Welcome to Northern Michigan.
And today we're going to take on an adventure to Mackinac Island.
If you're like us, we didn't really know much about this area,
but it's in the northern part of Michigan where it connects with upper peninsula.
And Mackinac Island is known as a jewel of this area, but first things first. So you don't sound
like you're from out of town. It's Mackinac, even though it's spelled like Mackinac.We're
moving pretty quick. So the ferry ride is typically about 16 minutes, but today we took
a ferry that actually takes you past the Mackinac Bridge to check that out too, that makes it 25.
This is Mackinac Bridge, which connects the upper and lower peninsulas of Michigan.
It's five miles long and is currently the fifth longest suspension bridge in the world.
It's quite a sight to behold, not to mention driving an RV
over it. It's about 200 feet above the water, so I was pretty happy Daniel drove this one.
We just made it to the island, but first things first. We're going to get some coffee.
I went to the coffee shop, got some coffee and walked down by the water. And now we're perched
on a rock here, enjoying a beautiful view of the water. Not a bad place to grab breakfast, huh?
They have a jet boat option to get over to the island,
which you can see off in the distance here.
It's got this big old rooster tail coming out of the back of it. Looks like it's going really fast.
Well, we're about to go do something super cool.
Apparently, one of the things you can do here on Mackinac Island is you can rent your very own
horse and buggy because one of the things that they don't have here is automobiles,
outside of emergency vehicles. So to get around the island, it's either by horse or by bike. And
no, obviously, we have never driven a horse and buggy, so that's why we're going to do it.
Can you believe they're going to give us a horse and buggy?
Obviously, they don't watch our YouTube
channel and see how much things go wrong. No. They're giving us a horse and carriage,
probably ever even been on a horse. So once, twice maybe. So the fact that you can get a
horse and carriage without any experience. It's kind of crazy. So our horses name is Ace.
They're getting him out of the stable right now, but they gave us a map. You've got
this highlighted section that we're going to ride around and hopefully it goes amazing.
I'm going to take my horse to the Old Town Road. At this point, you probably established that I am
a pro at horse and carriage. But the reality is, this is my first time. If you've never
rented a horse and carriage, you definitely need to do this here. This is so much fun.
Our horse has some gas issues. He just parted in our face. He just booted.
Horse farts are not nice.
So now that he's properly hydrated, we're back on the trail.
Oh, apparently water makes him gassy. Oh boy. That is not good.
Very similar to an RV. You take all your turns wide.
Yeah, I got you. Oh boy. I got you. Okay. It's cool. I got you.
I get to feel like it's hot. Driving it like it's hot.
Okay. Yeah. We're another little temporary delay. Ace, he had to go poo.
Why does it always end up being a poo conversation?
I know, I know, I know. You're watching this and you're probably thinking to yourself, "Man,
that guy is a horse and carriage professional," but the reality is, yeah. Oh, yeah. Yeah.
Dang. Okay. The gig's up. This is actually my very first time, but I highly recommended to do
this when you come to Mackinac Island, While D tries to get our horse to obey,
I'll fill you in on where we're passing. This is Mackinac Fort, which was founded during the
American Revolution by the British. From there, it has a bloody history of bouncing back and forth
between the Americans and the British. Today, it's a state park in a living history museum.
We didn't have time to visit, but it's just another great reason to come back soon.
A bit of a steep hill with a horse and carriage, so you got to take a little bit slow.
He's got a little hitch in his giddy-up. I think he knows where he's going.
We're about a half a block away from his home and he is ready to get rid of us.
They also have options where you can go on a guided tour and get historical
insight into Mackinac Island but that was really fun. There are tons of great
restaurant options on the island, everything from casual sports bar to high-end dining.
We're grabbing a quick bite of lunch and then we're going to find a tandem bike.
And just for the record, this is wicked harder than it looks. We just passed a
couple that they said that this isn't actually a tandem bike. It's a divorce machine.
Ran into a little bit of a roadblock. Literally the roadblock, but we'll figure this out.
Okay. We're trying to walk the bike around and it's not easy.
It's not. It's like the tandem bike waddle.
Ready. Yeah.
Okay. So, tandem up a hill. Shockingly, we're lost.
Yeah. Fingers crossed,
we're able to find what we're looking for. Yeah. And also, tandem bike with
one gear up a hill, difficult, little bit of a challenge, but be prepared.
We got this. Let's do it. Yeah. Let's do this. Here we go.
I feel like you control the balance on this thing. That feels dangerous.
Oh, this is totally dangerous. Do not recommend.
I'd recommend keeping both arms, both hands... Oh crap. Here we go.
Okay. So we took a right on what we believe to be the correct path, but there is a hill here.
And it is difficult to put it into perspective, but this is a monster hill.
It will be difficult with a 10 speed bike. But with a single speed tandem,
that's a no-go. So we're going to walk it up the hill.
I really don't even want to walk up this hill.
All right. I got your back.
Keep going. You're doing really good. I'm back here, holding my own. You just keep working.
Kind of sweaty. We made the, what? You think mile bike ride of to Arch Rock.
(silence)
I mean, we're certainly not in bad shape, but these hills, they're a little challenging on a...
What do you call this thing again? I'm delirious at this point.
On a tandem bike. On a tandem bike. It's double the suffering.
Okay. It took us a little bit but we finally got the hang of this thing.
Crushing it.
So this behind me is the Grand Hotel. And as you can tell, we're not exactly dressed for post
6:00 PM attire, but what we're wearing is fine for what we're about to show you. (silence)
Thanks so much. Man, that's quite a spread. It's a lot of awesomeness there.
Tea and champagne, does it get better than that?
And because I'm fancy, pinky out.
So bougie. This is a totally not us, but we are having so much fun.
The Grand Hotel is famous for a myriad of reasons. It's on the registry is a national landmark. Tons
of presidents and other famous people have come to stay here. It's where the movie
Somewhere in Time was shot with Jane Seymour and Christopher Reeves. And not only that, but where
I'm walking right now is renowned for being the longest court in the US, maybe even the world.
The butterflies here are so magical.
It's time to head back to the Airstream because since it's after season,
which is anytime past Labor Day, the ferries head back at 6:00 PM. But insider's tip,
we stayed on the St Ignace side because apparently it's not as busy as Mackinac City.
And as you can see, the line for Mackinac City ferries is way longer than ours. Winning.
Getting to the Berry early, means you get to sit on top and you got better views.
I'm a little sad that we only planned for one day in Mackinac Island.
We missed the fudge because we were too full on sugar from afternoon tea.
We didn't get to tour the fort. We missed the Butterfly Museum. There's 100 reasons we're
going to have to come back. We'll definitely plan to stay on the island too, because, well,
it just seems like fun. They even had live music tonight that we missed because we had to get back.
But you know what we did get to do? Wander local. And as you know, it's good for the soul.