Hey all! Andrea here!
So I spent a few days on a reportedly haunted island on my recent vacation. It was kind of cool. nothing haunted happened while I was there, but still, I've never been on an island. And to tell you the truth, this island was so beautiful, it could have been Hawaii in my opinion. It was sunny every day, it was warm with a cool night breeze coming from the lake. The grass was green, the lilacs were JUST starting to bloom and smelled so fragrant, the sky was so blue as was the water that surrounded the island. I was expecting to have a Lei put around my neck as I stepped off the boat.
My mom and I stayed at one of the most reportedly haunted resorts. It's a beautiful resort. Old fashioned, but well maintained, with a beautiful view of the Lake from our window.
No cars or are allowed on the island except for ambulances. The ONLY ways to get around is by walking, renting a bike, or horse drawn carriage. (My dogs LOVED riding in the horse drawn carriages. Especially Yoshi.) When I went to bed at night, it was to the light of a full moon. When I woke up, it was to the clippity cloppity of horse hooves. It was so relaxing.
Here's some pictures from my trip.
It was a long drive to the ferry that takes you to the island, about 10 hours or so. So my mom and I decided it may be a good idea to stop at the halfway point, do some shopping, and sleep overnight at a hotel. So I made reservations to stay at one hotel the night before we were due on the island. One stop we made was at a funny place called Da Yooper Tourist Trap. A gift shop named after (and run by) a comedy musical group called "Da Yoopers". (Yoopers are what people from the upper peninsula of Michigan call themselves.)
outside the gift shop is Big Gus, the world's largest working chainsaw, and Big Ernie, the world's largest working shotgun.
Before we did anymore shopping, my mom and I decided it would be best to head to the motel I made a reservation at, and get settled in with the dogs. When I got there to check in, I was shocked. The pictures used online must have been for another place, because this wasn't anything like what they showed it to be. It was dingy, the carpets were stained, and it smelled horrible from Chlorine. I asked to see the room and they took me to this closet of a room with two beds that looked dirtier than a patch of dirt after the rain... and it smelled horribly like cigarettes. The cleaning lady tried telling me it was a mixture of Fabreeze and Mr. Clean. Um... I know what cigarettes smell like. Unless it was tobacco scented Fabreeze, that was Cigarettes.
My mom and I left kind of upset and started driving around to look for a hotel that accepted dogs when we found this place:
It was a pretty motel with a sign in the front that announced "PET FRIENDLY!" I stopped in and explained my situation. It was then I was told they probably stated that it was Fabreeze and Mr. Clean because smoking is illegal in Michigan Hotels and they were covering themselves.
I got a room for my mom and I, went back to the other hotel and canceled our reservations stating family emergency. They let me out with no problems, and we went back to our new hotel. It was very nice, clean, smelled clean, and had a lovely view of the lake from our window.
So my mom and I were pretty happy. We spent the rest of the day shopping. There is a mall in Marquette, Mi (where we were) and a lot of small gifty shops. I didn't buy much because I wanted to save my money for the island gift shops. We decided to travel around a bit to take in the sights. Leave it to mommy to find a casino.
Of course I won. Well, not big. I came out like $20 ahead... but that's better than being $20 in the hole or just breaking even. It was pretty fun.
The next day it was off to the island. I've never been on a speed ferry before (I've only ever been on one boat in my life and that was in Lake Geneva during a lake tour. A slow moving tour boat.) so this was pretty exciting. Yoshi seemed to really love it.
(my mommy and Yoshi) Yoshi loved looking out the window as the boat flew by different places on the lake, including Mackinac Bridge. (It's pronounced Mackinaw by the way... Mackinac is a French spelling.) Dojo wasn't as trilled. He cuddled in my lap the whole time.
when we got onto the island, this is how we got to our resort. This is really the only way to get around besides walking and biking. And since it was hard to ride a bike with the dogs, we usually walked everywhere. Great exercise. although I don't think Yoshi was as thrilled. Every time we passed a horse carriage, she always tried to climb in like "no more walking! we ride now!" lol.
This was our view during the day from the window of our resort. It was so beautiful during the day. The sun shining on the lake, the horses riding up the street under our window. It was nice. It was actually even nicer at night.
The moon was full, and there was a lunar Eclipse on the other side of the world. In America it could be seen as the moon turning a reddish orange color. It was quite beautiful. Especially when it reflected in the water. Its hard to tell in the above pics since they are screencaps from the video I took. but it was gorgeous in person.
The view from a Bistro where we had dinner that first night. OMG you haven't lived until you've tasted Truffle fries! yummy!
Here's a few other pictures of our stay.
Dojo was such a brave boy when he saw the horses on the street. he barked at them, he even went up to one, stood on his hind legs and kissed a horse on the nose, but he wasn't as brave when he got on the carriage... although once he was on he calmed down enough to enjoy it. (sorry for the low quality pic. It was another video screencap. you can see that my mom is holding Dojo.)
I got a smidge too much sun while I sunbathed on the white chairs by the lake. But you have to admit, even though my face was a bit red from sunburn, I'm still looking adorable. (if you look closely, you'll see my GACKT necklace lol)
While nothing really paranormal happened while we were on the island to us personally, my mom and I took the dogs on a Ghost Hauntings of Mackinac Island tour and learned a bit about the history, legends and hauntings of the island. It was actually very interesting. And it got spooky as night fell.
I do have to admit, the spookiest part was when they got to our resort. The resort where we stayed, Mission Point Resort, is reportedly the most haunted on the island. From the theater, to the room just down the hall from where my mom and I were staying.
Room 2200 is the most haunted place in the resort. It is said to be inhabited by a spirit named Harvey who took his own life after a girl he loved rejected him. I don't believe the room is rented anymore, I believe it's used for employee use only, though ghost hunts are allowed in there occasionally.
I didn't get to do an actual ghost hunt, because my mom and I left the island the day of the midnight ghost hunt. So I know what I'm going to do when I get a chance to go back to the island.
Yoshi was exhausted from all the walking we did, while Dojo wanted to keep walking. He also loved watching the horses from the window. Believe it or not, it was a culture shock for them when we got back into town. I think they missed all of the horses, and people stopping every few feet to coo and call them cute, and the walking and sitting lake side.
we had a beautiful ride home on the boat... then it was back to reality. Over a 10 hour drive back to reality... but it was all worth it.
My mom and I have never had so much fun before. There was so much shopping, and so many sights we just never got to see. So I'm looking forward to going back.
