Mackinac Island and Book #13

I absolutely loved the horses.

A view from Fort Mackinac, including the Mackinac Bridge in the distance.

Our very Victorian bed and breakfast, The Inn on Mackinac.

A week ago at this time Keith and I were making the uphill trek to Fort Mackinac for a fresh deposit of colonial fur trade and War of 1812 data into our knowledge bank. Our much-needed and long-awaited getaway began last Thursday when we had delicious stuffed pork chops for dinner at my parents-because I hate cooking the night before a road trip-bathed the boys in GaGa's tub, put them to bed and headed back home to do some last-minute packing and enjoy a nice fire in the backyard, just the two of us! Friday morning we said one last good-bye to the boys and we were on our way to Mackinac!

This was my first trip to northern Michigan. Keith, being a native, had been there several times. The ride was nice and uneventful, and a little longer than I expected (9 hours). The whole process of parking our car at the dock, catching the ferry, and then getting a porter to take our luggage to our bed and breakfast was seamless. Though, I must admit that in my old age I do not like boat rides! The ferry was 16 minutes long, which was fine, I just don't like boat rides anymore. They make me queasy. We arrived around dinner time, unpacked, freshened up, and took a stroll down Main St. to find some sustenance.

The whole island is so adorably quaint. No vehicles allowed, so all trasportation is done on foot, bicycle, or horse and carriage! The purpose of the trip was to celebrate both our 3-year anniversary-and there's a little inside joke to that reason-and our birthdays which both fall in July. We were there the entire weekend, cathching the first ferry off of the island Monday morning, and by that time I really wanted to get back to the boys anyway.

We went to Fort Mackinac, the McGulphin House, Biddle House, Blacksmith's Shop, Beaumont Museum, Mission Bark Chapel, and another old church (that I can't remember the name of!) all Saturday morning. The Biddle House was my favorite of all because the young ladies working inside could actually show me how to use the spindle to make yarn out of wool, how to crush corn for cornmeal, and how to cook on an open hearth, like Little House on the Prairie! I enjoy learning about how people did the practical things like cooking before the industrial revolution.

I knew there would obviously be a lot of walking on this trip, but I was not prepared for how my body, at 27 weeks pregnant, would handle all of the walking! I've never had such low-back aches before! So we decided to do the carriage tour around the island that afternoon. One of my favorite things about that was how the tour guide would identify all of the wildflowers we passed along the pathway. I'm into that kind of thing.

Sunday, my birthday, we decided to rent bikes and see the entire perimeter of the island. This was definitely my second-favorite activity of the weekend. The perimeter of the island is entirely flat so it was a very easy trek, and I had no back pain because I was sitting! We had the bikes for 2 hours, going around the island twice for a total of 16.4 miles. I know that sounds like a lot, but when you're biking on flat land, it really isn't that difficult at all. Only one minor event...I fell off of my bike! I was trying to change gears and apparently I wasn't doing it correctly. Well, my chain fell right off, the bike stopped dead, and I promptly fell directly off of it! Fortunately I landed quite plainly on my side, not my stomach, and I only sustained a couple of scrapes and a bruised thumb.

After lunch we saw more sights on foot, including the Butterfly House and Fort Holmes, which is the highest point on the island. Each evening, after dinner, we wandered in and out of a few shops, but always ended up at an ice cream shop! In addition, our bed and breakfast served chocolate chip cookies at bedtime, and always had coffee, tea, and hot cocoa available in the lobby. So after we waddled back to our room each night we enjoyed a hot beverage of some sort and cookies. There was also a spa pool, which can be most accurately likened to an oversized jacuzzi only the water isn't as hot, which felt wonderful on my aching back every night. Of course, Sunday evening we had to buy 2 1/2 pounds of fudge too (some for us, some for my mother) as this is one of the main things Mackinac Island is famous for!

While there, I decided to take a break from non-fiction and re ad something totally mindless and entertaining. That's how I ended up with Book #13, The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams. You don't have to be a fan of sci-fi to appreciate this kind of light humor! My favorite character by far is Marvin the depressed robot. Now this is the first of six books in The Ultimate Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy. The next one is The Restaurant at the End of the Universe. This morning, however, I began Writing From Home by Susan Richman. This is a collection of writings by homeschooled students. I'm well into the second chapter and so far it's wonderful! It makes me even more excited about homeschooling.

Finally, I will leave you with a few quick notes about what's been going on in our home lately. I am about to enter my 3rd trimester. We are just now beginning to work on the spare room, making it into Josiah's room. I will also have to somehow make the nursery gender-neutral as I have no idea what I'm having this time and wouldn't be at all surprised whether it's a boy or a girl. What I mean is I have absolutely no inclination as to what I'm having. Josiah said the word "go" last Tuesday. He also began saying "ball" while we were away last weekend. Isaac has suddenly found an interest in drawing with his markers, and it just warms my heart to watch him scribble and name all of his colors out loud. Both of my boys are so amazing.