Winter On an Island? Traveling To Mackinac Island

My parents had a fudge shop there in the 60's and 70's. My dad was the first one to put a exhaust fan in the doorway to push the Fudge aroma into the street to attract customers. Parade Magazine had a write up about it when it was a insert of Sunday Detroit Free Press. In the wintertime we used to ride Snowmobile's on the ice from Cheboygan to Bois Blanc Island to Round Island to Mackinaw Island.

I recommend you work there for a season and see if you like it. They provide employee housing. Everybody is hiring now. It's a great chance to live on the island, meet lots of great people and have lots of fun. I worked and lived up there 3 different seasons and those summers were the happiest of my life. :)

These are Spruce Trees, Pine Trees and White Birch Trees. The White Birch Trees were used by the Indigenous people to make canoes and to build shelters for a living. Those are very dominant 400 miles north at the very tip of the upper peninsula as you go toward Houghton-Hancock and Copper Harbor, Michigan. I lived way up at the tip of the upper peninsula and it is magical in the fall and especially in the winter. Right out of Dr. Zhivago and Northern Exposure! If you want to see what life is like up there watch the series Northern Exposure which is supposed to take place in Alaska but it’s very much like the furthest north in the upper peninsula. People are so friendly and welcoming in the UP!

I live in Northern Michigan and we always go to the island at the end of the season, just before they shut most things down. There are a lot less people and the prices are lower too. I just love the crisp air in the fall (even when it rains) on the island and stopping at the restaurant for soup and hot chocolate, before taking the ferry ride back (my favorite time of year), but I've never been there in the winter. Thanks for showing one of our states treasures during the winter!

Christmas on that island must be like something off a 19th century Christmas card!

What a great video. I have spent many times with great memories there. I did two of the big sailboat races from Detroit. Arriving was like coming home. My old girlfriends family from Detroit recently purchased the Iroquois Hotel. Love that place. And friends of their family recently purchased the Grand. I'm thinking about five years ago. And YES! I know Sanford. The best little diner there called Lannys. I used to live in Birmingham MI. I miss it but not the weather.

I got married Dec 29-1998 on Mackinaw island it was a beautiful sunny cold day. The snow just sparkled like crystals it was so pretty. Marriage didn't last but the memories of the beauty still does. Just Gorgeous 😎❄⛄and the horse drawn carriage slay ride was the cherry on the cake. Bells jingling and all. I will always love Mackinaw Island. She's like a family member always waiting for you to come back.💓

I live in Michigan and have visited Mackinaw Island many times but have always wondered how it looks in the winter! Thank you for sharing your experience with us!🥰

Second time watching this video! It’s beautiful in the winter too! Dude you almost made me cry in the end. I don’t know why but it feels like it’s my home that I’d don’t know I had. I’ve never loved any place I’ve visited so much like Mackinac Island. On my second visit, it immediately brings me joy and peace. It was hard to leave. Even my family is looking forward for a next visit. As always, thank you for bringing me to Mackinac Island virtually. 💙💙💙

yes, island is great in the winter time. I was the doc on the island for a winter weekend. my wife, my dog, and myself. super experience! learned how to swim in the hotel pool in 1951. water was pretty chilly. going back to the Grand in October. can't wait. JDR

Mackinac Island has been on my wanderlist for maybe ten years - now it’s on there a 2nd time for winter time. Thank you for such a beautiful look this gem.

I was born in Traverse City 70 years ago! Last spring my husband and I made a trip to TC and then on to Mackinac Island staying at the Grand Hotel in their preseason week! What a gem! We enjoyed it so much and felt so good to come back to my roots!!! Thank you for this beautiful video in winter. Not sure I could brave that cold. Just wondering where would you stay in the winter??

Well done! Thank you. I think if more stuff, especially the Grand Hotel were to open in the winter, more people would come! I think you could sell tickets to a special Christmas dinner on the island! Also and enchanted night walk on weekends would probably go over great too!!

My wife and I were engaged on Mackinac Island, and my family is from nearby Harbor Springs. I grew up hearing stories about running "ice boats" across the straights in winter to run mail back and forth when the straight iced in. I didn't know you could visit the Island in winter. I am definitely adding this to my bucket list. 🙂

Well done. Thank you. October 2021, just two weeks ago, was my 31st visit to Mackinac Island and every year and every visit I experience something new. I decided in 2019 to visit the island in the winter and spent the first week of January hiking the island and staying at the only open winter hotel on the island......Pontiac Lodge and dining at the only restaurant, Mustang Lounge. Correction.....there is also a bed & breakfast residence open in the winter. Experience the island and join the thousands of people from around the world whom have island memories for a lifetime.

Definitely on my bucket list. I saw Somewhere In Time when it came out and I was in junior high and have always wanted to visit.

Living in southern Appalachia, I enjoy traveling north through Michigan as the state is a treasure in my opinion; however, Mackinac Island is beyond my favorite place within the state--rare gem indeed😊

Just beautiful. I'm sure its awesome in the summer, but a whole different atmosphere during the winter.

Thanks for the historical information

This one really touched my heart. I love Mackinaw and never saw it from the winter perspective. I think the Island touches my heart as it does yours. Thank you