When we went to bed, there were only a handful of sailboats that were in the marina. I wondered if it would've worked out for us to have slept there and left early (like 7 am) before anyone else came, but there were SO MANY more sailboats than when we last looked last night!
We pulled the regular anchor first and then Keith pulled the backup anchor up by hand on the foredeck. Ben managed the situation and communicated different tasks that Lori or I needed to do. It was pretty fast and then we were on our way.
There were a bunch of sailboats still coming toward Mackinac with their spinnaker up. It was cool to see so many. Of course, we had a few ferries wake us as we were underway. Those were some BIG wakes and Ben had to maneuver the boat so they didn't slam us as badly as they could've!
We only traveled 8 miles and had plenty of time, so we cruised under the Mighty Mac Bridge so the Grasshoppers could say they were in Lake Michigan and then turned back to the marina.
We waited at the fuel dock for the boat in our slip to leave, then tied up. It was Lori and Keith's last tie up of the trip. They tied fenders and threw lines like pros! I taught them so well.
We walked to the marina office to find out about rental cars. Keith took a few pictures of cards left in the office that offer a Lyft-type service. They'll order one in the morning.
While in the office, we saw a flyer for a farmers' market that happens weekly on Mondays. I couldn't believe that worked out for us! The Grasshoppers, Bear, Roo, and I went to check that out and there was no produce! It was more like a craft fair with 4 tables under tents.
We walked back to the boat for lunch. Ben finished updating some electrical things and then all 9 of us went to tour the Icebreaker Mackinaw. It was cool to see a Coast Guard ship, think about its massiveness, and see how it was used. Throughout the ship there were lots of videos to see it in action.
Sasha, Luke, and Bear went to a haunted house on our way back to the boat. It was quick, so they went to Mystery Town, USA too. They said they were just about the only ones in both places. The haunted house was quick and they got a few scares, but overall they weren't impressed and Mystery Town USA was better.
We met the 3 big kids at the hotel down the street so we could get on the 5:30 pm 2-hour historical trolley tour. They told us to be there before 5, but we wound up sitting in the hotel lobby for about 25 minutes.
Mike, our driver and historian, talked to us about the old ferries that took cars between Mackinaw City and the UP, and how it changed (ended) when the bridge opened. He talked about the Icebreaker Mackinaw, several restaurants (Dixie Saloon marks the end of Dixie Highway that runs all the way from Florida), and other historical people and places (Fort Michilimackinac), including the deaths of some of the workers of the bridge, some driver deaths, and births on the bridge. Then we got to go over the bridge!
Buses and semis are not allowed to pass on the bridge and have tobstay in the right lane. We were stuck behind a semi going slow, so our journey was a little longer than it typically would've been. After just having heard about people plunging to their deaths from the bridge, I was slightly worried that Mike was going to have a heart attack and unintentionally drive us off the bridge.
I-75 runs across the Mackinaw Bridge, connecting the lower peninsula to the upper peninsula of Michigan. Mighty Mac is 3x longer than the similar Golden Gate Bridge and is 5 miles long from entrance to entrance. Amazingly, it is designed to swing 18 feet to the left and 18 feet to the right, but does not swing forward or backward. That type of swing is mind-boggling to think about.
We got to explore Bridge View Park on the UP for 20 minutes and dipped our feet in the water of Lake Michigan, which was warmer than we thought it would be, yet again.
