UNUSUAL SIGHTINGS ON MI....PART TWO :)

More digital snaps of people, places and things I think you do not see in your home town....

Hang time with an Island police officer and a carriage driver....how cool!

Another Island officer assisting some tourists!

You guessed it....the horses poop, and someone has to scoop!  Love his transportation!

Paddle boarding big in the harbor...where the water is calm...this year.

Check this one out on the transit dock..delivery of hay across the waters from the mainland.  Bicycle tucked away below the dock. (I suspect it has been "borrowed" and hidden from someone, as that is not the normal place to put a bicycle.)

Often mistaken for a loon, this is actually a Cormorant (sp?).  Water birds seen typically are this one, gulls, geese, mallards and mergansers (sp?).  Loons have unfortunately gone away....too much boat traffic for them. 

Nope, this is not a snake!  I call it a rope coil used by those yachters and boaters who are "picky" about how they tie up to the boat dock!!

UPS truck resting on the deck of the freight boat which brought it from St. Ignace to the Island.  The boxes are being off-loaded onto the horse-drawn dray. 

High-class employee living!!

All girls just want to have fun!

A load of hay headed up Cadotte (Grand) Hill to the horse barns. 

Electric blankets covering the marble slabs, on which they make the fudge, in the fudge shops.  Apparently, they must maintain a constant temperature and this was early when the weather was on the chilly side. 

A friend and I went off Island one blustery day and sunned, read and napped on the sand beach of Lake Michigan.  No sand on the beaches of the Island....merely rocks.

Fort Mackinac which stands guard over the Island at sunset! 

 The Indians thought the Island looked like a turtle from afar; hence, turtle "stuff" is sprinkled all over the place.  I especially like this one as it has Petoskey stones embedded in it. 

 An early evening shot of the historic light house that guards the passage. 

The real light house protecting boats as they pass through the harbor. 

I have been coming to this Island since I was 8 years old, or perhaps younger, and this is the type ferry which carried us to and from. 

That's it folks!  Hope you enjoyed....  And with this I return to Georgia, I hope to do one more blog merely with flowers and horses of the Island. 

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UNUSUAL SIGHTINGS ON MACKINAC ISLAND :)

These things you are most likely not going to see in your hometown....

This is an inukshuk....loosely interpreted as a rock formation....along the shore.  This is one of many, many!!

Another inukshuk with wild flowers thrown in....

Large trees which have come over on the freight boat and loaded on this dray being pulled by two Belgian horses and headed for a home on the West Bluff!  

Police officer in charge of the moving of the trees; they ride bicycles (of course) as they do their duties. 

A load of top soil and plants in pots on their way for someone's garden!!

Yep, these are bats all cuddled together....in the day time, of course!

I tackled this one, wrestled him/her to the ground and snapped a photo!!

On a lighter note .... check out this adorable radio flyer with cooler, umbrella, child and goodie bag!!  

An honest to goodness UPS delivery from the back of a horse-drawn dray!

Not your "normal" downtown, main street shot!

I think I am long over due for shaving my legs and getting a pedicure!

You can call these what you like, but I call them Rainbow Sherbet roses!  Found in Margaret's Garden at Grand Hotel.

Do remember that EVERYTHING that comes to the Island must come across the water...even the portapotties for the after-Yacht Race parties!!

Portapotties off-loaded and in place for the Port Huron Awards Ceremony!

Even gull-culture dictates that an apple a day keeps the doctor away.   ...just sayin'

Let's Have a party!

Hmmmmmm.....

I'm watching you.

Mom and dad were not in favor of a "real" horse back ride.


OK, folks, I could go on and on and on with photos which certainly hold interest for me.  Hopefully you have enjoyed.  Stay tuned for flowers of the Island.....jw

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CHATTER MATTERS :)

104th Race to Mackinac, 326 yachts, 2,000 men, 7 women, 105 rum drinks, 336 belly laughs, 153 heart-to-hearts, 19 years for  first mate Cathy and Captain Kim, my good friends, on their #1 virtual reality boat THE CHIT CHAT! 

Cathy Waggoner of Springfield Ohio and Kim Beach of Cincinnati who originated the idea of the virtual reality sale boat, the Chit Chat, have sailed...along with their crew...to the Island for 19 years!

Yachts & yachts of yachts in the Mackinac Harbor during the Chicago to Mackinac race.

The Cable Cottage also known as Chit Chat Race Headquarters. 

Olympic opening ceremony...can you guess the countries?

Lights on for the 3rd Annual Euchre' Party, Red Solo Cup style!


All the fixings for  the Euchre' evening!

Cathy, Captain Kim, Steve (owner of Horn's Bar) and Andrea, hanging out in our second favorite spot on the island.

Chit Chat mascot dog called....Puppy....or 15 for short!

Oooopppps....call the puppy neglect hotline!!

Senior Chit Chat, Jane, and Betsy from Cincy on the Awards ceremony rum party day!!

 Jane and first mate Cathy on Headquarters Porch!

Chit Chats Cathy, Betsy, Kim and Sally stopping for "the pose" on the boardwalk.

Some things seem to stay the same, yet at the same time things change for better and for worse. The summer of 2012,  Cathy hit 50 and Sally lost her wonderful husband, Casey.  

A tribute to both!

I so enjoy my few days with the Chit Chats and never say goodbye to them but always, "see ya' next year, and....here's to tall ships, here's to small ships, here's to all the ships in the sea.  But the best ships are friendships, so here's to you and me!"  Chit Chat Jane :)

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