The Holidays Arrive on Mackinac Island

If you%26#39;ve never spent the holidays on the island, perhaps this is the year! Their annual tradition of placing a Christmas Tree on Main Street continues (you can check it out at www.hornsbar.com) as the island becomes a quiet winter wonderland.

The Arnold Line is still providing ferry service at present, though that usually ends in January when the Straits freeze. You can then travel to the island via snowmobile or by air service from St. Ignace (just be sure to call the taxi service in advance to let them know you%26#39;re arriving).

While there are only a handful of restaurants and businesses open, you get to see the island at a wonderful time of year - and the pictures make it even more memorable!

I spent New Years on the island a few years ago - any of you have memorable winter visits?

The Holidays Arrive on Mackinac Island

We went once in the winter several years ago. I would love to snowmobile across, but that will never happen with my TX born and bred DH. LOL. He has looked at that crossing in the winter, and says: NEVER! FORGET IT!

We had a very nice time. We basically just walked around to just about every point we wanted to see. IT was a beautiful weekend, with highs in the 30%26#39;s, no wind, sunny. We had a picnic lunch on one of the porches of one of the huge summer homes (no, I won%26#39;t name it)and sat there admiring the view of the Mackinac Bridge, the Straits frozen in their glory, snowmobiles zipping along the ice (though we couldn%26#39;t always see them, we could hear them). Mostly it was very quiet (it was not on of the summer homes on the street west of the Grand Hotel), where we could listen to the wind, and the occasional brave bird..lol. We also took a taxi ride back to the airport (we walked dragging our stuff from the airport into town on a sled, when we arrived), and this particular driver took us to a couple of places we had wanted to see. I am not sure if that was actually allowed or not, but we tipped him well.

It is a unique experience and I highly recommend it to anyone who has been there in summer. You don%26#39;t have to go out all that far from town to enjoy the beauty of the island in winter.

The Holidays Arrive on Mackinac Island

Tymetraveler222, that sounds wonderful, especially with reasonable temperatures! I took my first snowmobile ride on the island (I%26#39;m originally from Florida), so I had some fun memories as well. Winter is certainly a great time to explore the island. Happy Holidays!

Happy Holidays to you, too, AtlantaPhotog! It is a special place. I bet you had a blast riding a snowmobile for the first time, especially being from FL originally! Glad you had a grand time.