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Mackinac Island 2010

No cars, just horses and lake light — September 2010

30Photographs

1Days

3Places

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The island that kept the cars out

A late-summer day on Mackinac Island, Michigan — where motor vehicles have been banned for over a century and the only traffic is horses, bicycles, and the ferries crossing the Straits. We walked the shoreline under the Mackinac Bridge, climbed to Fort Mackinac and the bluffs below the Grand Hotel, found Arch Rock and Sugar Loaf in the island's wooded interior, and watched the light change over Lake Huron. Tap any photo to enlarge it, or open the map.

Day 1

Fri 3 Sep

The Straits & the lighthouses · Fort Mackinac & the Grand Hotel · Arch Rock & the shoreline

The Straits & the lighthouses — The Straits & the lighthousesMackinac Island, where the cars never came and the horses still rule.

The Straits & the lighthouses — The Straits & the lighthousesLake Huron stretching out blue and endless under a big northern sky.

The Straits & the lighthouses — The Straits & the lighthousesThe Mackinac Bridge floating on the horizon between the peninsulas.

The Straits & the lighthouses — The Straits & the lighthousesOne of the island's old lighthouses standing watch over the Straits.

The Straits & the lighthouses — The Straits & the lighthousesVictorian porches, white railings, and not an engine in earshot.

The Straits & the lighthouses — The Straits & the lighthousesArch Rock framing the lake through a window of limestone.

The Straits & the lighthouses — The Straits & the lighthousesThe Grand Hotel up on the bluff, all white columns and long porches.

The Straits & the lighthouses — The Straits & the lighthousesFort Mackinac on the hill, cannons still pointed out at the water.

The Straits & the lighthouses — The Straits & the lighthousesSugar Loaf rising out of the woods, a giant of weathered stone.

The Straits & the lighthouses — The Straits & the lighthousesThe harbor full of masts, the town wrapped around the water.

The Straits & the lighthouses — The Straits & the lighthousesStorm light over the lake, the kind that makes you stop walking.

Fort Mackinac & the Grand Hotel — Fort Mackinac & the Grand HotelQuiet cedar roads and the smell of fudge somewhere on the breeze.

Fort Mackinac & the Grand Hotel — Fort Mackinac & the Grand HotelMackinac Island, where the cars never came and the horses still rule.

Fort Mackinac & the Grand Hotel — Fort Mackinac & the Grand HotelLake Huron stretching out blue and endless under a big northern sky.

Fort Mackinac & the Grand Hotel — Fort Mackinac & the Grand HotelThe Mackinac Bridge floating on the horizon between the peninsulas.

Fort Mackinac & the Grand Hotel — Fort Mackinac & the Grand HotelOne of the island's old lighthouses standing watch over the Straits.

Fort Mackinac & the Grand Hotel — Fort Mackinac & the Grand HotelVictorian porches, white railings, and not an engine in earshot.

Fort Mackinac & the Grand Hotel — Fort Mackinac & the Grand HotelArch Rock framing the lake through a window of limestone.

Fort Mackinac & the Grand Hotel — Fort Mackinac & the Grand HotelThe Grand Hotel up on the bluff, all white columns and long porches.

Fort Mackinac & the Grand Hotel — Fort Mackinac & the Grand HotelFort Mackinac on the hill, cannons still pointed out at the water.

Fort Mackinac & the Grand Hotel — Fort Mackinac & the Grand HotelSugar Loaf rising out of the woods, a giant of weathered stone.

Fort Mackinac & the Grand Hotel — Fort Mackinac & the Grand HotelThe harbor full of masts, the town wrapped around the water.

Fort Mackinac & the Grand Hotel — Fort Mackinac & the Grand HotelStorm light over the lake, the kind that makes you stop walking.

Fort Mackinac & the Grand Hotel — Fort Mackinac & the Grand HotelQuiet cedar roads and the smell of fudge somewhere on the breeze.

Fort Mackinac & the Grand Hotel — Fort Mackinac & the Grand HotelMackinac Island, where the cars never came and the horses still rule.

Fort Mackinac & the Grand Hotel — Fort Mackinac & the Grand HotelLake Huron stretching out blue and endless under a big northern sky.

Arch Rock & the shoreline — Arch Rock & the shorelineThe Mackinac Bridge floating on the horizon between the peninsulas.

Arch Rock & the shoreline — Arch Rock & the shorelineOne of the island's old lighthouses standing watch over the Straits.

Arch Rock & the shoreline — Arch Rock & the shorelineVictorian porches, white railings, and not an engine in earshot.

Arch Rock & the shoreline — Arch Rock & the shorelineArch Rock framing the lake through a window of limestone.

Where we wandered