Michie's Grand Experience on Mackinac Island

After a quick swim across the Straits of Mackinac I arrived on Mackinac Island for my overnight at Grand Hotel.  Jeff and his beautiful horse drawn carriage picked me up and brought me right to the red-carpeted front porch steps of Grand Hotel.  Not that I couldn’t have swam the short ½ mile from the dock, but it sure was nice to get a ride.  Here on Mackinac there are no cars, you have to walk, ride bike, take a carriage, or in my case, swim to where you want to go.

At the front steps “Doorman Extraordinaire” Dondi greeted me and we chatted for a few minutes after he helped me depart my carriage.  I quickly realized that Dondi is the man to see when you need a ride from the hotel to anywhere on the island. 

Dondi told me of the many things I must see and do while at Grand Hotel, beginning with going to the very top of the hotel and visiting the Cupola Bar.  It was amazing, with its 180 degree view of the Straits and the Mackinac Bridge, and don’t even get me started on the delicious beverages.

Next I went to the Grand Luncheon Buffet.  Talk about delicious!  I did not know where to begin, so, I started in the logical place, the dessert section.  With cheesecake, and carrot cake, and cookies, and pastries, and bread pudding, and…Oh, I could go on forever.

Oh look, there is Annie Farrell peeking through the glass of the cold foods section of the buffet.  Annie is Grand Hotel’s Director of Sales, she and the convention staff put together “Grand Events” big and small.  Just this season, the Detroit Regional Chamber of Commerce and Republican Leadership Conferences were both held at Grand Hotel.  I actually swam on stage at the podium where the future president of the United States could have been standing.  How exciting!

After eating lunch and checking out the Theatre, I decided to let my lunch settle and get a bit of exercise by taking a trip around the labyrinth located down by the pool.  What a great way to work off a few extra bites of cheesecake.

Now that I was out moving I decided to get in some free croquet and a little practice on the putting green.  

After all that activity I was ready to relax and take in the view, so I headed to the Worlds Longest Front Porch and took a seat in one of the 100 wicker rockers. Check out that view, you cannot help but relax here.

After a little R&R on the porch I figured I had better get up to my room and get ready for dinner. (I know, it seems like I just ate lunch doesn’t it?)  I decided to stop by and check out the Terrace Room. This room is used for nightly live music and dancing with Alex Graham and the Grand Hotel Orchestra.  During the day it is generally in use for meetings and fun things like wine tastings.

Next stop, my guest room.  I had so much fun jumping from bed to bed…oh, don’t tell anyone at the hotel I said that.  It was difficult to leave those comfy beds and go down to dinner.  But I did make it to dinner, and once again made a puffer fish out of myself indulging the gourmet 5-course dinner that comes with most room rates.  

My stay at Grand Hotel was so enjoyable, I hope to have a chance to return during their 2012 season and experience one of their weekend packages like Titanic, Somewhere In Time, or maybe 4^th of July.  What fun that would be!