as I said we came over on the 9AM ferry. There are no cars on the island. You rent a bike or take a horse drawn taxi or walk. We strolled the shopping area and then caught a taxi and went up to the Grand Hotel.

You half expect to bump into Zelda and F. Scott martini in had in one of the hotel bars.

This hotel truly is grand they have 385 rooms and none are the same. Go here for more hotel history. Here are photos of the rooms and rates.

If you are not staying in the hotel you are charged $10 to hang out there. Apparently this is to keep the amount of tourists in check. I had always wanted to see this hotel and am glad I did.

We did not stay overnight on the island and that was about the right amount of time for us. If you are interested in nature or more historical things I would suggest staying longer and renting bikes. It is not a large island, just 8.2 miles to ride around it. You can stop along the way and see other things that you cannot see unless you hire a private taxi.

We did get to leave the Grand Hotel in style in this original 125 year old Grand Hotel horse drawn carriage. We were delivered back to the harbor and caught the 3PM ferry back to St. Ignace. From there we crossed the 5 mile bridge and headed on to Traverse City. On the way we went through the charming towns of Petoskey and Charlevoix. If we had more time we would have done some exploring. In Petosky the beach/harbor is just 100 steps from 100 shops and galleries of their Gaslight District. Charlevoix boutiques also are long the waterfront. But we were watching the weather and decided to go a little further than planned as the end of the week looked like rain.

If you want the vintage looking postcard at the top check out Minds Eye Design.