Sightseeing around Gaylord

Today we went sightseeing around Gaylord. We stopped back by the Gaylord Visitor Center to take photos of the 1911 Gaylord 30 car.

From Gaylord, MI

After leaving the Visitor Center, Mike and Al decided they needed to find a bathroom and we remembered seeing a public restroom near there. We took photos of Mike and Al by the restroom and this was the beginning of Mike and Al’s “Outhouse Tour”.

From Mike and Al's Outhouse Tour

There is a “Walking Tour of Gaylord” and we had gotten a brochure at the Visitor Center. We took photos of Adm. Farragut’s cannon on the lawn of the City/County Building, the Buck House and the Kramer House.

From Gaylord, MI

The Otsego Wildlife Legacy Society launched a fundraiser called “The Owlpine Bear Trail”. Local businesses purchased and had local artists decorate these 4’ bears which are located around Gaylord. I had downloaded and printed the map of The Owlpine Bear Trail and we drove around taking photos of some of them.

From Gaylord, MI

On our drive around Gaylord locating the Owlpine Bears and local sights, we had driven by the Big Bear Delicatessen and decided to go back and have lunch there. We all had sandwiches and wished we could take the restaurant with us on our trip.

From Gaylord, MI

After lunch we stopped at Lowe’s, Radio Shack and Wal-Mart to do some shopping before returning to the campground.

After dinner we drove out to see the Elk herd the City of Gaylord maintains. I had called the Visitor Center yesterday and got directions to the herd. We could only see a few elk at the first place we went to, but I had gotten directions to the location where the city fed the elk and we drove over there. The elk were eating up next to the fence and we would see more out in the field.

From Gaylord, MI

After visiting the elk herd and before going back to the RVs, we decided to stop at Gobbler’s Restaurant to get some ice cream. Mike and Al each bought a box of oatmeal cookies to take home.

Mackinaw City, MI to Gaylord, MI

This morning we left Mackinaw Mill Creek RV Park at 10:30 a.m. and headed south on I-75. It’s only 65 miles from Mackinaw City to our next stop in Gaylord. We stopped at a rest area about 13 miles south of Mackinaw City for about 30 minutes so we could make some phone calls. Mike called Beaver Creek RV Resort in Gaylord to see if we could arrive earlier than the 3 p.m. check-in since we’ll be there about noon, but they said no since we were going to be there about 3 hours before check-in time.

We arrived at Wal-Mart Supercenter at Gaylord at 12:15 p.m. I made sandwiches and we ate lunch. After lunch I went into Wal-Mart to buy groceries. We left Wal-Mart a little after 2 p.m. and drove over to the Shell station on the corner and got gas in the RV ($2.919 gal). Then from the Shell station we drove the 5 miles out to Beaver Creek.

We arrived at Beaver Creek about 3 p.m. and checked in. We are staying here with our AOR campground membership ($10.56 a night). The owners were very helpful in telling us about Gaylord and what sights we should see. They recommended Gobbler’s Restaurant for a really good turkey dinner. They said we really had to visit the elk herd that the city of Gaylord maintains.

We are in site #39 with full hookups (50 amp). We have an asphalt pad (fairly level) and a view of the pond.

From Gaylord, MI

From Gaylord, MI

We’re waiting for our friends, Symphony and Al, to get here, so we’ll be here for 13 days. We called a dog groomer in Gaylord and made an appointment for Tinker on Thursday to be clipped and bathed.

I tried using our Verizon aircard and got a warning that I could be charged as much as $20.48 a Mb if I continued – ouch! I called Verizon and told them about the warning I had gotten when I tried to use the aircard. I told them where we were located and I was told that since we were so close to the Canadian border they couldn't guarantee whether I would be charged or not.
Tomorrow I’ll go up to the adult lounge to use their wifi service and catch up on email.

Mackinaw Trolley Tour and Colonial Michilimackinac

This morning we drove into Mackinaw City to go on the Mackinaw Trolley Tour. After purchasing our tickets ($18 each) we boarded the trolley. Our trolley driver was Chris and after telling us about the history of the area and about the sights we were going to visit, we started on our tour.

From Mackinaw City

Our tour started with the downtown area, the train and car ferry docks, Fort Michilimackinac and then to the Old Mackinac Point Lighthouse. The Old Mackinac Point Lighthouse was established in 1889 and the fog signal went into operation in 1890. The house and tower were completed in 1892. The lighthouse was closed in 1957 because the lights on the newly built Mackinac Bridge made the lighthouse unnecessary. Construction on the Mackinac Bridge began in 1954 and opened for traffic in 1957. The bridge is 5 miles long and the main towers are 552 feet above the water.

From Mackinaw City

We then drove across the Mackinac Bridge to St. Ignace to visit Father Marquette’s Mission and gravesite and the Ojibwa Museum. Father Jacques Marquette, a Jesuit priest, established a mission here in 1671 and lived in this area with the Huron Indians. In the Museum of Ojibwa Culture we saw displays of Ojibwa family life and art. The museum grounds are the oldest known historical site in Michigan.

From Mackinaw City

Our next stop on the tour was at Castle Rock. Castle Rock was the ancient lookout of the Ojbway Indians and rises almost 200 feet above lake level. Chris, our tour guide, asked who wanted to could climb the 170 steps up to Castle Rock. Mike and I and 3 young people entered through the gift shop and then outside to start our climb. We passed by statues of Paul Bunyan and Babe the Blue Ox. I have to admit 170 steps sounds like a lot, but about half way up it seemed more like double that. But once on top of Castle Rock the view was worth the climb. We could see Mackinac Island, Lake Huron and the Mackinac Bridge. After taking our photos we went down the 170 steps back to the gift shop where we received a sticker saying we had “Climbed Castle Rock”.

From Mackinaw City

Then it was back on to the trolley and the return trip to Mackinaw City. After the trolley tour we drove to the Pizza Palace for lunch. I ordered a 1/2 order of deep-fried pickles (large dill pickle spears dipped in batter and deep-fried) served with a ranch sauce – very unique and very good. I had the personal pizza and Mike had a 1/2 stacked turkey sandwich with a side salad – both very good. Then we went to Mackinaw Crossings outdoor mall to do some shopping. Then we drove over to Colonial Michilimackinac. On our way to the fort we saw Jerry and Sue (our neighbors at the campground) riding their bicycles and they invited us over tonight for a glass of wine.

At the Colonial Michilimackinac gift shop we purchased our tickets ($10.50 each). We watched a 13-minute film called Coming Together at Michilimackinac. After a short walk along the shore of Lake Michigan to the fort, we joined a guided tour of the reconstructed fort that was just beginning. Fort St. Philippe de Michilimackinac was constructed in 1715 by French soldiers and became the center for the fur trade of the Northwest. In 1761 the British took control of the fort after their conquest of French Canada. The fort was relocated to Mackinac Island in 1780 because the British feared an attack by American rebels.

From Mackinaw City

On our tour we saw the current archaeological dig and an archaeologist explained about the artifacts that they were finding. We also learned that the placement of the reconstructed buildings are in the exact location of the original buildings. Along our tour several interpreters explained about colonial life and the fur trade. After the tour we watched a demonstration of cannon firing and then headed back to the car. We stopped at the IGA for a few groceries and then stopped at fudge shop to buy some fudge before heading back to the RV.

After dinner we walked over to Jerry and Sue’s RV. During the “getting to know each other” conversation, Mike told them he had been a helicopter flight instructor at Ft. Rucker, Alabama. It turns out that Sue’s brother is Bob Meade and he had worked for the same company Mike had! What a small world!! We had a great time sitting around the campfire and visiting with Jerry and Sue tonight and their dog, Samantha.

Mackinac Island

Today is Mike’s 67th birthday and we celebrated it by going sightseeing. This morning we drove into Mackinaw City and parked at the Arnold Transit Ferry dock. We boarded the 9:30 ferry for Mackinac Island. We chose seats on the forward open deck of the catamaran.

From Mackinac Island

After about a 15 minute trip we reached the dock at Mackinac Island. The ticket booth for the Mackinac Island Carriage Tours was across the street from the docks and we purchased tickets ($23.50 each) for the 10:05 carriage tour.

We started out on a carriage pulled by 2 Percherons named Gunnar and Bob. Our route took us by some of the historic homes near the shopping area, The Grand Hotel (seen in the movie “Somewhere in Time”), the Little Stone Church and the carriage barns. We learned that there are about 400 carriage horses on the Island. The carriage horses are in teams of 2 or 3 and the teams are always kept together (even when they are in the stable or pasture) and are always harnessed in the same order. In the winter the horses are sent by ferry to the mainland where they spend the winter on farms. In the spring they return to the Island by ferry and are re-shod and examined before returning to work.

The first part of our tour ended at the Surry Hills Museum where there are gift shops, food vendors and historical carriages are on display. The Wings of Mackinac Butterfly Conservatory is also located there, but we didn’t visit it. After having some donuts and coffee, we boarded a carriage pulled by 3 Belgian horses to continue our tour. We rode past St. Anne’s Cemetery, the Post Cemetery, Skull Cave and over to Arch Rock where we got off the carriage to take photos.

From Mackinac Island

We continued on our carriage tour to Fort Mackinac where we left the carriage tour to visit the fort. We entered the fort along the Avenue of Flags where we were greeted by a U. S. Army re-enactor. We bought our tickets ($10.50 each) and entered the fort and visited the restored buildings. Fort Mackinac (originally named Fort Michilimackinac)was moved from the mainland (now Mackinaw City) to the Island in 1780 by the British. The Americans took control in 1796 and in July 1812 (War of 1812) the British captured the fort. After the War of 1812 the fort was returned to the U. S. and remained active until 1895. At 12:30 we attended the Drill and Rifle Firing on the Parade Field. The U. S. Army re-enactors had the spectators join them in practicing the drill maneuvers (no photos of us marching, sorry).

From Mackinac Island

After visiting the fort we walked down to the town and visited Marquette Park, Mission Bark Chapel, the McGulpin House and walked through the shopping area on Main (Huron) Street. We went back to the docks in time to board the 2 p.m. catamaran back to the mainland and Mackinaw City and back to the RV.