I'm Home.... !

[JoGee]

It was a great anniversary vacation on the 13th-15th at the Grand Hotel of Macinac Island. (If you saw the movie "Somewhere in Time", that's the place.)
We weren't aware it was a theme weekend of "The Titanic", and many people came with period costumes and relived the movie, down to it's last 11-course dinner.
On the 13th it was overcast, and taking the ferry made the winds feel like sheets of ice. On the 14th, it was raining most of the day, and I hadn't shaken the chill yet, so we amused ourselves indoors. In the shops, mostly. Macinac Fudge, toys, books, teas, lotions, candies, clothes (only in small-lady sizes), jewelry, and much more.

The porch is 660 ft long, and there are 100 outdoor chairs with 50 side tables down the length of it, plus a very large chess set on rubber floor tiles. There
are 385 rooms, all decorated very differently. Some people went around asking to look at rooms. We had a beautiful suite that they could only ooh and ahh at. You enter our room and go down a hallway, and at the end you see a white dresser, white piano, and a chiffarobe. (sp?) The hall goes the length of the bathroom. Between the piano and chiffarobe is the entrance to the rest of our room, where there are two round stairs in dark green. You see the king bed to the right, a table to the left (if we want to eat in the room). Beyond are a couch, coffee table, and 4 comfy chairs. Behind that is a small white bar/fridge.
The room is situated at a "round corner" at the end of the hotel, facing front and side; there are 4 windows behind the sitting area, 4 more windows on the bedroom side, and 1 window to give light to the hallway. Beautiful views.

On the 15th it was sunny out, finally. We took the horse and buggy tour of the island. So beautiful.

The only authorized motor vehicle on the island is their fire truck.
They have 400 horses on the island at any one time; some to pull carts and carriages, some for personal renting.
There are plenty of bicycles for rent as well.

As for wildflowers and island plants, if you pick it you will be fined $500-$1,000 each... or more.

[JoGee]

The rest of the week we visited. The first few days with E's brother. He's looking very well, but very weak. E said he didn't expect to live out the year. We'll see.
The next day I had food poisoning and ached too much to leave the bed. Slept most of the day. E did a little grocery shopping for us, a little laundry that we had, then went and made some electronic adjustments and repairs his brother needed done.
The following day I wasn't hurting so bad, so I went and visited them with him.

Friday the sun was out and we visited my aunt who was looking really lovely, but has become frail. Hard for her to stay awake more than 2 hours. She showed me a hernia on her stomach that the doc said was on her aorta vein. We took her to lunch and bought her some groceries. The $24 tab was only $12 dollars with customer-card sales. Today she had a doctor's appointment, so I want to call and see what he had to say.

Saturday was partly sunny. I forgot how beautifully green Michigan is. My brother was busy moving so we only saw him for the evening. It was very good to see him.
Do you remember I said he lost his house to the bank, as many there have? Well, his son's girlfriend works in titles. She got him legally back into the house for 3 months, free. In about 6 months the house will belong to him again.

I am tired of airplanes. In the course of 10 days, we flew from Tucson to Dallas, Dallas to Detroit, and Detroit to near Macinac. Then returning, we flew from Macinac back to Detroit. After visits, we flew from Detroit, to Dallas, to Tucson again. I hope E is getting travel miles.

But overall, and despite all the overcast and rainy days, it was a great vacation.

[Nalani]

Jo, it sounds like a dream vacation. I've only seen pictures of that hotel and the beautiful porch with the chairs. Was the weather ever nice enough to sit out and rock in them?

[JoGee]

A few people did - only a handful, who could brave the weather without coats.
I was going to, but went right back inside. The one sunny day, about 63 degrees eventually, was when we were touring the island and the island shops.
Most of the weather was 50 degrees, but there was always winds on the island. You were always near the shores.

Oh, I forgot to mention... The Grand Dining Room!
Breakfast: you could go to the self-serve stations for a basic continental breakfast, including scrambled eggs and turkey sausage. Or you could order from the menu, which we did.

Lunch a/k/a The Grand Luncheon: 60 feet of food stations, hot foods, cold foods, fruits, and 2 stations of desserts. $30 per person, but very tasty foods. Most people were very slow, or stopped, in the lines. I was one of the few people who didn't stay in line, but moving to other stations, and when someone moved would quickly take what we wanted with a polite "excuse me please", and kept moving. Those who didn't would have cold hot food or warm cold food when they reached their tables.

Dinner: Menus only. 5 course meals. Choose one item from each section on the menu. Gourmet, at that. I got to where I would take the sparkling juice only from Appetizers, take either a soup or salad or neither, and pick one of the entrees. I might or might not have the dessert. I liked their coffee better than the teas they offered.
Wine is separate, $10+ a glass. A tall wineglass with about 2" of wine in it.

[jostoy]

I have been to the Island once. The Lilac "trees" were in bloom and the smell of them was so wonderful. I didn't stay over night for obvious reasons. Instead we stayed in a motel about a block from where you board the ferry. The Grand Hotel is even prettier in person in my opinion.

Glad you had a nice time after the food poisoning. Always something to spoil your time JoGee.

[ladyebug]

Despite your bout of food poisoning, it sounds like you had a beautiful anniversary vacation, Jo. Do you have any idea what made you sick?

I love your descriptions of everything. No wonder it's called The Grand. Wow!
Did your suite have a name?

Glad you are back home.

[JoGee]

I am not sure what made me sick. We ate those meals at Bob Evans'.
None of the food tasted bad. Generally, if anything tastes "off", I quit eating it.
E seems to have reason to think it was the hygiene of the workers. The restaurant was short-handed that second time, the waitresses disgruntled "doing two jobs". One waitress reached from behind my booth seat to drop (or toss?) a plate of French toast in front of me. It was not hot. Nor were my eggs.

When I felt better, I did look up my symptoms, and food poisoning fit the bill. We never returned to that restaurant.

We were in the Woodhill Suite, right next to the (Jane Seymore Suite). The suite names apparently came from the people who paid for the suite's decor. Mr. Woodhill apparently had much to do with helping to fund and create the hotel. The hotel and the entire island are an enduring experience.

I was surprised no lilacs were in bloom yet, but I guess the winter has been long and cold. However, lower in the states where people's lilac bushes were planted them in clusters were in full bloom.

[BarbCA]

Sounds like a wonderful trip despite sick day. Would love to see it but it probably won't happen.