Wednesday, November 18, 2015

Day 4 of Dana's Trip

Fort Mackinac and The Grand Hotel

Mackinac Island was first inhabited by the Ojibwa Indians.  Then the French used it as a fur trading outpost.  Finally in 1780 the British decided to build Fort Mackinac.  Dana walks up the hill to explore the historic Fort Mackinac


Shia and Dana walk past one of the restored original houses on the island.  Like Fort Holmes the house is surrounded by a log fence.


Dana can't believe how tiny the house is compared to the homes on the bluffs.  She stops at the park at the bottom of the fort to admire the beautiful fall colors.


The fort has an amazing view of the surrounding area, which was perfect for protecting the straight back in the days that it was a functioning fort.


By 1815 the Treaty of Ghent forced the British to return the island to the Americans.  Dana loved seeing the inside of the living quarters.  There were  quarters for the families of the soldiers that stayed on the island all of the time.  


Dana's favorite part of the fort was watching the re-enactors fire the guns.  They were really loud.  They were actually louder than the canon!


The canon, when it fired real canon balls, could shoot them almost all the way across the straight.  Now it just fires a wad of gun powder.  But it is still extremely loud!


After looking around the fort for awhile longer, Dana and Shia walk to the Grand Hotel.


The Grand Hotel was opened in 1887.  Not only is it one of the oldest hotels on the island, but it is also the largest.  It claims the world's largest front porch at 660 feet long.


Guest often dress up in outfits from the 20's and 30's  There is a strict dress code still in effect at the Grand Hotel.  All Males must wear a suit after 5pm and all females must wear a dress.


Dana loves watching the large horse drawn carriages bring the guests to the hotel.




After admiring the hotel and the beautiful horses, Dana walks down to the beach to watch the sunset. As she watches the sun slowly decent towards the horizon one of the jet boat ferries cruses in front of the Mackinac Bridge.


The colors are amazing, reflecting off of lake Huron as the sun finally goes down.



Dana relaxes, listening to the waves gently crash upon the rocks, the water pink with the dying light of the sunset.  It makes her a little sad to think that tomorrow will be her last day on Mackinac Island.  But she can't wait to explore for one more day!



What will Dana do for her last day?  Check back to find out.

2 comments:

Sharon said...

Another lovely adventure and gorgeous photos to go with it.
I love the photos of the sunset, so pretty.
And Dana's coat is very nice, she looks the part of the sightseeing tourist to a 'T'!

Keni San said...

Such a nice view of lake at sunset. Dana is looking pretty with those fits!

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