Mackinaw city

Mackinaw islands, Pictured rocks and Tahquamenon falls were the places we intended visiting during the July 4th weekend. This was our first trip to places where there were no Indian restaurants or relatives to feed us and so, my wife had arranged extra stocks of homemade, ready to eat/easy to cook preparations. We had a huge pile of luggage most of which consisted of food boxes, jars and ice boxes and we had to remove one of the seats in the minivan to accommodate all the stuff.

We had planned to start from Canton MI on the morning of July 2nd, and were expecting to reach Mackinaw city by afternoon. But it was nearly ten when our supply of ‘chapaatis’, the most important item in the survival kit, arrived and we were delayed. Since it was not a very long drive to Mackinaw, we took it easy, stopping where ever we found the surroundings pleasant.



The freeway 75 was not really free that day. It looked as though the whole of Michigan was headed north. It was full of vehicles towing/ carrying mobile homes, boats and bikes. People were getting ready to enjoy the 4th July week end, around the great lakes in the north.





It was evening when we checked into the ‘Best value inn’, a comfortable place at the entrance of the city.



After transferring our supplies from the ice box into the refrigerator and freshening up, we headed to the lake front. We spent some time on the pier enjoying the beautiful view of the lake and the gentle breeze. We could see the Island across the strait at a distance. The catamaran returning from the island with its white plume made a good picture.



Mackinaw ‘city’ is actually a village with a permanent resident population of about 850 people, boasting an elementary school and a high school. It is a very popular tourist destination in the state of Michigan. The city mostly consists of hotels, shops, eateries and establishments related to the tourist trade and almost all of them face the lake. It is a neat, compact and very relaxed place with hardly any traffic on the roads. We moved along the main street for some time and I sat on a road side bench, while Bhanu and my wife went window shopping and the children and Vishwa went to buy the ferry tickets for the next morning’s visit to the island.



Groups of people, mostly families moved around leisurely, stopping now and then to look at the lake pointing out at things, getting in and out of shops, chatting and laughing. Children were flying kites in the park across the street. There were a considerable number of senior citizens on motorized wheel chairs and they moved around where ever their fancy took them as there was not much traffic or crowd anywhere. I just sat looking at all this and enjoying the atmosphere. It was very pleasant.
We decided to have dinner at the Italian restaurant Nonna lisa’s a pleasant place which offered ‘authentic’ wood fired Pizzas.



Bhanu managed to charm the waitress and coax the cook to prepare Pizza and Pasta to suit our palates and the result was excellent. I had never tasted ‘Pasta’ and had eaten ‘Pizza’ only in the chains like ‘Dominos’ and ‘Pizza Hut’. They were not bad but ‘Nonna lisa’a’ was way above all that I had tasted till then. I enjoyed the dinner thoroughly and had to request Vishwa to bring the van around to the door. It took only a minute or two to reach the hotel but I was half asleep by then and do not remember if I walked into the hotel or someone carried me in.