Friday July 13, 2018

Friday July 13, 2018

Blog being written on Monday July 16, 1100, sitting at Panera

I am a little behind on my blogs.  It rained in Gaylord on the morning of July 13.  Yes it is Friday the 13th.  I forgot to buy a lottery ticket.  Bummer!

Today we are going to Mackinaw Island.  Breakfast at the Hampton Inn and then we headed to Helen’s place.  We took two cars for our short trip to Mackinac to catch the ferry to MI.  In our Escape were Nancy, sister Helen, nephew Jason Crandall and Jenner’s daughter Paige.  Shirley Short drove her rental van and she had all the kids, 5, and her daughter Hanna.

Slight screw up with electronic tickets so our group missed the ferry.  Luckily the ferries run every fifteen minutes.  We walked around the island and visited a butterfly house and then walked through downtown stopping at several fudge shops.  

We walked to the Grand Hotel so we could take a group picture with the hotel in the background.  Had lunch at a nice restaurant near the hotel.  We sat outside.  We were lucky.  It was cloudy but no rain.

After lunch we took the ferry back to the main land.  I love MI and hope in the near future to be able to take my bike and spend several days riding around the island.  

At the entrance to the MI harbor is a small Statue of Liberty replica.  The statue was dedicated on Memorial Day in 1950.  I know because I was there.  I was with my Boy Scout troop from Alpena.  We spent several day on the Island.  We slept in tents pitched inside the fort.  One of my favorite Boy Scout memories.

The drive back to Gaylord was uneventful.  This evening Jerry attended his 50th High School reunion.  Helen and Donald also attended because they were faculty members.  The rest had dinner at the Alpine Bar a local favorite.  We sat outside and we did encounter some rain but we had umbrellas.

About 2000 Nancy and I headed back to the hotel.  The rest attended a concert.  A great 13th.