Alaska 2016: Mackinaw City

After a nice breakfast at the Galley, we headed back across the bridge to see what Mackinaw City had to offer. Before I say anything else about this area, I want to explain that I do not randomly misspell the names of these places. They are spelled either "Mackinaw" or "Mackinac", but they are all pronounced "Mackinaw". It all has to do with the the different French and English interpretations of the Native American name of the area, and it is very confusing until someone explains that you only have to worry about one pronunciation.

Our first stop in Mackinaw City was the Old Mackinac Point Lighthouse. Although it is no longer in use, it led a long and useful life guiding ships through the dangerous Mackinac Straights.

The lighthouse keeper and his family lived in one side of the house while his assistant and family lived in the other side. Climbing the tower involved 51 steps, an 8 foot ladder, and a relatively small opening to crawl through. Our guide did this in a long woolen skirt!

At the top of the tower with our guide.

Jackie and David enjoying the view from the top of the tower.

View from the top of the lighthouse tower.

The Mackinac Bridge is beautiful from every viewpoint.

The large red and white ship is the Coast Guard Cutter Icebreaker, Mackinaw. Steve and David toured the boat and learned much about how this type of ship is used to break up the ice on the Great Lakes. While they were there, Sarah and Jackie enjoyed visiting the only multistory Starbucks we have ever seen.