A step back in time

Ferry rounding the bay

This summer I had the privilege of visiting Mackinac Island for the first time. A small 3.8 square mile island sitting in Lake Huron between the upper and lower peninsulas of Michigan. For those of us not from the area it is interestingly pronounced mack-in-aw. A mistake I made a few times before I realized that the locals were not happy that I was butchering their island's name.

Mackinac Island, Michael Barera

Things are pretty tranquil on Mackinac Island, but it is no stranger to excitement. During the American Revolution it was home to a large British fort. Later during the War of 1812 two different battles were fought on its shores. Now the entire island is a National Historic Landmark. From the Victorian period onward it has mostly been a summer resort town. A quiet place on the water for those living in the surrounding areas to summer. To this day the entire island has banned motorized vehicles of any kind, with residents instead relying on horses and bikes.  Surrounded with horse drawn carriages and Victorian architecture. A step onto Mackinac's shores is almost a step back into time.

What struck me as most interesting though, is the island's heavy reliance on ferries to support their daily lives. Every hour on the dot ferries pull away from the docks of Mackinac and make their way out of the bay. In a single file line they pass by the lighthouse. Then in a shape resembling a spider's web they split off at full speed to their various destinations. It almost seems like they are all fleeing some great calamity. Yet like clockwork, 30 minutes later they return filled with more people and supplies. During the summer the ferries are the only tie the island has to the mainland. Anything from groceries to new washing machines, the ferries carry it all.

At the end of the summer season the island's horses return to the mainline to winter in some warm barn. The ferries take the 500 different horses on the island a few at a time, sharing space with their usual cargo. Once the horses have been returned to shore it is only a matter of time till the winter ice causes the ferries to return to the mainland as well. At this point the island is on their own until the ice hardens enough for snowmobiles to cross back and forth. Year round residents will get all of their supplies via snowmobile until the warmth of spring breaks apart the ice. Then once again, the ferries of Mackinac will sail again.

The docks of Mackinac Island hearken back to a different time. Filled with supplies being unloaded by boats and carted off to their owners. It is easy to imagine what the sea ports of old must have been like. A time when things were not only an Amazon click away. For now though the past lives on off the coast of Michigan on sleepy Mackinac Island.