Furries, Fudgies, and Buggies

Leaving Canada and Lake Huron in her wake, Adagio cruised west to the Straits of Mackinac (pronounced Mack-i-naw) toward Lake Michigan. A stop at Mackinac Island transported us to a time before automobiles, as no cars have been allowed on the island since 1896 when carriage drivers complained the cars' noisy engines spooked their horses. My not-quite-healed foot prevented us from walking or biking Mackinac's eight-mile circumference, but we enjoyed seeing it from one of the island's many horse-drawn carriages.

Native American Indians first settled the tiny island between Lakes Huron and Michigan around 900 AD. They called it "Mitchimakinak," meaning "Big Turtle," since the island's shape resembles a large turtle. As the European fur trade with the local Indians grew in the 17th century, the name was shortened to Mackinac. During the Revolutionary War, the British built Fort Mackinac on a high bluff overlooking the harbor where we docked, only to lose it to the Americans after the war. The Brits captured it once again during the War of 1812, but the US regained possession when the war ended.

Following the Civil War, the island became a popular tourist destination for residents of major cities on the Great Lakes. In 1875, much of the federal land on Mackinac was designated as the United States' second national park, following Yellowstone just three years earlier. To accommodate an influx of tourists to the island in the 1880s, boat and railroad companies built hotels, including the magnificent Grand Hotel, and the area became a summer playground for wealthy business magnates from downstate.

Today Mackinac is home to an astonishing number of fudge makers who apparently catered to the sweet teeth of these early - and now, contemporary - visitors. It's a chocolate-lovers' paradise, and we enjoyed strolling the Victorian streets through yummy aromas of molten fudge wafting from the storefronts.

As we prepared to return to Adagio on our last night on the island, we were greeted by a local troupe of Shakespearean actors eagerly inviting us to their outdoor play in the park just across from the harbor. A few minutes later, comfortably seated with boat chairs and beverages, we enjoyed a lovely performance of "A Midsummer Night's Dream." Truly, a magical evening in a magical place.