stevenpiziks (
stevenpiziks) wrote2013-08-20 11:57 am
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Mackinaw, with Graves
Last week was Mackinaw Week! We (that would be Darwin, his son Shane, Aran, Maksim, Sasha, and I) went up to Mackinaw City at the tip of the Michigan mitten, where we rented a cabin at a campground for four days. It was a nice little family vacation.
On Thursday, we all took the ferry over to Mackinaw Island, which has been a resort since the mid-1800s. They don't allow engines of any sort on the island, so transportation is foot, bicycle, and horse over there. We took our bikes with us and rode around the island on the highway that circles it. It's the only highway in America that doesn't allow cars. The weather was absolutely perfect--sunny, 70s, light breeze. We paused as we liked along the way to explore nature trails and rock formations and historical points. (Mackinaw was taken by the British in the War of 1812, and there are a lot of battle sites there.) We also perused the cemeteries in the middle of the island. Darwin and I both love cemeteries, and try to figure out the relationships between the people buried there.
The military cemetery near the civilian one was different from most. People put coins and stones on all the gravestones. One grave we found very intriguing. It was for a woman, and the epitaph listed her as the "consort" to the fort commander at the time of her death at age 42. In the 1800s, when the stone was inscribed, that . . . position was quite scandalous, and someone clearly had it in for her if they had it put on her grave. ("We'll show that hussy!") It was telling that the man with whom she consorted was buried nearby, and there was no mention of his relationship with her. Anyway, history had the last laugh. There were more coins and stones on her grave than anyone else's, and these days, most people neither know nor care that she and he shared a bed without benefit of clergy.
We also visited Fort Mackinaw, which the boys loved. The fort was put up by the Americans in the 17- and 1800s, was taken by the British and Indians in 1812, and taken back by the Americans later. The fort walls still stand and have been partly reconstructed and partly left as they were, along with various buildings inside it. We examined the displays of island and military life in the 1800s. I found a photo of a man who stood in one of the fort gates, holding his toddler daughter's hand. We could figure out the exact spot where he had stood by the shape of the stones, so Darwin and I stood there to figure out what HE had seen (more or less) while the photo was being taken.
On Friday, we were tired from so much biking and hiking, so we lazed around the campground. Darwin and I wanted to go into Mackinaw City for some shopping, but the boys didn't want to go, so we went on our own. We ended up sneaking back across to the island again for a few hours, just us adults. :) We explored more of the historical buildings that would have bored the boys and we found a bed and breakfast we decided we would have to stay at next year.
Saturday we all drove up to Tahquamenon Falls in the Upper Peninsula. They're in a huge state park, and I was surprised at how many people were there. The falls are spectacular. We rented a rowboat and skittered around the base of the lower falls, then hiked aorund the island that makes them, enjoying the beauty of it all. The upper falls, farther north, are bigger and deadlier. 50,000 gallons of water go over them every second, and they're loud. Seeing them involved many, many stairs down a cliff face, which was awesome all by itself.
We had supper at a hot dog stand where a guy was singing twangy country music (oi!) and went back to the campground.
Every night, we had a campfire with s'mores and stories and conversation. We'd also rented a campsite near the cabin and set up a tent there so anyone who wanted to escape the rather crowded cabin could sleep there. Aran slept there most nights, as it turned out.
Saturday we packed up and drove toward home, but with stops. We first stopped in Onaway to visit the graveyard where several members of Darwin's family were buried, inlcuding his grandparents. He hadn't seen the graves until today, and it was a moving experience for him. We also found bones scattered all around the cemetery, but the sheriff said the graveyard was a major crossing point for deer and they were often hit by cars. These were deer bones. We had lunch at a local restaurant (Manazana's) and the food was great! Aran ate an entire 10" pizza all by himself.
Then we stopped at my mother's house in Saginaw and she fed us supper. (Thanks, Mom!) We visited for a while, and then clambered into the truck for the rest of the trip home.
It was a fine time.
On Thursday, we all took the ferry over to Mackinaw Island, which has been a resort since the mid-1800s. They don't allow engines of any sort on the island, so transportation is foot, bicycle, and horse over there. We took our bikes with us and rode around the island on the highway that circles it. It's the only highway in America that doesn't allow cars. The weather was absolutely perfect--sunny, 70s, light breeze. We paused as we liked along the way to explore nature trails and rock formations and historical points. (Mackinaw was taken by the British in the War of 1812, and there are a lot of battle sites there.) We also perused the cemeteries in the middle of the island. Darwin and I both love cemeteries, and try to figure out the relationships between the people buried there.
The military cemetery near the civilian one was different from most. People put coins and stones on all the gravestones. One grave we found very intriguing. It was for a woman, and the epitaph listed her as the "consort" to the fort commander at the time of her death at age 42. In the 1800s, when the stone was inscribed, that . . . position was quite scandalous, and someone clearly had it in for her if they had it put on her grave. ("We'll show that hussy!") It was telling that the man with whom she consorted was buried nearby, and there was no mention of his relationship with her. Anyway, history had the last laugh. There were more coins and stones on her grave than anyone else's, and these days, most people neither know nor care that she and he shared a bed without benefit of clergy.
We also visited Fort Mackinaw, which the boys loved. The fort was put up by the Americans in the 17- and 1800s, was taken by the British and Indians in 1812, and taken back by the Americans later. The fort walls still stand and have been partly reconstructed and partly left as they were, along with various buildings inside it. We examined the displays of island and military life in the 1800s. I found a photo of a man who stood in one of the fort gates, holding his toddler daughter's hand. We could figure out the exact spot where he had stood by the shape of the stones, so Darwin and I stood there to figure out what HE had seen (more or less) while the photo was being taken.
On Friday, we were tired from so much biking and hiking, so we lazed around the campground. Darwin and I wanted to go into Mackinaw City for some shopping, but the boys didn't want to go, so we went on our own. We ended up sneaking back across to the island again for a few hours, just us adults. :) We explored more of the historical buildings that would have bored the boys and we found a bed and breakfast we decided we would have to stay at next year.
Saturday we all drove up to Tahquamenon Falls in the Upper Peninsula. They're in a huge state park, and I was surprised at how many people were there. The falls are spectacular. We rented a rowboat and skittered around the base of the lower falls, then hiked aorund the island that makes them, enjoying the beauty of it all. The upper falls, farther north, are bigger and deadlier. 50,000 gallons of water go over them every second, and they're loud. Seeing them involved many, many stairs down a cliff face, which was awesome all by itself.
We had supper at a hot dog stand where a guy was singing twangy country music (oi!) and went back to the campground.
Every night, we had a campfire with s'mores and stories and conversation. We'd also rented a campsite near the cabin and set up a tent there so anyone who wanted to escape the rather crowded cabin could sleep there. Aran slept there most nights, as it turned out.
Saturday we packed up and drove toward home, but with stops. We first stopped in Onaway to visit the graveyard where several members of Darwin's family were buried, inlcuding his grandparents. He hadn't seen the graves until today, and it was a moving experience for him. We also found bones scattered all around the cemetery, but the sheriff said the graveyard was a major crossing point for deer and they were often hit by cars. These were deer bones. We had lunch at a local restaurant (Manazana's) and the food was great! Aran ate an entire 10" pizza all by himself.
Then we stopped at my mother's house in Saginaw and she fed us supper. (Thanks, Mom!) We visited for a while, and then clambered into the truck for the rest of the trip home.
It was a fine time.