Arrive: Friday, September 10, 2010
Depart: Sunday, September 12, 2010
Includes fine wines, exceptional cuisine, and lively entertainment. Includes Friday Welcome Reception (charitable donation required) followed by dinner in the Main Dining Room. On Saturday, enjoy a wine tasting and a special dinner with wine and cordials.
Package Includes:
- Accommodations
- Breakfast and dinner daily
- Friday evening Welcome Reception**
- Saturday afternoon wine tasting/seminar
- Saturday evening Grand Cocktail Reception
- Saturday evening special group dinner
- Wine at Saturday group dinner
- Special discount on ferry boat tickets
- No tipping within Grand Hotel
Package Price:
- $985 per couple
- $835 single
- $299 per additional adult
Stay Thursday, September 9 and/or Sunday, September 12, 2010 for $139 per room, per night with dinner at Woods at no extra charge (based on availability)
Subject to Michigan 6% sales tax and a $7.50 per person baggage handling charge. *Dates subject to availability. **A charitable donation will be required to attend the reception on Friday as part of the Carleton Varney’s Antique Show & Design Fall Festival.
Visit Grand Hotel Website >>>>
Arrive: Friday, September 10, 2010
Depart: Sunday, September 12, 2010
World-renowned designer and Grand Hotel Decorator Carleton Varney, President of Dorothy Draper & Company, will share his insights and expert advice. Premier antique dealers from across the country will showcase and sell their pieces. Includes Gala Preview Party (charitable donation required), receptions, Grand Luncheon Buffet, free golf green fees (cart fee required) on The Jewel and full breakfast and five-course dinner daily.
Package Includes:
- Accommodations
- Breakfast and dinner daily
- Friday evening Gala Preview Party (charitable donation required)
- Saturday Grand Luncheon Buffet
- Saturday cocktail reception
- Admission to Antique Showcase
- Free golf green fees (cart fee required)
- Special discount on ferry boat tickets
- No tipping within Grand Hotel
Package Price:
- $920 per couple
- $820 single
- $299 per additional adult
Stay Thursday, September 9 and/or Sunday, September 12, 2010 for $139 per room, per room, per night*.
Subject to Michigan 6% sales tax and a $7.50 per person baggage handling charge. *Dates subject to availability.
Visit Grand Hotel Website >>>>
Arrive: Friday, September 17, 2010
Depart: Sunday, September 19, 2010
Bob Tagatz, Grand Hotel’s historian and concierge, will take you through the history of Mackinac Island and Grand Hotel, complete with tidbits about the hotel’s celebrity guests, milestones and history. Includes accommodations, full breakfast and five-course dinner daily, Friday evening Welcome Reception, Saturday Grand Luncheon Buffet, Architectural Cottage Tour and more.
Package Includes:
- Accommodations
- Breakfast and dinner daily
- Friday evening Welcome Reception
- Saturday morning lecture by Grand Hotel Historian
- Saturday Grand Luncheon Buffet
- Saturday afternoon Architectural Cottage Tour
- Admission to Fort Mackinac
- Special discount on ferry boat tickets
- No tipping within Grand Hotel
Package Price:
- $809 per couple
- $709 single
Stay Thursday, September 16 and/or Sunday, September 19, 2010 for $139 per room, per night.
Subject to Michigan 6% sales tax and a $7.50 per person baggage handling charge. Regular additional adult and children’s rates apply *Dates subject to availability.
Visit Grand Hotel Website >>>>
Arrive: Friday, September 24, 2010
Depart: Sunday, September 26, 2010
Designed especially for women. Includes Friday’s Wine and Champagne Welcome Reception, Saturday morning’s work out with a professional instructor, Saturday afternoon wine tasting, specials at all Grand Hotel shops, free golf green fees (cart fee required) on The Jewel, and a full breakfast and five-course dinner daily.
Package Includes:
- Accommodations
- Breakfast and dinner daily
- Wine and Champagne Welcome Reception
- Morning workout session with professional instructor
- Saturday afternoon wine tasting
- Free golf green fees (cart fee required)
- 20% discount at Grand Hotel shops
- Special discount on ferry boat tickets
- No tipping within Grand Hotel
Package Price:
- $459 per person, double occupancy
- $818 single
- Add 3rd or 4th person - just $199 each
Stay Thursday, September 23 and/or Sunday, September 26, 2010 for $139 per room, per night.*
Subject to Michigan 6% sales tax and a $7.50 per person baggage handling charge. *Dates subject to availability.
Visit Grand Hotel Website >>>>
Join us October 1-3, 2010 for the Detective Reily Mystery “Death Casts a Vote”
It is 1928… America will soon elect a new president. Unhappy with the choices persented by the Democrats and Republicans, a new political party has been formed. The Moderate Action party is about to select its nominee and your vote may be critical at an event that promises to be exciting in unexpected ways.
Enjoy mingling with the rich and famous during evening cocktail receptions and gourmet dinners where you can share your thoughts and ideas about this “who-done-it” mystery. Join a team or gather clues and try to decipher the events of the weekend on your own. Either way, it is a fun “mystery” filled weekend for young and old alike.
Arrive: Friday, October 1, 2010
Depart, Sunday, October 3, 2010
Package includes receptions, Grand Luncheon Buffet, Murder Mystery activities and entertainment, free golf green fees on The Jewel (cart fee required), and a full breakfast and five-course dinner daily.
Package Includes:
- Accommodations
- Breakfast and dinner daily
- Friday evening Welcome Reception
- Saturday Grand Luncheon Buffet
- Saturday evening reception
- Murder Mystery activities and entertainment
- Free golf green fees (cart fee required)
- Special discount on ferry boat tickets
- No tipping within Grand Hotel
Package Price:
- $915 per couple
- $815 single
- $299 per additional adult
Stay Thursday, September 30 and/or Sunday, October 3, 2010 for $139 per room, per night*
Subject to Michigan 6% sales tax and a $7.50 per person baggage handling charge. *Dates subject to availability.
Visit Grand Hotel Website >>>>
Arrive: Friday, October 22, 2010
Depart: Sunday, October 24, 2010
Features dancing in two rooms to The Grand Hotel Orchestra and the Guy Lombardo Orchestra. Dance instructors will be on hand to help refine your moves. Includes a full breakfast, Grand Luncheon Buffet, and five-course dinner daily, two receptions and free golf (cart fee required) on The Jewel.
Package Includes:
- Accommodations
- Breakfast and dinner daily
- Friday evening Welcome Reception
- Saturday Grand Luncheon Buffet
- Saturday evening reception
- All entertainment and dance instruction
- Free golf green fees (cart fee required)
- Special discount on ferry boat tickets
- No tipping within Grand Hotel
Package Price:
- $899 per couple
- $799 single
- $299 per additional adult
Stay Sunday, October 24, 2010 for $139 per room, per night.*
Subject to Michigan 6% sales tax and a $7.50 per person baggage handling charge. *Dates subject to availability.
Visit Grand Hotel Website >>>>
The funniest comedy show on Mackinac Island! (Never mind, it’s the only one.)
Stu Stuart’s mass-appeal style of comedy is clever, witty and unpredictable with an unexpected edge. He presents his comedy in a comfortable and witty manner causing you to think, then laugh, all while continually pulling the rug out from you when you least suspect it, says the Seattle Times.
His delightfully different slice-of-life comedy is enjoyed by people of all ages. He’s proof you don’t have to be dirty to be funny. He’s sometimes dark, but always humorous. Every once in a while a comedian comes along that really hits home–this is Stu.
His conversational style of in-the-moment and often improvised comedy is a delight to watch and guarantees no two shows will be exactly the same. This is one of the reasons many people return year-after-year to see his show.
• Lunch with Comedian Stu Stuart - Bree’s Mackinac Island Blog
Stu Stuart - Stand-Up Comedy Show at Lilac Tree Suites
Tickets available at the Lilac Tree Suites front desk and at the door.
General Admission $15
Students, Seniors & Military $12.50
Family Package (Parents & children) $50
Groups of 10 or more $10.
Cash and checks accepted, sorry, no credit cards. Advance tickets encouraged to guarantee admission as seating is limited. Showroom at the Lilac Tree Hotel features a full bar with specialty drinks and is smoke free. Showtimes, dates and locations subject to change without notice. For more information call (231) 215-0173. To get advance tickets before arriving on Mackinac, call and we will email or U.S. Mail you tickets to guarantee your place.
Arrive: Monday, October 25, 2010
Depart: Tuesday, October 26, 2010
Another grand season ends with this special package, which includes a casual dinner on Monday evening and continental breakfast Tuesday morning. Enjoy yourself as we clean out our pantries and wine cellar. Feel free to roam the hotel and watch the staff prepare the hotel for winter. And attend a lecture on the process by Grand Hotel historian Bob Tagatz.
Package Includes:
- Accommodations
- Casual buffet dinner Monday evening
- Continental breakfast Tuesday morning
- Monday afternoon hotel tour
- Special discount on ferry boat tickets: The Arnold Line will run a special schedule to Mackinaw City on Tuesday at 11:00 am and 12:00 pm.
- 10:00 am check out time
- No tipping within Grand Hotel
Package Price:
- $199 per couple
- $150 single
Subject to 19.5% added hotel charge, Michigan 6% sales tax and a $7.50 per person baggage handling charge. *Dates subject to availability.
Visit Grand Hotel Website >>>>
Guinness Book Record holder Russ “Rock Bottom” Byars won the 2010 Mackinac Island Stone Skipping Tournament with a throw of 30 skips. Second place went to Todd “Mussels” Callewaert with 26 skips & rounding out 3rd was Glenn “Hard Luck” Loy with a 22 skips. (Note: Video is the third round throw and is not the tournament winning 30 skip throw.)
The tournament is open to all ages and always occurs at Windermere Pointe Beach (Located next to Iroquois Hotel) every year at 10:00 am on the 4th of July. Professional skippers compete at high noon, often skipping 20+ skips.
The Honorable Judge Glen Allen Open Tournament (July 4th)
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Judges Tribunal - Windemere (8:30ish am)
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Stone Skipping Clinic - 10ish on the beach hosted by several
world champion skippers -
Opening Ceremonies - Fudge Canoe arrives (10:00 am)
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Amateur Tournament - 13 years old and up (10:00 am to 12:00 pm)
committee may ask for credentials -
Pebbles Tournament - 12 year olds and under (10:00 am to 12:00 pm)
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Awards Ceremony for Amateurs (12:00 pm)+
Wilmer T. Rabe International Stone Skipping Tournament
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Professional Tournament (12:00 noon to 1:00 pm)
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Awards Ceremony for Professionals (1:30 pm)
Visit Mackinac Island Stone Skipping Website >>>>
6:30 p.m. - dusk
“An American Picnic”, held at the Fort Mackinac parade ground, is a tasty way to celebrate Independence Day. With Grand Hotel’s all-you-can-eat baby back ribs, grilled chicken breast, hot dogs, hamburgers, corn on the cob, salads, and desserts, patriots will satisfy their hunger while celebrating the nation’s birthday. Stay for the fireworks!
Advance tickets purchased before 6:00 p.m. on July 4 include picnic and Fort Mackinac admission:
Adults $42.00, Youth (5-17) $21.00, Children 4 and under free
Tickets purchased after 6:00 p.m. on July 4 include picnic and Fort Mackinac admission:
Adults $52.50, Youth (5-17) $27.50, Children 4 and under free
Mackinac Associates tickets purchased anytime include picnic and Fort Mackinac admission:
Adults $31.50, Youth (5-17) $14.50, Children 4 and under free
Visit Fort Mackinac Website >>>>
Friday- July 2
· Prince of Persia 8pm
· Grand Opening of the Walking Stick 9am-9pm
All weekend long stop by to register to win a premium bike!
· The Point 7am -10pm
All weekend long stop by to register to win a iPad!
· Lakeside open 7am -11pm
All weekend long stop by to register to win an Xbox 360!
· Lobby Bar 11am-9pm
· Glow Golf starting at dusk
· Round Island Bar & Grill Dinner Special- Prime Rib!
Saturday- July 3
· Prince of Persia 8pm
· Beer Tent on the front lawn 2pm-5pm $5 Beer Tasting fee
· Grand Opening of the Walking Stick 9am-9pm
All weekend long stop by to register to win a premium bike!
· The Point 7am -10pm
All weekend long stop by to register to win a iPad!
· Lakeside open 7am -11pm
All weekend long stop by to register to win an Xbox 360!
· Glow Golf starting at dusk
· Story time with Mac the Moose at 830pm in the Lobby
· Family Game Night 7pm-10pm in Johnson Hall
· Rock’n’Roll Pool Party 2pm-4pm
· Street Party 11pm-2pm at Lakeside Marketplace
Sunday- July 4th
· Lakeside Summer Grillade- Steaks, Brats, Hot Dogs and more from 12pm-5pm
· Old Fashioned Independence Day Buffet in Round Island Bar & Grill 5:30pm- 9pm
· Grand Opening of the Walking Stick 9am-9pm
All weekend long stop by to register to win a premium bike!
· The Point 7am -10pm
All weekend long stop by to register to win a iPad!
· Lakeside open 7am -11pm
All weekend long stop by to register to win an Xbox 360!
· Glow Golf starting at dusk
· Rock’n’Roll Pool Party 2pm-4pm
· Ice-cream Social 12pm-5pm in the Lakeside Marketplace
Visit Mission Point Resort Website >>>>
Join Chris Brantley for an outdoor acoustic concert from 5:00 to 9:00 daily on July 2-5 at Bistro on the Greens located on the Mission Point Resort grounds.
There is no cover and this event is open to the public.
Click Here For More Information >>>>
The Zoo-de-Mack is a weekend of huge parties with great bands, one of the most scenic bicycle rides in the country, a lot of sunshine, views of the mighty Mackinac Bridge, and one magical island.
THIS IS NOT A RACE!!! The Zoo-de-Mack is a gathering of outdoor enthusiasts (2,500+ last year) who want to enjoy a little physical exercise together in one of the most beautiful areas in the state of Michigan. The bike ride starts Saturday morning at Boyne Highlands Resort and spans 51 miles along Lake Michigan on a paved road with very little automobile traffic. Riders pedal through rolling countryside and trillium covered forests, along sandy beaches, and are surrounded by breathtaking views of Lake Michigan from 400′ high bluffs. We stop approximately half way, at a unique place called the Legs Inn for a leisurely lunch and to swap stories. The ride continues on to Mackinaw City for a finish line party and where Arnold Ferry boats have been chartered for the ride over to Mackinac Island. Once on the magical island, check into your hotel and stroll into town to forget the aches and pains from the day’s ride. As the evening wears on, the island comes alive with The Gatehouse, Pink Pony, and Horns hosting post-ride parties with incredible live bands! New for 2010- a huge post ride party at The Crossings in Mackinaw City!
ENTRY FEE:
$50.00 through May 8th, 2010; $65.00 from May 9th, 2010 through May 22nd, 2010. Entry fee includes the pre-ride party Friday night at the Zoo Bar at Boyne Highlands, luggage transportation to Mackinaw City on Saturday, lunch at the Legs Inn on Saturday, finish line party in Mackinaw City, round trip ferry transportation to and from Mackinac Island on Arnold Ferry and post-ride parties on Saturday afternoon at The Crossings and evening on the Island.
Visit the Zoo-De-Mackinac Website >>>>
Arrive: Friday, June 25, 2010
Depart: Sunday, June 27, 2010
With musical performances—including Broadway Music featuring Sandra Joseph from Phantom of the Opera—recitals, theatrical productions and informative seminars. Join faculty from Michigan State University-College of Arts and Letters during receptions on Friday and Saturday evenings. Package includes a full breakfast and five-course dinner daily and all events.
Package Includes:
- Accommodations
- Breakfast and dinner daily
- Friday evening Welcome Reception
- Saturday evening reception
- All theater, art, music performances and seminars
- Special discount on ferry boat tickets
- No tipping within Grand Hotel
Package Price:
- $869 per couple
- $769 single
Stay Sunday, June 27, 2010 for $139 per room, per night. *
A donation of $50 per reservation is made to Michigan State University College of Arts and Letters.
Subject to Michigan 6% sales tax and a $7.50 per person baggage handling charge. Regular additional adult and children’s rates apply. *Dates subject to availability
Visit Grand Hotel Website >>>>
Celebrating Mackinac’s lilac collection began in 1949 after a conversation with Evangilene “Ling” Horn and Nurse Stella King who encouraged the then teen and today’s Mackinac Island Carriage Tours veterinarian Dr. Bill Chambers to have a parade on Lilac Sunday.
The idea was to bring people to the Island to enjoy a great horse drawn parade amidst the lovely lilacs that fragrance the Island in June. What began as a one day event called the Mackinac Island Lilac Day has blossomed into a ten day festival.
The Lilac Festival Queen
The Lilac Festival Queen and her court are selected from the student body at the Mackinac Island Public School. The opening ceremonies for the festival commemorate our Queens of the past passing the crown to the new Queen each season. Former Lilac Festival Queen, Mayor Margaret Doud introduces the new Queen each season and welcomes her to her new duties as a student representative of Mackinac Island.
The Grand Parade
The Lilac Festival Grand Parade is the finale of the festival and has been recognized as a local legacy event by the Library of Congress.
Click here for a list of events from the Lilac Festival Blog >>>>
Visit Mackinac Island Lilac Festival Website >>>>
Nightly reservations July 14 and July 15, 2010.
This package is in conjunction with the Grand Mackinac Antiques Appraisal Show, in the Grand Hotel Theater on July 15. Guests can have items professionally appraised (registration and a fee are required) . Lecturers include the Keno Brothers—Leslie and Leigh—from PBS’s “Antiques Roadshow.” Includes attendance to the lectures ; accommodations; a full breakfast and five-course dinner daily; and an invitation to the grand opening celebration of The Richard & Jane Manoogian Mackinac Art Museum.
Package Includes:
- Accommodations
- A full breakfast and five-course dinner daily
- Antique lectures by the Keno Brothers & Peter Rathbone
- Appraisal of up to 2 items per person (fee required)
- Invitation to the Grand Opening of the Richard and Jane Manoogian Mackinac Art Museum
- Special discount on ferry boat tickets
- No tipping within Grand Hotel
Package Price:
- $349 per couple, per night
- $274 single, per night
- $299 per additional adult
Regular children’s rates apply.
Subject to Michigan 6% sales tax and a $7.50 per person baggage handling charge. *Dates subject to availability.
Visit Grand Hotel Website >>>>
Come join us on beautiful Mackinac Island for a spring caching adventure! We will gather on the island in the morning at 10:30 am in the lobby of the Grand Hotel for a brief get-together prior to venturing out to visit the island caches. Coffee and tea will be provided for attendees, along with a few other goodies to get your engines up and running! Please feel free to wear your sweatshirts and jeans, as there is no dress code in effect at this time of the year! There is also no admission charge into the hotel.
The Cyclops family has about 70 caches on the island, many of which have been placed in remote areas of the island where tourists would not normally go. It is advisable to bring your bike, as the cache locations will take you traveling several miles around the perimeter and interior of the island. The ferry company charges $8.00 per bicycle to bring your bike over to the island. It is possible that there may be places on the island that offer bikes to rent, but I am unable to confirm this at this early date. Dinner will be on your own. There are several restaurants on the island which are open at this time of the year.
Overnight accommodations for this event can be made at the Grand Hotel (1-800-33-GRAND), which is offering a special “Early Opening” price of $160.00 a night per room (tax not included). A continental breakfast is included in your room rate. Lodging at the Grand will be in the Millenium Wing (east end) of the hotel, and most rooms are furnished with two double beds. If you book a room at the Grand, please mention that you are part of the “Michigan Geocaching Organization” group, to get the above listed rate.
For More Information visit the geocaching.com website and search for the Mackinac Island event using this code: GC230J1
Visit Geocaching.com Website >>>>
Arrive: Friday, July 9, 2010
Depart: Sunday, July 11, 2010
Friday’s welcome reception includes sampling of domestic and imported vintages from our own award-winning wine. On Saturday, learn to select vintages during a special wine tasting event. Afterward, enjoy a cocktail reception before a special dinner and an evening of entertainment.
Package Includes:
- Accommodations
- Breakfast and dinner daily
- Friday evening Welcome Reception
- Saturday afternoon wine tasting/seminar
- Saturday evening Grand Cocktail Reception
- Saturday evening special dinner
- Wine and cordials at Saturday group dinner
- Special discount on ferry boat tickets
- No tipping within Grand Hotel
Package Price:
- $999 per couple
- $849 single
- $299 per additional adult
Stay Thursday, July 8 and/or Sunday, July 11, 2010 for $139 per room, per night* with dinner at Woods at no extra charge (based on availability)
Subject to Michigan 6% sales tax and a $7.50 per person baggage handling charge. Regular children’s rates apply. *Dates subject to availability.
Visit Grand Hotel Website >>>>
The Mackinac Bridge Authority, the St. Ignace Chamber of Commerce and the Greater Mackinaw Area Chamber of Commerce would like to make your BRIDGE WALK as pleasant as possible and offer the following information:
Bridge walk starts at 7:00 a.m.
The walk begins at 7:00 a.m. You may START walking anytime after the Governor’s party starts the walk at approximately 7:00 a.m. NO ONE WILL BE PERMITTED TO START AFTER 11:00 a.m., so ARRIVE EARLY.
Walk Route, Transportation and Parking
The walk begins in St. Ignace, at the north end of the Mackinac Bridge in the UPPER PENINSULA, and ends in Mackinaw City at the south end in the LOWER PENINSULA. To begin the walk you may:
Drive to St. Ignace, park your vehicle, walk the bridge and then return to St. Ignace on school buses provided by the Mackinac Bridge Authority. There is limited parking space available west of the Mackinac Bridge Authority plaza area. Parking is also available at Little Bear East Arena with shuttle service provided. The bus loading area is located at Conkling Park and the State Dock on South Huron Avenue in Mackinaw City, or
Buy your tickets in Mackinaw City at the bus loading area, board a bus to St. Ignace, walk the bridge and then return to your vehicle. The buses are hired for your convenience by the Mackinac Bridge Authority. The Authority strongly advises walkers to arrange for their own transportation to the starting point because of the increasing demand on the buses. Tickets go on sale and buses begin transporting walkers at 5:30 a.m. from Mackinaw City. Bus service from Mackinaw City to St. Ignace will end at 2:30 p.m. Handicap buses will be available. A limit of two people may accompany the handicapped person on the handicap bus.
Visit Mackinac Bridge Walk Website >>>>
Arrive: Friday, September 3, 2010
Depart: Monday, September 6, 2010
Please Call 1-800-334-7263 for availability
Jazz and Grand Hotel: Two American classics. Scheduled to perform: The Manhattan Transfer, The Four Freshmen, The Sun Messengers and Marion Hayden. Package includes receptions, cookout luncheon in the Tea Garden Saturday and Sunday afternoons, musical performances and a full breakfast and five-course dinner daily. Stay a fourth night free.
Labor Day Jazz Festival Schedule via The Grand Blog >>>>
Package Includes:
- Accommodations (fourth night free)
- Breakfast and dinner daily
- Friday evening Welcome Reception
- Saturday evening reception
- Sunday evening reception
- All entertainment
- Cookout luncheon in Tea Garden Saturday and Sunday afternoons
- Special discount on ferry boat tickets
- No tipping withing Grand Hotel
Package Price:
- $1,775 per couple
- $1,485 single
- $599 per additional adult
Stay the fourth night free, Thursday, September 2, or Monday, September 6, 2010*.
Subject to Michigan 6% sales tax and a $7.50 per person baggage handling charge. Regular additional adult and children’s rates apply. *Dates subject to availability.
For Grand Hotel Lodging Packages Click Here!
Monday 1:15pm EDT Update: Racers will be crossing the finish line all afternoon and into the evening.
You can follow twitter updates at: http://twitter.com/RacetoMackinac
And Facebook Updates at: http://ow.ly/2gJqa
Good luck to all and safe sailing!
11:19pm EDT Update: Windquest reported in as finished @ 11:19pm EDT http://ow.ly/2gnQS
10:57pm EDT Update: Mackinac Bridge call in for Windquest 10:57 EDT http://ow.ly/2gnGF
10:43pm EDT Update: Beau Geste reported in as finished @ 10:43 EDT http://ow.ly/2gnQS
10:31pm EDT Update: Mackinac Bridge call in for Beau Geste 10:31 EDT http://ow.ly/2gnGF
10:10pm EDT Update: Beau Geste and Windquest are approaching the Mackinac Bridge and with a little luck - and wind - they should cross the finish line soon. Here’s a screensave from the online tracking taken at about 10:07pm EDT. (Note: This is extremely unofficial.)
8:18pm EDT Update: - DogDayz: Finish 19:16:28 CDT http://ow.ly/2glRl
7:10pm EDT Update: We have DogDayz heading toward the Mackinac Bridge and leading the way in the Cruising Division according to the online tracking at 7:04pm EDT. (Note: This is extremely unofficial.) DogDayz and other boats in the Cruising Division should be sailing past the finish line before the sun sets.
3:45pm EDT Update: We have DogDayz leading the way in the Cruising Division according to the online tracking just off the coast from Harbor Springs at 3:40pm EDT. (Note: This is extremely unofficial.) If the wind holds it looks like some boats will be sailing past the finish line this evening.
12:15pm EDT Update: Beau Geste and Windquest are approaching the Manitou Passage (which is currently very crowded with boats in the cruising division.) Here’s a screensave from the online tracking taken at about 12:10pm EDT. According to online tracking Beau Geste is slightly ahead of Windquest. The Natalie J is the third boat in the screensave.
The Cruising Division with 39 boats set sail Friday for Mackinac Island in the 2010 Chicago Yacht Club Race to Mackinac, presented by Veuve Clicquot. This group of boats started the race the night before the racing boats. Because of the typically heavy boat design, it takes them a bit longer to sail to Mackinac Island. The first gun was at 3:00 p.m. CDT.
The remaining 315 boats in the racing fleet will begin on Saturday starting at 11:30 a.m. (CDT) You can follow the cruising division and all of the other boats in this year’s Mac, as every boat is tracked by GPS transponder. This technology enables friends, families, and millions of spectators on shore to follow the race as it unfolds on the web at http://www.cycracetomackinac.com. Chicago Yacht Club is proud to host this world-famous event in sailing, and we welcome you to follow all of the action.
Sailors from 15 different U.S. states as well as Ontario, Switzerland, and as far off as Hong Kong, are preparing for the race of a lifetime – the 333 mile Chicago Yacht Club Race to Mackinac, presented by Veuve Clicquot.
The Mac, as it is affectionately known, kicks off Saturday, July 24th, 2010 with 3,000 sailors competing in this world-class sporting event. Although The Mac remains primarily an amateur event, this race has a proven track record of attracting some of the finest sailing talent in the sport.
Joining the fleet this year from the Royal Hong Kong Yacht Club is Karl Kwok sailing the new Reichel-Pugh designed sloop “Beau Geste.” Kwok and his talented crew, including Americas Cup sailor Gavin Brady, have added the Chicago Mac to their impressive 2010 campaign of regattas, including the Transatlantic Challenge , Caribbean 600 in Antigua, the Newport Bermuda Race, and last weekend was the first to finish in the Port Huron to Mackinac Race.
The Chicago Yacht Club Race to Mackinac is the longest, annual freshwater sailing race in the world. It takes place on Lake Michigan.
In 2009, sailors and spectators from around the world descended on Chicago to celebrate the 101st running of “the Mac.” The race departs from Chicago and finishes at Mackinac Island in Michigan, near the upper peninsula.
The race will depart from a starting point just off the shores of downtown Chicago, east of Navy Pier. The finish line is located between the Round Island lighthouse and the race committee trailer on Mackinac Island.
In 2010, the race will begin on Friday, July 23 with the Cruising Division. On Saturday, July 24 the racing division get under way between 11:30am and 3pm. Entrants race continually until they arrive. Most finish the race between 40 and 60 hours after their start, but the fastest race time on record is just under 19 hours.
The 102nd Race to Mackinac Awards Ceremony & Mount Gay Rum Party at Grand Hotel Tea Garden is scheduled for Tuesday, July 27, 2010 from 2:00pm to 6:30pm.
Photos From The 2009 Race To Mackinac - Click Photo For Slideshow View
Click Here for the latest Schedule of Events
Visit Race To Mackinac Website >>>>
Mackinac Island has been known as a gathering place for centuries and musicians from across the country will gather August 17-19, 2010 for the Mackinac Island Music Festival.
Presented by the Grey Goose-the World’s Best Tasting Vodka, Classic Rock THE BEAR and Great Turtle Festivals, performances abound around the car-less Island’s quaint pubs, historic theatres and includes a tribute to the mega concert Festival Express.
Veteran blues musician/comedian DC Malone will headline on August 18, incorporating some incredible guitar work and a great blues voice. Malone relates “I love to perform; to form an instant rapport with a live audience is a great feeling.” With his slightly warped take on life, relationships, drinking and with great music to back it up, DC Malone is very entertaining. Opening the show is Detroit Music Award Winner Audra Kubat, one of the Motor City’s most well known voices. Incorporating folk, rock, alternative and indie styles, her instrumental ability is only overshadowed by her unique and unforgettable voice.
This season the festival will pay tribute to the 1970 mega concert/rockumentary “Festival Express” which was a multi-band, multi-day extravaganza that captured the spirit and imagination of a generation and a nation. Musicians included Janis Joplin, The Band, Grateful Dead, Buddy Guy, Traffic, Sha Na Na and more. It is considered “one of the best performance films of all time” by Hollywood Reporter.
Detroit Music Award winning blues/folk singer extraordinaire Barbara Payton (Bob Seger/Kid Rock vocalist) will perform with guitarist Chris Brantley (Mitch Ryder & the Detroit Wheels) and take on the tunes of Janis Joplin while Billy Brandt and his band of musicians will take on the Grateful Dead. Island musician Mary McGuire and friends will interpret the music of Traffic while the Forbes Brothers, recipients of over 25 Detroit Music Awards, will revive the tunes of The Band.
Island musician and festival director Mary McGuire shares “performing with friends immersed in the beauty of Mackinac Island makes this festival something special. We all get to live together on a beautiful Island and jam before and after all the gigs.” She adds “the Mission Point Theatre is charming, it was built with fifty foot trusses made of Norway Pine from nearby Bois Blanc Island and forty-five tons of native stone so not only is it beautiful, the sound quality is amazing.”
Tickets are available from the Mackinac Island Tourism Bureau (800) 454-5227, at the door and online from www.ticketriver.com
• Mackinac Island Music Festival Schedule
• Mackinac Island Music Festival Brochure (pdf)
• Mackinac Island Music Festival Blog
• Mackinac Island Music Festival Website
The Mackinac Island Music Festival was created to celebrate the musicians living and working on Mackinac Island as well as to support regional and national touring musicians.
Genres have included folk, country, rock, blues, bluegrass, classical, jazz and country. What started as a one day event began has now expanded to a three-day festival and has become one of Mackinac Island’s most exciting festivals of the season.
We hope you will join us as we celebrate those who have dedicated their lives to music and the music scene here on Mackinac Island.
Visit Mackinac Island Music Festival Website >>>>
Calling all Fudgies!!!
Most people don’t need an excuse to indulge in a piece or two of creamy, decadent fudge. But, for those who do, the Fudge Festival offers Island dwellers and tourists a terrific reason to celebrate fudge — made fresh each day at Mackinac’s 17 fudge shops. Events featuring the culinary creations of the Island’s chefs and bartenders abound amidst music and dance performances.
Island fudge shops will host the “Daddy, I want the Golden Ticket & I want it Now!” fudge vacation contest. Much like in the movie, six Golden Tickets will be placed in special packages of fudge for purchase at designated Island Fudge Shops (odds are one in forty) and all may register to win the sixth Golden Ticket from the Tourism Bureau to be drawn by Miss Michigan Sugar at the Children’s Ballet Theatre of Michigan performance at Mission Point Resort.
• Mackinac Island Fudge Festival Page on Facebook
• Mackinac Island Fudge Festival Brochure (pdf)
Visit Mackinac Island Fudge Festival Website >>>>
YOU ARE INVITED to Mackinac Island’s MackiTAC_2010.
July 24 Update:
SHEPLER’S MACKINAC ISLAND FERRY AND THE ISLAND BOOKSTORE ARE CO-HOSTS OF TWEET-UP & TEACH-IN ON MACKINAC ISLAND… As requested by Facebook fans and Twitter followers of Shepler’s and The Island Bookstore, the first annual tweet-up & teach-in will take place July 31 from 4 ~ 6:30 PM Eastern Daylight Time at the Lilac Tree Hotel conference room on Mackinac Island.
MackiTAC_2010 will feature Michigan guest speakers to discuss leading-edge aspects and strategies of social media. Keynoters will include: Jon Petersen, a certified eMarketer from Grand Rapids, Dan McDonough, 9-time world champion log roller from Mackinaw City, Lori Libka from Bronner’s Christmas Wonderland in Frankenmuth, Misty Martinchek, representing Shepler’s, Allan Coyle, social media aficionado from Lansing and Brenda Horton, author and photog of Bree’s Mackinac Island Blog.
MackiTAC_2010 will go worldwide. Participants who are unable to get to Mackinac Island will enjoy a live Twitter feed and real-time video. For those that are in attendance free wireless Internet will be available.
For more information and to RSVP go to The RSVP Page!.
MackiTAC_2010
We the Tweeple of the Twittersphere, in Order to form a more perfect Union, establish Camaraderie, insure a Party, provide for our common Fun, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Tweeps, do ordain and establish this TWEET-UP on Mackinac Island, Michigan … for Saturday July 31 … between 4:00 PM and 6:30 PM Eastern Daylight Time.
What is a tweet-up? Well, it is a get-together of followers and fans where they can meet the faces behind Twitter & Facebook!
YOU have a one-of-its-kind opportunity to ENGAGE with on-line friends and be ENLIGHTENED & ENTERTAINED at the same time — Mackinac-style. You may CHOOSE to participate at your own home computer or enjoy Michigan’s magical island in-person. It’s your call.
For More Information and to RSVP Click Here!
Check back here for updates on MackiTAC_2010 TWEET-UP PARTY or follow The Island Bookstore on twitter: http://twitter.com/IslandBOOKstore
by Michael Wetzel
(Editors Note: In 1992, Michael Wetzel interviewed Doug Beardsley, founder of the Original Butterfly House, and wrote this article which he used it for his Masters thesis. It wonderfully captures the spirit of the Butterfly House. Reprinted with permission of the author.)
As I linger among the multiple pastels of historic homes and guesthouses, it begins to drizzle. The gentle plodding of horses’ hooves echoes up and down the hills of Mackinac Island. The odor of hot fudge fades in the breeze as I work my way up the main street. It is a fall day in 1992 as I ride my bicycle past Fort Mackinac, the historic Indian dormitory, and St. Anne’s Church. One block up from St. Anne’s I spot the small oval sign decorated with butterflies. Its pastel paints announce, “Butterfly House.”
The compact, white frame building is cocooned snugly between two other houses. In the back stands, a large tent-like screen structure. Out front, a ramp of concrete faced with blocks of limestone beckons me out of the rain. This is my second visit in two years. This time Doug has invited me to write about his dream.
Doug Beardsley, a grown-up child of the sixties, welcomes me from behind the cluttered counter of his converted greenhouse. Wearing blue jeans and a t-shirt, he smiles and invites me in. His black hair is slightly balding on top and long in the back. A full beard and mustache mark his rugged spirit. He radiates a childlike excitement as he prepares to show me his new developments.
Doug’s partner Bill Hill is adjusting a display of mounted butterflies in a glass-covered case. He is also a middle-aged man. His sun-highlighted hair stands in contrast to his Florida tan. He owns “Butterflies in Flight,” a portable butterfly display, and works out of Naples, Florida. In 1988 Doug heard of Bill’s business from a friend and visited him in Florida. They entered joint ownership and opened the Butterfly House on Mackinac Island during the summer of 1989. Bill laughs as he tells me, “Yeah, here we are, a couple of guys in their forties, still playing with butterflies.” Play is part of the dream. But for Doug, developing this place is also a matter of survival.
Doug loves this island and has not only survived its tough winter climate, but has learned to live in harmony with the rugged spirit of Mackinaw. The early Indian inhabitants believed it was the place of the great dancing spirits. It has survived skirmishes between Indians and settlers and major battles between the French and English soldiers.
Despite the desolate winters, in the summer it is a place of serenity and beauty. Doug has loved this place since his growing up days in Lansing, Michigan. In the early seventies he attended Michigan State University, studying crop, turf, and soil sciences. Like many others of his era he attended to his studies, for seven years, and never earned a degree. But he did learn enough to begin building his dream.
During his college years he developed his own yard care business. In 1977 he moved to the Island. For eleven years he worked for Sawyer’s Green House, an island fixture since 1905. He also began his own yard care business on the Island, with fourteen employees looking after seventy-five lawns. Since beginning his Butterfly House he has trimmed that business down to four employees.
After he began working in the greenhouse he told the owner that someday he’d buy the place — and he did. Doug tells me, “I set my goal way out in front of me and I slowly pursue it.”
In 1988 when he purchased the business, the beginnings of his dream began unfolding, as he transformed his greenhouse into a sanctuary for butterflies. Here he nurtures various species in a controlled habitat and opens it up for visitors like me. He charges three-dollars for adults and two dollars for children, but always hopes for more generous gifts from kindred-spirited tourists.
He spends most of his days breeding butterflies, re-modeling the buildings, and offering tours. Doug has plans for converting a cluttered storeroom into a new entryway. He also plans to build a new ramp up to the building, and has a dozen other projects for down the line. One project will be a display case in the entry area for viewing live butterflies close-up. The present one is a simple frame with a glass front and back.
Bill takes the 2′x18″ glass off the back so I can get a close-up camera shot without the glare. Inside are various pupa, chrysalises, and emerging butterflies. A stray black-and-white striped butterfly crawls onto the counter as I talk with Bill. Showing no surprise, he gently guides the delicate creature onto his finger where it sits for a while, fanning its wings. Eventually he prods it gently with his finger, guiding it back into the display case.
Doug is scurrying around the office, a small cluttered room with large windows separating it from the main entry area. He is searching for something, trying hard to sort through the tangle of books and paperwork. Paperwork is a constant struggle for Doug. Surviving the financial dilemma of beginning a business has been hard, as expenses pile up and the costs of equipment escalate. Survival is not easy. Financing this enterprise is a challenge. The continual need to seek backers is discouraging, but not enough as to make him quit.
Last year when my wife and I visited, Doug smiled and asked me if I was interested in investing in his dream. Shirley and I had saved our quarters for a year just to spend our annual two nights on the Island. We obviously were not financier material. Even with only a handful of butterfly houses in the United States, any financial backers are a little wary of Doug’s venture. He finally decided if he were ever going to build a permanent structure, he would have to step out on his own and seek bank financing, which he eventually did.
So far he has survived the hurdles of hard times and succeeded in establishing his business on this island where visitors from across the country stop in to share Doug’s dream of the Butterfly House.
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I walk outside with Doug to where the greenhouse once stood. The old Sawyer Greenhouse has been torn down to make room for the new structure. Positioned in the middle of the large courtyard is the Butterfly House. It is a 30′x 40′ black-mesh tent supported by 2″ diameter tubing. The screening is a fine veil, which slightly darkens the view into the tent. Work is already beginning, to replace the tent with a permanent structure…one that can be used all year round,” Doug says. In 1993 work began on the new structure to replace the tent. It will contain a controlled temperature environment allowing these keepers of the stock to nurture new life throughout the cold, harsh Mackinac winters.
The tourists, who visit the Island and many of the local residents, usually leave the beauty of Mackinac behind as fall warns of winter’s storms. In the fall the butterfly’s breed and lay a new batch of eggs, which does Bill transfer to the warmer climate of Naples, Florida. Nearly 500 plants and the tent are transported by horse-drawn wagon to the Island’s loading docks. The load is transported by a ferry to a waiting U-haul truck and then loaded onto a plane headed for Florida.
Although the stock is now shipped off the island, when the permanent structure is finished Doug will keep the butterfly house open throughout the winter. Most visitors and many island residents choose to winter elsewhere. Last year he traveled to Florida to check out other businesses dealing with Butterflies. Next winter he plans to take a trip to Costa Rica and check out breeding farms in the rainforests. But most winters Doug chooses to stay put with his family and enjoy the serenity of the silent winter’s nights.
Six years ago Doug met his wife Theresa, when she came to visit the island as a tourist. Together with their two children, they spend the long Upper Peninsula winters reading or cross-country skiing. Doug works on plans for his business and Theresa works to keep up their home. Separated from the mainland by a thick layer of ice, Doug has ample time for remodeling, repairs, and reworking his dream for the spring opening. When the waters of Lake Huron thaw and the first ferries transport Island visitors to his doorstep, Doug is ready to share his new developments.
Ushering me into the Butterfly House, he pulls open the Velcro strip doorway, holding back the gauzy screen as we step inside. “We call it an aviary because these are winged creatures. But really, an aviary is for birds. Since there is no technical term we just call it a Butterfly House.” I wonder why they didn’t call it a “Lepidopterarium.” Butterflies are the order called Lepidoptera. A terrarium is an enclosure for keeping or raising and observing animals or plants indoors. So, why not, “Lepidopterarium,” or even the more correct term of “Lepidoptery?” Yet — there is a certain poetry about the term, “Butterfly House.”
Doug shows me quickly around and then lets me just wander and enjoy. Twenty benches serving as plant stands, manufactured from treated two-by-fours, line the perimeter of the walls. Several of the benches jut out into the main area. Each one is built like a set of steps with three levels. Black plastic pots, interspersed with some clay ones, filled with a plethora of plants, huddle together on the benches. At first my eyes notice only alisiam, marigolds, and snap dragons.
But as we stroll on the chipped-bark-covered ground, my eyes are drawn to corepsis plants, ferns, and passion vines. I pull out my camera and begin to search for a butterfly. Doug smiles and tells me, “You have to develop butterfly eyes.” He points to a plant near us. Slowly I see more than fennel. I perceive an eastern black swallowtail and then another, and another. Soon, everywhere I look there are butterflies, and butterfly eggs.
There are no predators here in the Butterfly House. Birds might be flying wistfully over the top. Wasps might be darting searchingly around the courtyard, and frogs may be squatting to watch from the outside. The most threatening enemy, man’s uncomprhending destruction of the butterfly’s habitat, is being held at bay by the proprietors of this place. The Butterfly House is a refuge, a place of protection for the butterflies.
My attention is drawn upward by a slight flutter of movement. Silhouetted against the blue sky are butterflies lightly clinging to the inside of the screen roof, and on the taller plants. They are motionless except for an occasional flitting from plant to plant. The air feels cool. Doug says butterflies are fairly inactive in temperatures below 70 degrees and predicts warmer temperatures this afternoon. Then there will be more activity among butterflies and visitors. With this light rain outside most visitors stay in their guest quarters. Later the butterflies will become more vigorous, but for now their wings slowly fan open and close as they gather on green stalks of plant life. Several drift across the heights seeking nectar from new flower. Doug points out clusters of golden monarchs on several branches near us.
I inhale deeply and slowly the scent of flowers and fresh, wet plants. Watching the butterflies dance lightly from green to green gives me a sense of Doug’s dream. There is life here. Unlike the poor dried victims on my car grill, these bits of color are floating silently through the shades of green. I have seen these softly balanced wings portrayed on people’s garages, cut from wood, or molded from metals, pinned on people’s collars. I have also sat in the lush green of my own back yard as a child and watched a black etched, autumn-orange Monarch balancing quietly on a milkweed pod. But I had never experienced a colony such as this one, a colony flitting from leaf to flower to leaf.
In this enclosure, Doug is breeding two hundred butterflies from eighteen species. With the moths the butterfly species number 100,000, one of the largest of the insect family. Most butterflies lay eggs individually, spreading them among the stalks. Here in the Butterfly House Doug has developed five egg-laying stations. Each station is simply a grouping of plants, which attract certain species. Wildlime plant attracts the giant Swallowtail, Fennel the Eastern Black Swallowtail, and Passion Vine the Zebra Longwing and Julia. There is also Milkweed for the Queens and Monarchs. Unlike most other butterflies, which scatter their eggs individually, the Pipevine Swallowtail clusters its eggs on the stems of the Sristolochia plant. From there come the larva, and then the spinning of silk, the hardening of the chrysalis or pupa, and then rebirth. After that the cycle begins again.
A poster placed near a bench informs visitors that the mating process of the butterflies is called the “dance” attributed to the mating dance, as they communicate their sexual desire vying for each other’s attention. The dance continues time after time, as the bits of golds and yellows flutter through the greens and reds of Doug’s environmental design. Cycle after cycle through the mating dances, each species reproduces, the next generation, which will dance again and again, over and over.
Some butterflies, such as the Pipevine, are a dying species. I am implored by another of Doug’s posters, a handwritten white poster board with pictures of the butterfly and the plants, to cultivate Pipevine or Dutchman’s Pipe plants in my own yard to attract this endangered species. He advises me that this might reverse the extinction of this species. I know little of butterflies, but Doug is stirring me to preserve this bit of beauty I see before me.
Some preserve the species by pinning the dried bodies to pieces of felt, enshrining them beneath clear sheets of glass, labels announcing their names, their prize carefully dried and then mounted in its place of honor. Children rush through fields of daisies swinging white gauzy nets, capturing one, then another, and another. For Bill and Doug, “two men in their forties still playing with butterflies,” the game has now become a bit more refined, but their spirit is the same as that of children chasing butterflies. Doug does not search the spring fields for his prizes. He only has to look in his own back yard. Within the security of the Butterfly House he can breed new species and enjoy the full life cycle of his treasures.
One of Doug’s many struggles in developing his dream has been from the Mackinac Island city council. “When I bought the greenhouse and presented my plans for the Butterfly House, that’s when I ran into trouble,” he said. The council was not convinced the idea was a good one. Besides, the business was nestled in the middle of a residential district. Under the grandfather law Doug was allowed to keep the greenhouse going, but not start a new business. But the greenhouse business was floundering despite Doug’s efforts. “I was always busy,” he said. “I had about 8,000-10,000 geraniums. The place was heated with wood and I had to stoke the fire four times a day.”
Despite his high volume, competition with other greenhouses on the island and limited market began driving his business into debt. He still sells potting plants to island residents but, despite his efforts to make it work, the greenhouse idea was failing. That’s when the butterfly dream was born.
The city council didn’t want to allow him to continue his new business in the residential area. Doug had served as a city councilman on Mackinaw Island for nine years, three three-year terms. Since his business was creating a conflict with his work as councilman, Doug resigned and continued his crusade to keep his zoning. Eventually the council agreed to let him give it a shot. Doug had convinced them of the similarities of the two businesses. One was a commercial greenhouse and the other was a greenhouse for tourists. This allowed him to continue at this location under the grandfather clause. But they did find one issue. “They made me add more bicycle racks,” he said. “Since there are no cars on the Island, the only way to get around other than walking is by horse or bicycle. We don’t have a parking lot, just bicycle racks.” Once the council saw that Doug’s business was more than an idealistic dream, they began giving him more support. He has been included in island advertising and is even leasing a full-sized billboard on highway 27 coming up from southern Michigan. He is anxious to see his business drawing visitors from all parts of the United States and the world.
There is a sense of immediacy about the life of a butterfly. Once they have found flight, freedom from the pupa, they feed from the golds, pinks, and reds of the flowers Doug provides. Their eggs are spread choicely among the breeze swayed plants, hatching in anywhere from a few days to months. The larva or caterpillar lives two weeks or more before it transforms into the pupa stage. Some larva spin a silk cocoon around themselves. Others split their exoskeleton and form the chrysalis. This metamorphosis can continue from a few days to more than a year. Many spend the winter in the pupa stage and emerge in the spring. It is during this pupa stage that Doug closes the house for the winter, due to the cold climate, and sells many of the eggs and pupa to other organizations. When the permanent glass structure has replaced the mesh tent, Doug will be able to control the climate and leave the butterflies there for the winter. In the spring the butterflies once again begin the mating dance.
Last spring Doug and Bill placed nearly 600 plants inside the Butterfly House, setting the banquet table, which I now see before me. “Nectaring plants,” plants for food — include Lantana, Pentas, Porter Weed, Corepsis, and Budlea, the Butterfly Bush. There is also a dessert of annuals such as Alyssum, Ageatum, Marigolds, Snap Dragons, and Dianthus. Everywhere I look in the Butterfly House swatches of color gently fan their wings, their proboscis (straw-like tongue), seeking the sweetness of the nectar. Their feast, however, is not tasted through their proboscis. Butterflies taste through their back feet where taste sensors are located.
Not many insects are pleasing to the eye of man. Some crawl quickly in clusters through garbage heaps. Others squat in menacing stances waiting for their prey. But butterflies, the Lepidoptera of Doug’s house, dance colorfully from limb to limb and quietly feed on the fruit of Doug’s plants. Each one sports six legs, three body parts, a head, a thorax, and an abdomen. Its four wings are covered with scales. The desire to cradle a butterfly in one’s hand is strong. The desire to touch its wings and its apparent softness has caused the early demise of numerous butterflies. Just slight pressure on the overlapping scales on thin wings causes them to flake off like a colored powder. Once these scales are damaged the butterflies lose the ability to regulate their body temperature.
Doug conscientiously pulls a small branch forward for my picture, cautiously avoiding any contact, revealing a mature Monarch. And then I see another, and then another.
I see the emergence of new butterflies before me. Everywhere I look the cycle continues. Doug tells me that most of these butterflies will only live for a short time. Once the butterfly emerges from its shell it lives an average of two weeks. Some, such as the monarchs, may live up to eighteen months and migrate up to two thousand miles. Few survive to make the complete migration. Usually the females lay eggs on the way home. The new generation returns to the original migration point where they carry on the dance. The beauty of survival is evident in these delicate creatures just as it is in Doug’s determination to protect the species.
The beauty that surrounds Doug’s dream has been touched by his own fragility. He is 39 years old and is still going strong with plans for expansion. But when he was 22 and again at age 26, he was treated for Hodgkin’s disease, which had claimed the life of his younger brother. Although the disease is in remission he was recently placed back in the hospital. “At first they suspected it was Hodgkin’s. It took them three and one-half weeks to figure out what was wrong. It wasn’t Hodgkin’s; it was a bacterial infection of my heart.” He had also suffered from a bleeding ulcer and blood clots, possibly as a result of the medications for the infection. After eight weeks he was discharged from the hospital and returned to the dream of building his butterfly house.
As I wander through the Butterfly House I am drawn by the sound of flowing water. Jutting out from one side stands a small fountain and a waterfall. Ferns veil chunks of white limestone rocks and wood bark. Butterflies linger among the ferns. A half-dozen goldfish are swirling in a shallow pool at the foot of the mini-falls. An intermittent clicking of a camera interrupts the sound of trickling water.
Other visitors have just strolled in, silently, speaking in whispers, pointing and smiling. Like an excited child, Doug shows them the colorful clusters of eggs. He enthusiastically directs them toward the gatherings of fluttering wings and lush feeding plants. Like a child during show-and-tell, I watch him lead the other wide-eyed observers through the reality of his dream.
After they leave I once again say goodbye to Doug, telling him I hope to visit again next year. He leads me through the courtyard toward the front of the building. He continues to point out old geranium pots, walls he intends to paint, and new entryways he intends to add. He flits from one subject to another, from goal to goal, from dream to dream. In a dance of effervescence he shows me his plans for his continuing cycle of metamorphosis. Despite the struggles, Doug’s survival is colored with vitality. I finally tell him I must leave.
As I take one final look around, a cool breeze reminds me of the lateness of the season. Autumn is slowly enveloping the Island. Outside the Butterfly House I can hear the dried green leaves rattling in the wind, mingled with the smells of Lake Huron. In a few months the Island will grow cold, blanketed with a bed of snow and ice.
The Straits will become a frozen highway for snowmobilers. The Island visitors, like myself, will have taken the last boats back to the mainland of Michigan until spring. But Doug and Theresa will nuzzle into their home and enjoy their son Woody and daughter Bliss. Snowmobiling, walks, and good books will fill their days and nights as Doug dreams of next spring, when the Butterfly House once again will emerge as a place of the dance.
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Michael Wetzel teaches Writing classes at Lansing Community College
And has published numerous magazine and news articles
Executive Director/founder of Shepherd’s Purse. www.shepherdspurse.org
Update - July 18, 6:14pm - Beau Geste crosses finish line and arrives on Mackinac Island… Congrats to all the crew!… http://ow.ly/2d9fr
The Pure Michigan Bayview Mackinac Race will begin on Saturday, July 17 – recognized as one of the most challenging freshwater boat races in the world. Join the excitement of the Port Huron to Mackinac Race as boat racers sail Michigan’s Great Lakes to reach their final destination, Mackinac Island. It’s all Pure Michigan from start to finish!
Celebrate the start of the race in Port Huron. Then follow the course of the Port Huron to Mackinac Race as they head north along the shores of Michigan’s eastern coast. Join the festivities at the finish line on Mackinac Island. Where the hospitality and celebration is always second to none.
And wherever you are on race day, visit our online GPS tracking page for boat location updates. For the second year, GPS tracking devices will be placed on all boats participating in the Port Huron to Mackinac Race. Pure Michigan is exclusively hosting the new online system, allowing Web users to track the progress of each boat on the course.
Pure Michigan Bayview Mackinac Race Website >>>>
Live Tracking: http://www.michigan.org/gps
Visit Bayview Yacht Club Website >>>>
They say variety is the spice of life and you’ll find it in abundance at the restaurants of Mission Point Resort. If you’re looking for an epicurean delight for that special night out, or just a quick bite and a drink, you’re only steps from four very distinctive dining possibilities to suite every palate!
CHOPHOUSE MISSION POINT
This relaxed and elegant experience offers premier dining in a lakeside lodge setting with breath taking views of Lake Huron. Chophouse Mission Point features Premium Gold Certified Angus and Prime beef, fresh seafood and some of Michigan’s finest culinary delicacies from wild mushrooms to local heirloom vegetables. Chophouse Mission Point sources only the finest ingredients from local farmers, fisheries and ranchers. Come see why this is soon to be the premiere dining destination of Northern Michigan and Mackinac Island. Come set by the piano and enjoy your favorite martini or other libation from our mixolgist or enjoy one of wines from our award winning wine list. All this in an affordable upscale casual dining atmosphere.
Chophouse Mission Point offers a splendid setting for our weekly Wine Dinners:
Enjoy the finest dining experience on the island while sampling and learning about our featured wines by the glass. This Prix Fix menu includes wine parings with each of the three courses. Your server will guide you through each course as you enjoy the ambiance that is Chophouse Mission Point. Please call (906) 847-3312 for availability.
THE ROUND ISLAND BAR AND GRILL
Casual dining at its best. Grab a seat at the bar or patio that overlooks our expansive lawn and watch the freighters and sail boats go by! Our bar highlights the best regional beers and wines Michigan has to offer along with a barbeque style menu that features slow cooked meats, lake fresh seafood, devilishly decadent desserts and creative drinks.
THE BISTRO ON THE GREENS
The Bistro features a unique setting lakeside on our executive putting course. Come sample a world of flavors at a very affordable price. Our tapas style menu invites you to sample and share this season exciting flavors. The Bistro is not just a restaurant, it is a destination featuring an atmosphere of warm tones and relaxing vibes blended in perfect harmony.
Ideal for gathering with friends to enjoy diverse culinary offerings while sipping on a selection of Michigan and New World wines by the glass. Or try one of house specialty drinks from our house made sangria to our green tea vodka cooler. The menu sways with the seasons and compliments our wine selections while encouraging the guest to share, sample and explore a variety of cuisines. Our food is prepared using sensible and all fresh ingredients that are sure to fulfill your culinary cravings.
Live Entertainment at The Bistro on The Greens (Weather permitting) - Join us for Happy Hour Cocktails and Live music every weekend during the season!
LAKESIDE MARKETPLACE
Enjoy an early morning cup of your favorite Specialty Coffee Drink along with freshly made breakfast sandwiches, pastries and more.
Grab a picnic lunch, an ice cold beverage or try our Michigan Wines and Beers to go then stop back in for a late night snack, pizza or ice cream.
Relax in our casual dining area or outside on our patio, and check out J&J’s Candy Store, too! Whatever your kids are craving, they’ll find it here!
Visit Mission Point Resort Dining Website >>>>
Horn’s Gaslight Bar & Restaurant is best known as one of the island’s night spots, but it is also a favorite for Mexican/southwestern dishes, along with traditional American fare. (Check out the Menu.)
During the day you can sing along with the piano. At night, it’s a great place to watch or participate in the eclectic dancing scene with islanders, summer workers, tourists and conventioneers. Visit the Entertainment Schedule to see who is playing at Horn’s!
You enter Horn’s onto the dance floor, so be prepared to dance your way to a table!
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Please click here for Lunch Selections
Please click here for Dinner Selections
Horn’s Gaslight Bar & Restaurant
Main Street, P.O. Box 514
Mackinac Island, MI 49757
906-847-6154
Visit Horn’s Gaslight Bar & Restaurant Website >>>
Summer continues to come to Mackinac Island… it’s the tulips now that are blooming and they are putting on a colorful show… if you are arriving this week or this weekend you’ll have lots and lots of brilliant red and orange and yellow tulips to brighten your day…
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For More Photos From Mackinac Island Click Here!
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The Original Mackinac Island Butterfly House is the first of it’s kind in Michigan, and the third oldest LIVE butterfly exhibit in the United States. The world renowned facility has 1800 sq ft of tropical garden filled with hundreds of live butterflies from4 continents.
Visit this fairy tale garden where beautiful butterflies of every imaginable size and color “dance” to classical music and the sound of falling water, fluttering and lighting on fragrant blossoms and the enchanting waterfall that centers the garden.
After a relaxing visit with the butterflies take some time to check out “Insect World”, where you will be amazed at the size of the insects that live in the tropical regions of the world. On display are 14″ walking sticks and 6″ centipedes, along with giant beetles and spiders.
The Original Mackinac Island Butterfly House and Insect World exhibit is THE attraction to see on Mackinac Island every summer. So don’t be left out of the fun! Join the thousands of visitors that take their turn enjoying this marvelous exhibit every season.
Our Visitors Tell Us We’re The “Best Family Value on the Island.” Truly A “MUST SEE” family experience! See nature’s most beautiful insects so close you could reach out and touch them, but please remember not to! Photography encouraged.
Original Butterfly House
P.O. Box 296
Mackinac Island, MI 49757
906.847.3972
Visit the Original Butterfly House Website >>>>
