The Room

 

This is the room where we stayed. No two rooms here are exactly alike. We shared with our friends Sam and Yvonne since the rate was pretty high ($300/night).

Inn at Stonecliffe

 

The hotel (also where the wedding would be held) was called the Inn at Stonecliffe. It was built as a residence more than 100 years ago and has since been converted to an inn. There was no air conditioning, television or Internet. I was a bit dissapointed over this at first, but later came to appreciate how peaceful it was. My only regret was that I hadn't brought a book or Bible and it appeared the Gideons have yet to stock this place. Since Chris has allergies we never have the windows open at home. I'd forgotten how relaxing it is to have a nice breeze blowing through the room at night.

Taxi!!

 

There is no motorized transportation on the island--just horse drawn carriages and bicycles. When we got off the boat, all the carriages we saw were going to specific places, but none had signs saying they were for our hotel. We had no idea how to get one. Chris called our friends Greg and Deanna who were smart and had flown in. Their hotel was in town so they met us out on the street. We asked one of the carriage drivers to radio for a "taxi." We waited what seemed to be a long time. The ride from town to our hotel was 40 minutes.

Ferry

 

As we pulled off the exit for Mackinac Island it started to rain. By the time we found the ferry, it was REALLY raining, lots of lightening too. It didn't make for the best conditions for unloading our luggage and buying ferry tickets. The boats left every 30 minutes, so each one we missed, that would have been a lot of waiting. I was eager to get on that boat and to our hotel. Finally, the rain let up a little and we decided to brave it. By the time we were on the ferry and riding toward the island, the rain had stopped, however the water was pretty choppy. People who get seasick probably should think twice about this island.

More Driving

Friday

Thinking the more sleep I could get, the sooner I'd be rid of this cold, we slept in late as possible at the Ramada this morning. We missed the hotel's breakfast so we stopped at a Tim Horton's down the road. We don't have these in Kentucky but always eat there when we're up north. I would describe it as a low quality mix of Panera, Starbucks and Dunkin Donuts all in one restaurant. They have all the right things I like on the menu, but the quality just isn't up to par. I just got an OJ and blueberry muffin and decided I'd do a late lunch somewhere up the Interstate.

We had 3 hours left to drive and boy was it rough. I was still run down from the cold and tired from all that sleeping (it's true, sometimes you really can get too much sleep). About an hour from Mackinac I asked Chris to stop at Subway and he was less than pleased about my request. First, he hates Subway and second, he didn't want to stop. Whatever. The place was a gas station/Subway/tube rental store (I'm assuming there was a river nearby). There were lots of animal heads mounted on the wall. The people inside looked like lumbar jacks. The woman in line behind me at Subway ordered a footlong and it came with bacon and boy did this sandwich artist load up the bacon on it. I was kind of grossed out. I finally paid for my stuff and ran back to the car. As I got into my seat, I slid my hand down the Subway bag and it was warm. Trouble was, I had not gotten my sub toasted (That toasting machine at Subway is not normal...I mean, what is it? A toaster? A microwave? All I know is, it "toasts" the sandwich way too fast and it never tastes good, I've learned that lessson). Then, I remember the bacon lady behind me saying she wanted her sub toasted. Oh crap, they've given me the bacon toasted sub...Yuck! I run back inside, find the lady and explain that I think they confused the sandwiches. Thankfully, she hadn't bitten into mine yet, so we made a quick exchange and Chris and I were soon back on the road.

Are we there yet?

We are less than 3 hours from Mackinac Island. We went to Carrollton, Michigan tonight (accidentally). Let's just say, I hope we never get lost in that town again, yikes! As usual, booking a hotel for the night was drama. When we finally found the place, they didn't have our reservation. I have a feeling I'm going to be spending some quality time on the phone with a Ramada manager in a few days when they end up double charging our credit card since I had to make another reserveation. While I was at the front desk a local guy came in and proclaimed he just didn't feel like sleeping at home tonight. He then asked if people ever check out prior to mid-night because they're done with the room "if you know what I mean." Classy, this place. When Chris went to the car to get our bags, he disturbed a couple who truly should have booked themselves a room rather than do what they were doing in a parking lot. Nice! Glad it was him who walked into that rather than me!

Well, at least we have wireless and the room is fine actually. I'll have to go back out and tell that guy who didn't feel like going home that maybe it's worth the $79.

I still feel awful. I slept all the way to Michigan. Chris gets husband of the year points today for trying to make me feel better via outlet mall shopping. I bought a shirt for $5 at Gap, that was it. Chris, shockingly, actually tried on a pair of shorts and bought them. I think it's the first time I've ever seen him buy something outside of Wal-Mart, Lowes, Home Depot or Auto Zone.

We had dinner in a German town. It was really nice. Would have had some beer, but didn't think it would go well with the cold medicine. I've already forgotten the name of the town, but I'm too tired to look it up. There were cute little tourist stores, but the only one we went in was for dogs. Yes, we've become one of those couples who goes in trinket shops and oohs and ahhhs over figurines that look like our dog. Sometimes I wonder how I got so old so quickly.

Sick!

 

Well, it's been confirmed, this blog has one reader, so I'll keep blogging. (Thanks, Deniz!). We were supposed to leave today, but I'm not feeling too hot. I have to say, the best thing about being sick is plenty of time to lounge around with my puppy Molly. She was so sweet today. I think she knew mommy wasn't feeling well. The second best thing is watching TLC's What Not to Wear. The women made over today included a fashion school graduate and an interior designer. I figure if people with such skills don't know how to dress, there's no hope for the rest of us.

I finally get a few days off from work and am SICK. This is the typical Amanda luck. The nose is running, head hurts, etc... It wouldn't be so bad if I just had some ENERGY. I went downstairs to take care of some laundry this evening. After dropping off the dry stuff on the bed and heading back down to put the stuff from the washer into the dryer, Chris stopped me to tell me something. I had to keep walking and yell "Not right now, don't break my momentum." I seriously thought that if I stopped to talk, I would fall down and not be able to get back up.

I sure hope I'm better by tomorrow. I'm excited for Mackinac and to see the gang heading up to Brad and Deniz's wedding. Brad and Deniz are one cool couple--Can't wait to spend their wedding day with them!

Does anybody read this thing?

OK, gang, it's almost time for another adventure. We'll soon be heading up to Mackinac Island (near Michigan's upper penninsula, I believe). Don't know too much about the place. I'll check it out and let you all know what it's like. I wish this blog were as exciting as my brother's blog about his big shot life in Rhode Island. You can check his out, it's in my links.