Upper to Lower Peninsula (St. Ignace to Mackinaw City, Michigan)

After a brief weather delay in St. Ignace, we sailed off to Mackinaw City on Wednesday, September 5. By the time we left St. Ignace, the marina had cleared out pretty quickly. There were about ten boats and four otters left. And, for the record, the otters didn't seem too happy to have to share the marina with the ten boats. The big one snorted at us when we walked by. (I think it was a snort -- it could have been a growl.)

I know that was a while ago. Why haven't we posted anything since then? No, we weren't still recovering from the Bridge Walk. Really we just had a very spotty and nearly non-existent internet connection. And we couldn't find a free WIFI place in town.We're going to try to catch up as we're now in Petoskey.

A Stroll over the Bridge ... Episode 2

When last we left our cruising couple, they'd just walked over the 5 mile long Mackinac Bridge, had cinnamon rolls and coffee, and went in search of the buses that would take them back to St. Ignace.

We got directions to the bus loading area and, at 9:30am, happily walked off to the buses. That's when we saw it.

THE LINE.

Just to be sure, we asked one of the line-standers if this was the line for the buses. "Yes", we were told, "THE LINE goes back there." There was a vague pointing in the other direction. So we walked toward the back of THE LINE. And walked. And walked. And walked. We thought we had found the end of THE LINE and that there was another line further over for something else. Only to discover that the "other line further over" was just THE LINE, snaking around a cul de sac.

So we started standing in THE LINE at 10:00.


More people kept coming. Expressing dismayed faces and asking "Are you absolutely, positively sure that they won't let us walk back over the bridge?" Every time a car or truck went by, someone in the crowd would offer to pay the driver to take them back over the bridge. We considered the ferry but the ferries weren't running from Mackinaw City to St. Ignace. We'd have to go to Mackinac Island and then catch another ferry to St. Ignace.

Here is THE LINE at 11:00.


The people in THE LINE were all in jovial moods and it was a beautiful day so it wasn't bad for us. Some of the people in THE LINE were waiting to catch the bus to St. Ignace to start the walk. Initially, no one was going to be able to start the Bridge Walk after 11:30. An announcement was then made that the Bridge Authority would keep the Walk going until everyone who wanted to walk had done so. That was really nice of them and another indication of how much the Bridge means to Michiganders. Although the cynical among us may think that decision had something to do with the Governor being there and an upcoming election year.

Here is THE LINE at 12:00. Our section of THE LINE was now able to see the buses in the distance ahead. A cheer went up!


This wonderful woman sold us our bus tickets at 1:00.


No wonder it took so long, there were over 6 million people crossing the Bridge and using the buses.

People are still walking over the Bridge at 2:00. They don't know, yet, that their adventure is just beginning.


We finally saw Meridian in the distance at 3:00.


WHEW! When we finally got back, we immediately went to the Marina Pub/St. Ignace Yacht Club and had a delicious Perch Basket lunch. And a Bell's Oberon Summer Ale. Later we had ice cream from Bentley's (We'd earned it!)

Some people at the Pub, who's experience was pretty similar to ours, said they heard that next year people will be able to walk both ways. We'd heard some people were grumbling about the wait because it had never been so lonnnnngggggg before. We had a fun time talking with our fellow line-standers -- it was all part of the adventure.

Happy 50th Birthday Big Mac!

They are saying on the news this morning that over 57,000 people participated in the Bridge Walk. I think they've skipped a "0" in there somewhere.

A Stroll Over The Bridge ... Episode 1

Somewhere along the way, we picked up a newspaper that mentioned the 50th Annual Mackinaw Bridge Labor Day Walk was scheduled for 7:00am on Monday, September 3. We hadn't really expected to be in this area on Labor Day so hadn't paid much attention to that. But, as things go, here it is Labor Day and here we are just steps from the starting point of the Bridge Walk - the Golden Anniversary Bridge Walk, no less.


The Marina was offering a shuttle to the starting point. So we got up early. (This might be a good time to mention that St. Ignace Marina is unlike any marina we've experienced so far. There is a lot of early morning activity. People are puttering around on their boats, reading, having coffee, chatting, walking, stretching after working out -- all before 7:00am. They are quiet about it but this is the most active marina we've been at. We feel like lazy bums when we get up at 6:30.) This particular morning, we saw an otter scampering around the dock, were asked if we were part of the media boat, and were asked by a frantic man what type of oil he should get for a boat he's on, in addition to greeting the regular morning marina putterers, walkers, and chatters.

The shuttle to the Bridge was uneventful. We met a group of fellow walkers who were from other parts of Michigan, one of whom has wanted to walk the bridge since he was a child and was doing it for the first time. The Bridge is beautiful at night. It is all lit up and twinkly but in a majestic way.




We had thought the Bridge Walk would be something similar to Chicago's "Bike the Drive" except free. You know, something that's neat to do since you can only do it once a year. It's really not. Michiganders really love this Bridge. They wear shirts and jackets that proudly display all the patches from every year they've walked. People come from all over just to do this: all ages, all races, in wheelchairs, in strollers. We saw a family that was all wearing shirts that proclaimed "My uncle/dad/husband/granddad built the bridge" hanging around the guy with the shirt that said "I built the bridge".

So we started the walk at about 7:20. We probably actually started at 7:10 but the first few minutes it is walk a few steps, stop, walk a few steps, stop. But we soon started moving along. They close two lanes for walkers and use the other two for cars and buses that are bringing people to the starting point (on St. Ignace) from Mackinaw City.

A lot of people walk the bridge. But a small group of people, selected by lottery, run at the front with the Governor. Another group - this year about 50 - swim the straits to raise money for charity.

For part of the walk, you can walk along the grated portion of the bridge. Here is an exciting action shot of our feet. The water is so clear that you can even see the underwater portion of the pylons that the bridge is built on. Other times, it's a cool design.

By about 8:30, we could see Mackinaw City in the distance. At about 9:00, we were crossing the finish line. We got our "I walked the Bridge" certificates and went over to the park next to the Bridge to watch the swimmers come in.

We went back to the Finish Line area, got our certificates stamped by the post office, had cinnamon rolls and coffee and went off in search of the buses to take us back to St. Ignace.

Tune in later for the next episode of "A Stroll Over the Bridge" where Bernie and Phil and, oh, about 100,000 other people, try to return to St. Ignace.

Just a Short Bike Ride in St. Ignace, Michigan

Upon our arrival in St. Ignace, the harbor master gave us a packet of information about the town, events, coupons for local businesses, and maps for the area. Pretty nice. One of the booklets included information on 6 different bike routes that you could take. A 5 mile, 10 mile, 15 mile, 20 mile, 30 mile and 40 mile route. So of course we picked the 40 mile route. This route would take us from the Lake Huron side of this county to the Lake Michigan side and back. It was all paved so it should be a breeze compared to some of the riding we've done.

Breeze being the operative word in that sentence.

It started out nice. We biked through the main street of St. Ignace and past some tourist spot called Castle Rock (which you can climb if you like that kind of exercise). There were several other bikers doing a ride. This was good because we didn't really have a clue where we were going (Bernie was leading). The route ran along a highway but there was a very wide shoulder, weren't too many cars, and the drivers that were out were very nice about sharing the road with bikers. The trees are beautiful in this area. Pines, cedars, spruce, elm, oak, maple. Some of their leaves are starting to change color.

As we continued on our route, the wind picked up more and more. But there were enough sheltered areas that we could ride well. We were undaunted by the time that we stopped for a snack break and the wind blew Phil's bike over (in his attempt to stop it, he tumbled down a soft grassy slope, too. (harumph - I was just demonstrating my acrobatic abilities.)


As we neared the Lake Michigan side, the wind picked up a lot. This area is part of the Hiawatha National Forest. We thought it looked a lot like the Cape Cod area with the crashing waves and sandy shore on one side and high sand dunes on the other. We don't often see a sign warning about sand on the road. The sandy beach stretches for miles right beside the road and there is no development here because of the National Forest. Many cars were parked along the road as people spent the day at the beach. This is a really popular area, and it's easy to see why.


But the views along the way were so spectacular that you really didn't notice how strong the wind was blowing. (Yea, right!)













By the time we got back, the townspeople were so happy to see us there was dancing in the street.

And Ice Cream at Bentley's was well-deserved!