Wednesday, July 1, 2009
Mackinaw Mill Creek CG, Mackinaw City, MI: June 5-7
First, a quick primer on the difference in pronunciation of "mackinaw" & "mackinac" -- there isn't any. They are both pronounced "mackinaw"; in fact, the only mackinaws you will encounter are in Mackinaw City, which is the British spelling. Mackinac is French, a shortening of Michilimackinac (who wouldn't?!), the French fort built here in 1715, and is prevalent from the Mackinac Bridge north -- the Upper Peninsula (UP), in other words, since the bridge is the only link between Michigan's Upper & Lower Peninsulas. Michilimackinac was the Native American word for "Great Turtle", which is what the island represented in their history. The Mackinac Bridge, incidentally, is truly an engineering marvel, and many tourists come to this area solely to view it. Built between 1954 & 1957, it is still the longest suspension bridge in the world, over 2000 feet longer than the Golden Gate. Before its opening in 1957, the only way to get between the peninsulas in a car was by ferry or via Wisconsin. The toll is $3 for a passenger car and $6 for our truck & trailer -- quite reasonable we thought.
We chose this campground as a compromise between cost & convenience -- we could have stayed closer to Mackinaw City but paid a lot more. Mill Creek CG is huge -- over 400 sites, laid out in a somewhat confusing fashion, but the sites are large & it has a good (all-important) view of the bridge & Lake Huron. The advertised wifi was nonexistent (this is a frequent occurrence) -- some pay-to-connect company was installing new equipment & service was supposedly available at the office, but that didn't work either.
We drove to Wilderness Point in Wilderness State Park on Lake Michigan, where the soil was much wetter than we were expecting, basically a bog, but the wildflowers were lovely & the scenery was terrific. On the way back we hugged the shoreline, using our GPS to explore various roadways, and found one that opened up on a breath-taking view of the Mackinac Bridge. The next day we kicked around Mackinaw City, reading up on the history of the area, asking people about things to do, walking the lakeshore pathways, and purchasing the requisite pasties & fudge.
We chose this campground as a compromise between cost & convenience -- we could have stayed closer to Mackinaw City but paid a lot more. Mill Creek CG is huge -- over 400 sites, laid out in a somewhat confusing fashion, but the sites are large & it has a good (all-important) view of the bridge & Lake Huron. The advertised wifi was nonexistent (this is a frequent occurrence) -- some pay-to-connect company was installing new equipment & service was supposedly available at the office, but that didn't work either.
We drove to Wilderness Point in Wilderness State Park on Lake Michigan, where the soil was much wetter than we were expecting, basically a bog, but the wildflowers were lovely & the scenery was terrific. On the way back we hugged the shoreline, using our GPS to explore various roadways, and found one that opened up on a breath-taking view of the Mackinac Bridge. The next day we kicked around Mackinaw City, reading up on the history of the area, asking people about things to do, walking the lakeshore pathways, and purchasing the requisite pasties & fudge.
# posted by Doug and Willie @ 9:01 PM 
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