A Beautiful View

Our weekend ended up surprisingly different than normal.  Hubby needed to go check on a job that happened to be on Mackinac Island!  Rather than describing the tourist destination, I will let you look it up on line and you can read much more about it than I can easily take the time to write.  It is a historic park and very interesting.  I grew up going to the island as a child because my grandfather drove carriages for the Grand Hotel as well as drove taxi and tour carriages.  It was a fun day when we went to see Grandpa.  He would meet us at the boat dock and if he were driving for the Grand Hotel, he would be all decked out in his uniform.  Grandpa was so handsome.  I remember his red coat, white shirt with a black bow tie,  white gloves, white pants, black riding boots, and a black top hat.  The horses were beautiful with their black harnesses trimmed in silver and a red feather plume on the top of their heads.  Grandpa loved his horses.  It was obvious even to me as a young child, that they were his pride and joy.  To go back to the island as an adult, I have such an appreciation for the memories.  There were a few years when for some reason, the carriage drivers didn’t wear uniforms and as someone who knew what the uniform used to be, it was very disappointing.  There was not the same respect present that a uniform commands.  Some of the pride I had always carried was gone.  Fortunately in the last years, the uniforms were brought back and today the respect has returned.  I remember at the end of the season, Grandpa would bring us horse shoes and the red feather plumes from the harnesses.  The horses used for pulling are work horses so the shoes are large, hard, heavy rubber to help the horses keep from slipping.

I remember going to the island with Grandma.  We stayed with a lady who had a cottage there.  I remember feeling as though I didn’t sleep at all because of the fog horn sounding off all night long.  When the fog horn wasn’t blowing, Grandma was snoring and it seemed like the longest sleepless night of my life.  It is amazing, the peace that comes over me when I hear the clopping of the hooves on the pavement, the blowing of the boat horns, and the silence that hangs in the air due to the lack of modern industry and traffic.  This time of year is even better since the shops are not open and the crowds of tourists have not yet arrived.

We stayed at the Grand Hotel which dates back to the 1800’s.  For the most part, the hotel decor is whimsical with much color.  Many antiques and historical artifacts are displayed throughout the main lobby.  The halls are lined with photographs from generations of people throughout the years who have visited.  The history of the hotel is fascinating.  I have a project to work on before the end of the summer.  The manager at the carriage house is interested in the pictures I have of Grandpa in his uniform, driving the carriages.  He would like any copies I am willing to make so they can be framed and hung in a collection for visitors to see.  I look forward to donating them and seeing them hang with the others.  I’m sure I will post about it when I get the project done.

That’s all for now.  I hope you read up on Mackinac Island.  I will return soon.  Thanks for reading!

Desarae