Mackinac Island
With its beautiful architecture and history immaculately preserved, time stands still here. Horses and bicycles are a part of everyday life. Plan to visit some of the iconic landmarks which dot the island. The Grand Hotel, Fort Mackinac, Ste. Anne’s Church, Mission Church, the Richard and Jane Manoogian Mackinac Art Museum, the Biddle House, the magnificent cottages of the East and West Bluffs, and the newly reconstructed Fort Holmes. Dozens of interior roads and trails lead to serene sites and exceptional scenes of unspoiled beauty. Naturally occurring highlights include Arch Rock, Skull Cave, and Devil’s Kitchen. Food wise, Mackinac offers everything from casual fare to fine dining to suit even the most discriminating palates. Distance: 12 minute ferry ride.
Colonial Michilimackinac
An 18th-century French, and later British fort and French-Canadian trading post at the Straits of Mackinac. The trade route stretched from the Atlantic Coast and the St. Lawrence River to the Great Lakes, and south to the Mississippi River through the Illinois Country. This fort served as a supply depot for traders in the western Great Lakes. Today, interpreters help bring its history to life with music, live demonstrations, and reenactments, including musket and cannon firing. There are numerous reconstructed historical wooden structures based on archeological excavations and is one of the most extensively excavated early colonial French archaeological sites in the United States.