We made it to Mackinaw City in just under four hours with one quick rest stop visit for a bathroom break. We were an hour early for checking in so we went to Biere de Mac Brew Works for a celebratory beer and lunch. The beer and food were both delicious! I had this awesome cheesesteak sandwich on Naan bread and it was amazing with their homemade chips. The blueberry wheat beer was also very good.
Check-in was a breeze at this resort. We picked up a bundle of firewood and some ice for the cooler and headed to our site. We had a lakeview tent site next to the Kelley family, while the Helton family chose to do a small cabin not far from us. Our tent site was awesome! It had a small little area in the woods that was perfect for moving the other picnic table over, stringing some lights through the trees, and hanging up the hammock. We were set up in an hour and a half while Avery took the boys just across the street to the lake.
We put our suits on and walked down the road a bit to get to the bridge view area to swim in Lake Huron. I'm not sure this was a swimming area since it was pretty rocky, but the boys loved it! And they were much more brave going in without shoes on the rocks than me.
On our way back to the campsite to make dinner, we stopped at the actual "beach" area which had a pier to walk down and kids were jumping off the end. Of course the boys had to join in! Fearless...
Dinner was hamburgers and hot dogs on the charcoal grill, chips, fruit, and veggies. The kids saw the fire truck cruising around after we finished dinner, so I went on with the boys and Jameson. It was cool because we got to get a feel for the layout of the campground since it did the entire way through. When we got back, Tim was taking a snooze, the fire was going, and the boys decided to color and play back by the beach.
We walked back down to the spot we were at earlier with the bridge view to watch the sunset and to watch Mackinaw City set off fireworks. The city does them on Friday nights in the summer and St. Ignace does them Saturday nights. It was a really fun first night!
I did a bit of stargazing and attempting to shoot the Milky Way from the beach across from our site while others enjoyed having adult beverages by the fire.
Saturday morning came quick. I was up on and off all night getting adjusted to the sounds (like coyotes at one point...). It didn't help that we saw three skunks on the way to the bathrooms at midnight. I finally gave in and got up at 7am and I was glad I did. The sunrise was beautiful! And the campground was so quiet...except for the seagulls.
Scott made breakfast on our new camp stove. Eggs and hashbrowns to start our day! The boys had cereal, donut holes, and strawberries. And then we spend the entire day at the campground. We rotated between the pool, the beach, the pier jumping in, and back to our site. For lunch, we grilled the extra burgers from the night before for the adults and the kids had sandwiches (lunch meat or peanut butter and honey). It was a beautiful day weather-wise!
Dinner was pretty low-key. The boys got a slice of pizza from the store on the campground and had fruit and veggies with it. Scott and I had our taco salad that I prepped at home. Of course there was a fire with s'mores! The kids danced and flossed until it was pretty late. We put them to bed and walked across the street to the beach to do more stargazing and saw so many meteors shoot across the sky! I got real lucky with my first picture I took.
Sunday morning we woke up and made pancakes and bacon on the stove. I even crushed up a Hershey bar to add into the boys' pancakes and brought blueberries from home for ours. Fancy! We got ready pretty quickly and met up with the Helton family to take the shuttle over to Star Line. It was Mackinac Island day! Everything went so smoothly from the shuttle to the ferry to the island. We just kept lucking out with our timing. And as we docked, we parked right next to a cruise ship!
Last time we were on the island we biked the 8.2 miles, saw Arch Rock, and then took the horse drawn tour too. This time, I knew I wanted to simplify it. The boys wanted to see the fort, so that was our activity. We did lunch at the Pink Pony, let them shop up and down Main Street, buy fudge and then we were back on the ferry to go back. It was a fun day and I ran into a coworker! Small world...
We got lucky once again with getting into Pink Pony with no wait. I think with so many schools in session outside of Michigan, it wasn't as busy as it would have been earlier in the summer. At least that's my theory. I had a delicious french dip sandwich and a yummy Soft Parade. Sean was brave and tried the spaghetti!
Once we got back, the kids were anxious to cool off at the beach so over to the lake we went! And then the pool...Dinner was simple. Peanut butter and honey sandwiches for the kids and the adults just munched considering we were still full from lunch and ice cream on the island.
It was our friends' last night as they were both leaving Monday morning so we let the kids all stay up to watch the meteor shower again. I kept them busy by making camp necklaces out of twine, wood circles, paint, and beads. They danced some more, we ate s'mores again, and finally the show began!
Monday morning was another beautiful sunrise! We got ready quickly and just gave the kids some cereal before hitting the road for the UP. Our plans were to go to Tahquamenon Falls and the Soo Locks in Sault Saint Marie. Our friends had to pack up and head home so we figured it best if we got out of the way. We made a stop in the Burger King drive-thru for breakfast and then it was time to cross the bridge! It was my first time going over it and let's just say I'm glad Scott was driving...
It was an hour and a half drive from our campsite and I'm glad we had gas and food before crossing the bridge because once we got past St. Ignace, there was a whole bunch of nothing for miles. And once we got into the state park, my reception was gone. Gives you perspective, that's for sure. We started with the lower falls and it was very impressive! The boys loved the gift shop, of course.
The upper falls were much more busy, but man, it is really something to see! The boys got to be a bit bored, but I made them suck it up and enjoy it. We drove an hour and a half for this!
We grabbed lunch at the Tahquamenon Falls brewery and to be honest, it was very disappointing. The beer and the food were both underwhelming. But, the ambiance inside the restaurant was very cool and Evan liked his food! The boys pressed a penny, did some more gift shopping, and then it was time to move on. I thought we would go on to the Soo Locks, but the boys were adamant about going back to the camp. I was able to convince them to stop in Paradise to put our feet in Lake Superior and it was very fun and not as cold as I thought it would be. I'm sure that's because we were technically in a bay area, but still.
Fueled up, back over the bridge, a stop for fudge in Mackinaw City (it was a gift this time...), and then we were back to the campsite to be disappointed that our friends had gone home and we were on our own. The boys wanted to go to the beach so we did that for a short while, but our rhythm was off without our friends. We grilled sandwiches in the hobo pie maker for dinner and let the kids make s'mores for the last time. We waited for the fire truck, but it was full every time. So, we did stories by the fire and gave the boys some much deserved iPad time. And then it was bedtime! I think we all appreciated a quieter night and an earlier bedtime.
In the morning we slept in later than we had the whole time and got up to pack and hit the road to head home. The boys had a reward of a freshly made donut from the shop and got to pick one last souvenir. We stopped in West Branch for lunch at Big Boy, which was delicious (soup and salad bar - yes!). And just like that, our camping trip for the summer was over and we were left with great memories and stories to share with our neighbors until we can do it all again somewhere new next summer!
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