Aishling the Airstream Update No. 81

Tee Pee Campground

Mackinaw City, Michigan

Buckle Up - this may be a long one...

From the internets: "A family owned private campground overlooking the Straits of Mackinac with spectacular views of the Mighty Mackinac Bridge, Mackinac Island, and Great Lakes Freighter traffic. We are just minutes from Mackinac Island Ferries, downtown Mackinaw City, public Beaches and Dunes, Dining, Shopping, State Historical Attractions, the retired Ice Breaker Mackinaw Maritime Museum... Day trips are easily planned to Mackinac Island, The Soo Locks, Tahquamenon Falls, Whitefish Point (Great Lakes Shipwreck Museum), Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore, Oswald's Bear Ranch and much more.

After we got set-up, we headed into Mackinaw City

and found it to be quite the tourist area [with all the standard tourist shops, lol.] Which I wasn't sad about when I found this $15 sweatshirt

and the temps were in the sixties...

[Photo taken at the campground beach.]

After we shopped around a bit and enjoyed dinner at a local place we stopped at this lighthouse... in a state park ...right in the city.

The Mackinac Bridge is the focal point of every view...

And it's pretty awesome!

WE learned it takes about 7 years to paint it and when it's finished...

It's time to start painting again. Whew.

The beaches of Lake Huron are pretty

with smooth pebbles leading into the water....

We enjoyed walking the shore along for a bit.

But we headed back to the campground so we could get a good spot on the campground beach to watch the Saturday night fireworks over the bridge.

Pretty cool!

The bridge is always center-stage -

The next day we hoped on the ferry to head to Mackinac Island - we took the one that went under the bridge... full of historical narrative and we sailed through Lake Huron AND Lake Michigan.

Our view as we arrived on island -

We were early and a little ahead of many tourists,

so it was nice to see the streets uncrowded...

We had a little fun playing around with a video while we had room to move around. [It was MUCH more crowded as the day went on...]

Only horse drawn carriages and bikes are allowed.

We walked up abd down MAin Street before taking a 'taxi' out to Mission Point

where we enjoyed a wonderful breakfast ...

Sitting OUTSIDE... in long sleeves... in AUGUST...

Looking out over The Great Lawn as swimmers ended

their swim AROUND the island.

Next in our plan was The Grand Hotel -

But first can we talk about the beautiful flowers

that were everywhere?

ALL OVER THE ISLAND.

SO GORGEOUS.

I haven't seen beds of hollyhock in years [and years].

... made me think of my Mama M.

The Grand is exceptional.

[There were lots of people in this photo

that I had to erase - just sayin'.]

We didn't pay to go in and see the lobby and instead

enjoyed sitting on the veranda for a bit,

people watching and seeing this beautiful view...

It really is a beautiful island.

We walked back down to Main Street - taking a different route to see more of the awesome churches on the island [the oldest was built in 1829!]

It had warmed up a bit during the day, so the ferry ride was nice and cool...

The two light houses were pretty!

When we got back, our campground was virtually empty.

We took a drive over to Cheboygan to pick up a few things at WalMart [thrift shopped a little too - ha] and had dinner from the fridge [including fresh corn]

YUM.

The next morning we said goodbye to the TeePee Camp