire, MI.

One of the overlooks recommended in the visitor guide was Inspiration Point. We made that our next stop. The lake in the foreground is Glenn Lake, which is a large, two-lobed lake that is separated from Lake Michigan by a strip of land. Beyond the strip of land is Lake Michigan, and in the far distance is North Manitou Island.

Sleeping Bear Dunes gets its name from an Indian legend that says a mother bear and her two cubs swam across Lake Michigan to escape a forest fire. The cubs didn't make it and are represented by two islands (North and South Manitou Islands). A large dune on the mainland represented the faithful mother bear who slept on the shore as she waited for her cubs.

From Inspiration Point, we headed to Pierce Stocking Scenic Drive. Pierce Stocking was a lumberman who worked in the forests of Michigan. He spent much of his spare time learning about nature, and he liked to walk the dunes and bluffs above Lake Michigan. He wanted to share the beauty of the area, so he built a road atop the dunes that was opened in 1967. Upon Stocking's death in 1977, the 7-mile loop became part of Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore, and it is not to be missed if you visit Sleeping Bear dunes.

The scenic drive winds through the dense forests on the back sides of the dunes.

There are numerous scenic pull-offs along Pierce Stockton Drive including the one shown below where we could see the lighthouse in the distance on South Manitou Island. There are ferries over to both North and South Manitou Islands where you can hike, camp and tour the lighthouse.

The Lake Michigan Overlook has a boardwalk along the top of the dunes that provides scenic views of the lake.

There is also an observation platform that takes you out over the edge of the dune...

... where there were beautiful views of the dunes at the shore line.

We could also see over the edge of the dune down to the water. A lot of the specks in the next photo are people walking down to the lake like they did at Dune Slide at Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore. This dune is about 450 feet above the water, and it is a long, steep climb back up. Unlike Dune Slide that was all loose sand, however, this dune has a lot of rocks and gravel in it that help keep the surface a little harder and little easier to climb. The gravel is part of a moraine left by the glaciers after the Ice Age.

A little farther up the boardwalk we got another great panoramic view of the dunes.

The dark vegetation in the distance just to the upper left of center in the next photo covers what's left of Sleeping Bear Dune. The dune used to be much larger and covered the large depression to the right of the vegetation; but the sand is constantly changing, and most of Sleeping Bear Dune has been blown out. In the far distance are South Manitou Island (left) and North Manitou Island.

A little farther along Pierce Stockton Scenic Drive is a stop where you can get another view of the dunes to the south. The small, narrow lake is North Bar Lake.

From the scenic drive, we headed north and stopped at Dune Climb where you can climb the back side of a 110-foot high dune. There were lots of shoes piled at the bottom as well as grandparents watching the fun.

To the north of Dune Climb is the historic village of Glen Haven, which is a restored logging village that was founded in 1857. We stopped in the general store, which also has a small display depicting the history of Glen Haven.

D. H. (David Henry) Day was an early resident and entrepreneur in Glen Haven. He began selling cord wood to steamships. When the ships switched to coal, Day bought a sawmill and went into the lumber business. By 1910, he owned more than 5,000 acres of forest.

When logging bagan to decline, Day planted fruit trees. By the 1920s, he had over 5,000 cherry and apple trees on his 400-acre farm. Day recognized the type of soil and the moderating effects of Lake Michigan and Traverse Bay were ideal for growing fruit. Today, the area around Traverse City grows 70 to 75% of all the tart cherries grown in the United States. Sweet cherries are also popular at roadside stands throughout the region.

D. H. Day also built the Glen Haven Canning Company on the waterfront to can cherries.

The cannery has been converted to a museum for some of the old boats used in this area. The photo below shows a 36-foot, unsinkable lifeboat. This boat was self-bailing if it got swamped, self-righting if it capsized, and its hull is filled with cork so it was unsinkable even if it got smashed against the rocks.

Lifeboats like the one shown above could travel farther and faster and in rougher water than the surf boats that had to be rowed. By the 1920s, unsinkable lifeboats made beach-side rescue stations obsolete.

Speaking of rescue stations, there is a rescue station museum about half a mile east of Glen Haven. It was getting late, so we decided to pass on that since we had seen a similar museum recently at Whitefish Point.

We headed back to Traverse City from Glen Haven and stopped at Qdoba for a late lunch. Although we had several more days scheduled in Traverse City, we're starting to slow down a bit and we didn't have any additional sightseeing planned. We ran a few errands, Paul did some motor home and car maintenance, and we relaxed. From Traverse City, we continued to make our way south. We'll tell you where we landed in our next post.

Castle Farms

Mackinaw City, MI - Events of Tuesday, August 16, 2011

When Margery was doing her online research into things to do, we found a couple of possibilities around Petoskey, MI, which is about an hour south of where we were staying in Mackinaw City. We originally considered staying several days in Petoskey, but we couldn't get reservations at the highly-recommended Magnus Park in Petoskey, and the KOA there was around $50 a night, so we decided to just stay in Mackinaw City a few more days.

One of the things we found in that area that sounded especially intriguing was Castle Farms in Charlevoix, MI, which is close to Petoskey. Therefore, we decided to take a day trip in the car to visit Castle Farms.

Castle Farms was built in 1918 by Albert Loeb, who was acting president of Sears, Roebuck and Company at that time. Loeb built the farm to raise award-winning livestock and to showcase farm products sold by his company. Castle Farms has stone barns whose design is based on old stone barns in France.

Today, Castle Farms has been restored and remodeled into a premier special event center with Renaissance-themed reception halls inside and with attractive gardens outside.

Castle Farms is open for self-guided tours when there isn't a special event going on. The website suggests calling ahead to verify their schedule. Guided tours are available for groups of 8 or more, and there are special programs available for school groups.

The farm employed 90 people at its peak. Albert Loeb died in 1924 and left the farm to his son, Ernest. There was a farming recession that preceded the Great Depression, so the Loeb family sold off the livestock in 1927 and rented out the buildings for storage for the next 30 years.

In the mid 1960s, an artist by the name of John Van Haver bought the property, cleared some of the debris from caved-in roofs, added some Renaissance touches and opened an art studio and gallery.

In 1969, Arthur and Erwina Reibel bought the property and built a large stage which they used for rock concerts. Arthur Reibel died in 1999, and the property eventually went up for auction.

In 2001, the property was purchased by Linda Mueller who, with the support of her husband, had a vision to restore the buildings and to make them available for weddings, festivals, corporate gatherings, special events and public tours. Mrs. Mueller used original construction methods and reused original materials and components wherever possible. For example, rather than replace rotted window frames, she had workmen cut away bad sections of the frames and splice in good wood so they could reuse the sound portions.

An example of using original techniques is in the roofs of the turrets, which were originally silos. Even though it would have been quicker, easier and cheaper to bend thin plywood to form the conical roofs, Mrs. Mueller had workmen cut and bend boards to form the conical surfaces as was done originally.

On the tour, we got to see the inside of one of the silos. The radial roof supports create an interesting pattern that kind of looks like a Japanese umbrella. The dark tiles on the walls added a dramatic contrast. If you look closely, you can see the swirl pattern of the roof boards.

The self-guided tour is well marked, and we had a map to follow showing numbered points of interest along the way. We started in the Butterfly Garden, which is behind the hedge in the next photo.

Later in the tour, we got to see the Butterfly Garden from the second story.

Margery tried out ont of the butterfly chairs.

Across from the Butterfly Garden is small pond.

Rather than the usual koi, this pond was filled with what appeared to be trout.

Behind the pond is the Serenity Garden.

Several of the courtyards around the property have oversize chess sets that add to the Renaissance theme. Margery tried to lift one of the pieces and was surprised at how heavy it was.

A garden railroad was added in 2008.

There are several branches to the garden railroad, including one that sits at the tops of the tall shrubs that form the maze. You can climb up to a platform and not only look down into the maze, but also watch the trains.

There are two building complexes at Castle Farms. The main complex, which used to be the cattle barn, is called the King's Castle. Beside the King's Castle is the King's Courtyard.

There are at least four reception areas in the Kings Castle, and it looks like they could easily have several events going on at the same time.

There is a second building complex called the Knight's Castle, which was originally a stable for horses and mules.

Inside is yet another reception hall.

The Knight's Courtyard is outside the Knight's Castle. The large circular building to the left used to be the ice house, and the smaller building to the right was the farm manager's office until the farm closed in 1927.

The gardens at Castle Farms are designed not as botanical gardens or as show gardens with spectacular color, but to provide attractive venues for photography and to provide outdoor settings for wedding ceremonies. After all, the attention should be on the bride, not on the garden. The East Garden shown below not only provides a more intimate setting for photos, but it provides a pleasant view from the windows of the reception hall to the left.

While we were on our tour, we met Mrs. Mueller. We recognized her from the video they show about the history and restoration of the property. She greeted us and thanked us for coming. We chatted a few minutes, and she answered a few of our questions. The information we found most interesting is the fact they have almost 200 weddings a year. That averages out to almost four every weekend.

It was interesting to learn about the history of the farm and to see how someone with a vision (and undoubtedly a good bit of money) can change a dilapidated old cattle barn into a unique, special-event facility.

We chilled out in Mackinaw City a few more days before heading to our next destination. We'll have more info in our next post.

More Mackinac Island

Mackinaw City, MI - Events of Monday, August 15, 2011

From Fort Mackinac, we continued on our bicycle tour of some of the other sights on Mackinac Island. The central part of the island is at a higher elevation than the downtown area, and we still had a fair amount of uphill travel to get to our next stop. That meant we had to push our bikes some more. We were headed for Point Lookout, which is just about at the highest point of the island.

On the way, we took a side road a short distance to Skull Cave. The name comes from the fact Native Americans reportedly used the cave for burials. A pile of rocks in the opening of the cave also makes the cave opening look like two eyes in a skull.

Even though there were some steep hills and we had to push our bikes quite a bit, the trip to Point Lookout was worth it. There was a great view of Lake Huron and Sugar Loaf Rock, which stands 75 feet tall.

 

Our next stop was Arch Rock. Arch Rock is 146 feet above the water and the opening is 50 feet at the widest point.

There are also great views of the lake from Arch Rock.

We continued down East Bluff where many of the old Victorian summer homes are located. Most of these "cottages" were built during a flurry of construction that took place from 1885 to 1900.

We also appreciated seeing all the gardens and flowers along the way.

We made our way down East Bluff to where it joins the eastern end of Main Street. A little farther to the east, Main Street turns into Lake Shore Boulevard. Lake Shore then travels around the perimeter of the island, a distance of about 8 miles. Since Lake Shore follows the shoreline, the road is fairly level so it is a popular place to bicycle. The next photo shows the number of bicycles heading from Main Street to Lake Shore Boulevard.

We decided to join the crowds and take our bikes part way up the eastern side of the island. Fortunately, after we had gone a short distance, bike traffic thinned out quite a bit.

Our main reason for taking Lake Shore Boulevard was to get a look at Arch Rock from below.

We pedaled about half a mile past Arch Rock then headed back toward town. On the way back, we stopped for a photo of Mission Point Resort, which is at the eastern edge of town.

Mission Point Resort was originally built over a period of several years beginning in 1954 as a conference and retreat center for an evangelistic organization. The property was sold a couple of times before being sold again and converted to a resort hotel in 1987.

Mission Point gets its name from the fact that it is located adjacent to a mission to Native Americans started by New England Protestants. Mission Church, which was built in 1829, it the oldest surviving church in Michigan.

Right down the street from Mission Church is Ste. Anne's Catholic Church. The wooden church was moved from Fort Michilimackinac to Mackinac Island in 1780 and placed below the new fort. That wooden building was later moved down the street to this site and was subsequently replaced in 1874 by the current building.

We continued through town to West Bluff to see the Grand Hotel. Built in 1886-87, it is THE place to stay on Mackinac Island. Past guests include 5 U. S. presidents, Vladimir Putin, Dmitri Medvedev, Mark Twain and Thomas Edison.

The hotel advertises it has the world's longest porch, which runs the entire length of the building. You can get better idea of how long that is from the next photo taken earlier from the ferry.

The porch became such a tourist attraction, the hotel now charges $10 just to go onto the porch or to go into the hotel if you're not a guest. We even got chased away from the driveway in front of the hotel because we were on bicycles. At rates of over $400 to over $700 a night, the guests apparently don't want rif-raff riding by on bicycles gawking at them.

After taking a couple of photos of the Grand Hotel from a distance, we headed back downtown. As busy as Main Street was in the morning, it was a zoo by mid afternoon. Bicycles whiz by narrowly missing pedestrians who step off the curb without even looking or who walk down the middle of the street unaware of their surroundings. Horse carts and carriages move more slowly, but they take up a lot of room on the street and threaten to clip unwary bicyclists.

There were so many bikes downtown, you could hardly find space along the curb to park. We finally found a small empty space to put our bikes, and we stuck our noses into a couple of shops. We were tempted to buy some fudge, but we decided to pass.

As we mentioned in our last post about Colonial Michilimackinac in Mackinaw City, it is believed the American version of chocolate fudge was first made sometime around 1886. Henry Murdick opened a candy store on Mackinac Island in 1889, and fudge was one of the candies he sold. But fudge didn't become synonymous with Mackinac Island until the early 1960s when Harry Ryba added his marketing touch to the sweet concoction. Ryba moved the fudge-making process to the front window of his shop so customers could watch the fudge being made, and he added fans so the delicious aroma would waft through the air outside his shop. Fudge became such a popular souvenir for tourists, the day visitors became known as "fudgies."

We took along a few snacks, but we planned a stop for the 2011 Zeller Foodie Tour somewhere downtown for a late lunch before we caught the ferry back to Mackinaw City. We rode past several of the restaurants we had checked out online, and we finally decided on the Pink Pony Restaurant in the Chippewa Hotel. Paul wasn't real crazy about the name of the restaurant (it sounded like some kind of Barbie accessory), but they had a couple of things on the menu we thought sounded good, and we liked the waterfront location.

We originally planned to eat outside, but the wait for a table on the deck (green roof in the photo above) was about 25 or 30 minutes. There was no wait for the lower patio (yellow umbrellas), but when we got there, the air conditioners from the restaurant were beside the patio, and they were noisy. They were also blowing hot air on the only empty tables, which was probably the reason those tables were empty.

We headed back inside and got a nice, quiet table in air-conditioned comfort with no wait. We were interested in the whitefish dip when we ate at Brown's Fish House in Paradise, but they were out of it. We decided to try the smoked whitefish dip at the Pink Pony and to get an order of whitefish tacos so we could share both.

The dip consists of smoked whitefish in cream cheese. It is served hot with pita chips. The dip was yummy.

The fish tacos are made from pan-seared whitefish that is flaked, then served on flour tortillas with cabbage, cilantro, and lime-chipotle vinaigrette with avocado aioli. The tacos were outstanding.

Like most things on the island, the meal wasn't cheap. The tacos and the dip were $12 each. Other lunches were $9 to $14, and the other restaurants we checked out had similar prices. The only complaint about the meal was the fact the corn chips they served with the fish tacos and the pita chips that went with the dip were not real crisp. We suspect being located at the waterfront had something to do with that.

The ferry dock is only about half a block from the restaurant, and just about the time we got there, a ferry came around the breakwater and pulled up to the dock. Mackinac Island has a lot of quaint charm, and we loved our visit in spite of the crowds. However, we were tuckered from all the uphill bike riding pushing. We pedaled and pushed a total of about 9 miles.

There is still more sightseeing in the area to report on, so look for our next post.