July 17
Today we were docked just off Mackinac Island. We were up early and opened the "balcony" window and listened to the water rush by while we drank our coffee. We had to be downstairs by 8:30 to get a pair of pants....WHAAATTT????? Yes, we had to pick up a pair of water-proof pants for the days (beginning tomorrow) that we will be out on the water on the Exploration boats and Zodiac boats. Then we went to a submarine orientation meeting so we would be able to book a trip down below the water to a depth of between 100 to 250 feet!
More on that when we get our booking. We then had a little time to return to the room (well, Kim went to the gym for a half hour) and then we were off the ship onto a tender to take a short ten minute ride to the dock on the island where we were met by our guides. We were then led to our first of several horse-carriage transportation "cabs." By the way, did you know motorized vehicles are prohibited from the island and because of that, during the season the horse population is about 500-600!
We headed to the Grand Hotel (see panoramic above) where we looked around before being escorted to the grand dining room, the Salle A Manger where we enjoyed a delicious lunch (as part of the tour) and then we walked up past some amazing homes which overlooked the water.
We got an excellent view of our ship, the Viking Octantis, from our vantage point as well. We boarded another horse-drawn carriage and took a tour through the state park with the highlights being the Rock Arch and Fort Mackinac. The Native American legend surrounding the arch bears repeating......many moons ago a princess was told by her father the chief that it was time to marry. She did not care for any of the braves from her tribe. When told she would be introduced to braves from another tribe she was less than happy. Then a god from heaven appeared to her and told her he'd been watching her for years, was in love with her and would take her to heaven and make her his wife. When she told her father the chief this he was not happy. He had her tied up and placed on top of the rock formation for three days after which she would meet the braves from the local tribe. She cried and cried the entire three days and her tears, the legend goes, eroded the rock and formed the arch AND a portal to heaven. The god appeared, and took her away to be his eternal bride!
We ate dinner tonight in "The Restaurant" - which unlike other cruise ships you need to make reservations to eat there. Had a wonderful meal of lobster and scallops (with wine). Then we walked the upper deck as the sun set on another fabulous day. Note these photos below were taken at 9:30 pm! Hard to believe for us Florida kids that it would still be that light at that hour!!!
No comments:
Post a Comment