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Saturday Morning, August 7

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We were at Shepler’s Ferry dock shortly before 9 AM, got our luggage tagged (for delivery and pick up at our motel), parked our car up the street several blocks, were shuttled back to the dock, and ready to board Miss Margy at 9:18 AM.

She was named after Margret Shepler co-founder and wife of William H. Shepler who founded the ferry service in 1945. Their son is currently the CEO with his three children serving in the company’s leadership.

In this photo we are going toward Mackinac Bridge. I am not sure that each ferry does this because it is a bit out of the way. I booked ferry tickets that went under the bridge, so I get it worked. 🙂

Shepler’s fleet consists of seven ships. They carry between 120 and 325 passengers and travel about 40 miles per hour. Five are twin-engine, one is a quad jet engine, and Miss Margy is a triple engine.

Cerwin and I thought it would be fun to sit up front, but that wasn’t a great choice on this cool, cloudy morning because the front door was open. Everyone in the front moved to the outside edges if possible. I can’t imagine how cold it was to be on the top, which is where most of the passengers were sitting. Several people went to the front to get a picture of the bridge as we went under it. (Look closely, you will notice that this guy must have passed a background check to “open carry”. 🙂

Going under Mackinac Bridge

Another boat coming back from the island. The name says William Richard which is the newest of Shepler’s fleet – the one with the quad jet engine.

Passing a lighthouse

As we approached Mackinac Island, we could see our motel, Lake View, in the background. It was accidental that we booked a motel so close to Shepler’s dock, but I would book it again. It was nice to have the dock and motel in the same block.

Our luggage was taken right to the motel and stored until our room was ready. If your motel is farther away, you can rent a taxi (above).

I was carrying our laptop, so we took it to the motel where they stored it with our luggage. Both were tagged before we entered the ferry. We had matching tags to claim them. The clerk said she can keep our tags and they will have the luggage and laptop delivered to our room when we arrived. How nice!

The clerk said she would message our cell phone when our room was ready. (We were on a carriage ride when she messaged us at 12:30 PM.) 3:00 PM is the usual check-in time.

Since cars are not allowed, streets are filled with bicyclists and horse-drawn carriages. I took this picture from the steps of our motel. The blue and white awnings are the entrance to Shepler’s dock.

After getting our motel details finished, we decided to get a horse-drawn carriage ride. I had secured tickets for this before we left home. We figured this would give us an idea of where things were located on the island. We waited in a fairly long line that moved quickly and were on a carriage within minutes. (Ferry and carriage rides could be used any day or time during the 2021 season.)

My photo says this was shortly after 10:30 AM. Remember we were waiting at the ferry on the mainland at 9:18 AM.

The island is filled with attractive cottages and motels, surrounded by pretty flowers. I asked our lunch hostess, “Who cares for all the flowers?” She said, “I think Jack Barnwell and his crew plant and care for them.” She thought the Grand Hotel has their own gardener.

Horses are used in place of trucks when repairs and supplies are needed.

Our first stop was Surrey Hill Carriage Museum where everyone was dropped off for time to have a snack, enjoy the shops, the old fire engine display and walk through the butterfly house. When people were ready to move on, they went to the other end of the building to get a three-horse carriage for a tour of the island. Carriages came by every 15 minutes or less.

Cerwin was fascinated with the old fire engine inside the museum.

We enjoyed warm donuts and hot coffee on the front porch. The donuts were delicious and reminded us of Duck Donuts from back home. The butterfly house is just over Cerwin’s left shoulder. I am not sure of the purpose of the building on the right, but it was currently used for storage. (see below)

While relaxing, we enjoyed watching horse carriages coming and going. We learned that every carriage with three horses was used for island tours. The carriages that brought us from Main Street to Surrey Hill were two-horse carriages.

Our next stop, just across the lawn, was Wings of Mackinac the butterfly house.

Butterfly pictures in my next blog.