Thinking about planning a trip to Mackinac–has been on wife’s bucket list for ever. A few questions:
–The island can be accessed by ferry from either Mackinac City or from St. Ignace. Are there pros or cons for either port?
–When does “the season” for Mackinac start? I would imagine the spring can be quite chilly that far north–is May or June doable or desirable, or should we wait from summer proper? (I suppose I could look on the interweb and look up when hotels open and when ferries start running…)
We would probably fly into Detroit from the east coast, and make our way northward, making stops along the way. What’s Dearborn like–The Henry Ford and Greenfield Village would be a definite stop.
Any info at all would be appreciated–thanks in advance
I think late spring would be okay to visit Mackinac Island, depends on whether you want it to be shorts weather or pants (we usually go in mid to late August)! Mackinaw City has more shopping and restaurants than St. Ignace. We have always taken the ferry from Mackinaw City (stay there too). Are you going to stay on the Island? Dearborn is not a very exciting place to visit, besides the Henry Ford and Greenfield Village. I can’t think of anything else to see there? It’s quite urban.
@Madison85, thank you, I am aware of the pronunciation ;
@3js3ks, our only reason to go to Dearborn would be for the museums. We would stay on the island–realize it’s not cheap. Is the boat ride shorter from one port as compared to the other, or does one port offer more trips to the island than the other?
The boat ride is about the same length from both cities. I would think Mackinaw City has more daily trips to the Island because it is so much more commercial there. If you want to drive over the Mackinaw Bridge then you might want to take the ferry from St. Ignace. The boat ride isn’t very long (15-20 minutes).
That is weird my post disappeared.
What i was going to say is don’t miss the Detroit Institute of art. The diego rivera murals are breathtaking. The Dearborn Inn is historic and has good food. The ford museum takes all day. Dearborn has a cool islamic center and great lebanese food. Its a 5 hour drive to mackinaw so get out your bob seger and gordon lightfoot and rock out. Ive only taken the boat from mackinaw city.
Thanks @klbmom18. Our thoughts would be to get out of Detroit and see the rest of the state, after going to the Henry Ford. There are some gardens upstate dear wife has in mind, and being a car guy, the Gilmore auto museum looks amazing. We’d take a few days to trek northward.
It has its own flavor. The Mackinac Fort is interesting. The interior of the island has more of a Northwoods feel; not as many people get into the interior. But you can via bike pretty easily. The Grand Hotel is expensive, but certainly popular. And don’t skip the fudge.
I haven’t lived in Michigan for many years, but I’ve gone back to visit relatives and have taken my family to the island. I spent four summers working in a gift shop on Mackinac Island. I would wait until summer to go (late June to August); it can get chilly in June. Definitely stay on the island. The Grand Hotel is great–the porch, the pool and meals are all part of the experience. Do the tourist stuff–bike around the island, go to the Fort, and ride in the horse carriages, and eat fudge. I’ve always taken the ferry from Mackinaw City.
Agree with the poster above, I think the Diego Rivera murals at the Detroit Institute of Arts are worth seeing.There’s a great garden/house museum in a suburb of Detroit–Cranbrook House and Gardens.
Mackinac Island is unique in that no motorized vehicles are allowed. Bicycles and horses are the major modes of transportation. We haven’t been in many years, but we’ve circled the island on hired versions of both. I’m pretty sure we hired our own carriage once also. It was fairly undeveloped once you got away from the harbor and hotels area; don’t know if that’s changed. The village is filled with fudge shops and day trippers are known as fudgies.
We’ve taken the ferry from both ports. The advantage of one is that you can tour Fort Mackinac and the colonial era tourist stuff. The advantage of the other is that you can cross the bridge.
Before you go, be sure to watch the movie Somewhere in Time. It was filmed at the beautiful Grand Hotel on the island. Amusingly, the Christopher Reeve character drives up to the front door, theoretically having driven himself from Chicago. They had to bring in vehicles by boat and filmed before the hotel opened for the season. The novel on which the movie is based, Bid Time Return, was actually set in the Hotel del Coronado. But that hotel was unwilling to close for filming so the producers looked for another hotel of similar vintage and grandeur.
Greenfield Village is very interesting, and the Henry Ford Museum will teach you everything you ever wanted to know about the Industrial Age. We went to both on my 8th grade field trip, but I’ve been more times as an adult.
Personally, having been to all three islands, I don’t think Mackinac is the equivalent of either of the others, but probably closer to Nantucket than Martha’s Vineyard. But much, much cheesier. (Except for a few hotels and restaurants.)
@doschicos Mackinac is geographically much smaller than Nantucket or Martha’s Vineyard. In terms of population, both of the MA islands are much, much larger. Plus, there are no motorized vehicals on Mackinac Island. As resort areas, the MA islands offer more–restaurants, shopping, and recreational activities like summer theater, fishing charters, music–than Mackinac. I’ve been to all three–spent the last 20 summers on Nantucket.
I live in Michigan. Our family enjoys going to Greenfield Village and the Henry Ford Museum once a year. Outside of these two places, I feel like there is not much else to do in Dearborn. We usually do the Village for a day and then the Museum on a different day. If you wanted to rush through you could do both in a day.
We also go up north to Mackinac Island to the Grand Hotel every year. I find June to be usually chilly up there and unpredictable. We tend to choose either July or August for the best weather. One year we had the experience of being up there in the late fall because my husband’s residency participated in a program to stay up there for 2 weeks to work in their medical center. We really enjoyed the nice weather and the low crowd volume compared to the summer time. My girls have loved this place since they were little and now in their college years (they love dancing to the band at the Grand at night, biking and exploring the island in the day).
I have taken the ferry from both Mackinaw City and St. Ignace. St Ignace side is not as busy as Mackinaw City but, the ferries leave a lot more frequently from Mackinaw. Therefore, i recommend parking and taking the ferry from Mackinaw City since you won’t be waiting as long to get over to the island.
I was born and raised in Michigan, and DH and I were married in the Martha-Mary Chapel at Greenfield Village (will never call it The Henry Ford, just dumb), one of my favorite places on the planet. Dearborn has some amazing middle eastern restaurants but not much else to do. Mackinac is a must-see, but I’d put it in the “one-and-done” category. If you drive leisurely up to Mackinac and back down, I will bet that the aggregate of the things you see and enjoy on the drive will trump the stay on the island which doesn’t offer much beyond the hotel, the fort, gift shops, and fudge. Traverse City, Sleeping Bear Dunes, Ann Arbor (Go Blue!), the DIA, Lake Michigan, Motown (and downtown Detroit), Cranbrook are all worth seeing. Enjoy. Wish I could go with you.
