What is the proper way to pronounce the word “Mackinac”?
The French Pronounced it “aw” but spelled it “ac”. The British heard it pronounced “aw” so they spelled it that way. Whichever way it is spelled, it is always pronounced “aw”.
Lasagna, 45 minute drive north & a quick 20-minute power nap after finishing marathon #33 – and I’m boarding an early afternoon ferry to Michigan’s Mackinaw Island. Berthed downtown on Main Street, bought a carriage tour ticket & hopped aboard within 5 minutes of arriving on the island. BAM – awesome timing (next tour not for 2 hours).
Traffic on Mackinac Island is limited to bicycles & horse-drawn carriages – automobiles prohibited…pretty cool, huh?
Targeted a visit to Mackinaw & its Grand Hotel because of a sappy 80’s movie starring Jane Seymour & Christopher Reeve, “Somewhere in Time”. Re-watched the movie last week online before marathoning in Michigan.
Don’t think the love story itself drew me in – it was the ability to go back in time & live another era. What would life have been like if I were placed in the early to mid- 1800’s in the American West? Hmm.
Mackinaw’s Carriage Tour hit all island highlights. Started downtown, rode past residences built in the 1910s & ‘20s, the Governor’s ‘Summer Residence’, and – the Grand Hotel.
Built in 1887, the Grand Hotel still looks much like it did a century ago. There are newer hotels with modern facilities on the island – but give me history & creaky wood planks any day. Nothing rivals the Grand Hotel’s long wrap-around wood porch, overlooking the Straits of Mackinac (Lake Huron). Spectacular.
Tour resumed at the island’s working stable (Surrey Hills) where we switched carriages & travelled thru Mackinac Island State Park, stopping briefly at Arch Rock (rest break for the horses).
Tour concluded at Fort Mackinac, built by British troops during the Revolutionary War. I hopped off at Fort Mackinac & walked the trip remainder, down historic Market Street, past “Somewhere in Time” gift shop & multiple fudge stores.
Beautiful day.
Ferried returned, hotelled the night across from Old Mackinac Point Lighthouse.
Early 230am start for the trip home – 4 hour ride to Grand Rapids, 8am Denver flight.
“Come back to me” – Elise McKenna, ‘Somewhere in Time’
I’ll come back to Mackinaw & the Grand Hotel.
-
- early afternoon ferry to scenic Mackinaw Island
-
- Mackinac Bridge, Lake Michigan
-
- bicycle or horse-drawn carriage — automobiles prohibited
-
- carriage tour down Main, thru historic Downtown, to the Grand Hotel
-
- Arch Rock, Mackinac Island State Park
-
- Straits of Mackinac (Lake Huron)
-
- British outpost, Fort Mackinac
-
- lighthouse sunset (moon visible)
“Somewhere in Time”
Having completed 27 races, now follow a fairly consistent post-marathon pattern – shower, lasagna, rest.
Threw ‘tradition’ out the window after finishing this morning’s Kentucky Derby Marathon. Sure I showered. Yes, devoured a plate of “go-to” lasagna. But kick around slowly & lick my wounds? No way; no time today.
Invited Connecticut BFF Dawn to Kentucky – #1 she’s my BFF; #2 this gal eats/breathes/sleeps equine. Not only owns & shows quarter horses but versed in a multitude of horse disciplines & events – I tell ya, she’s a HUGE fan of the mighty equine. No one else I’d rather share space in Kentucky Horse Country – I’m better for knowing Dawn.
Hour half drive to Lexington; tonite’s destination: the Kentucky Reining Cup Freestyle World Championship.
…the Kentucky Reining Cup Freestyle World Championship is the largest, most prestigious and most important Freestyle competition in the sport of Reining and crowns the annual World Champion in this, the more artistic side of an otherwise technical sport.
Free from the restraints of a prescribed pattern, Reining competitors must only achieve required maneuvers in their own freely choreographed program, complete with special effect lighting and costumes.
Think the redneck in me still prefers rodeo, but whatta show. SPECTACULAR!
Woke Sunday & picked up where I left off – with the ponies. Arrived early at Churchill Downs (home to the Kentucky Derby) & watched horses exercising on the traditional dirt track. Yeah, pretty much perfect. Derby Museum, Walking tour, Barn & Backside tour – & only 6 days before the next Derby running. A true WOW day!
Lunch at the Cardinal Café, 2 hours at the Muhammad Ali Museum (boxing icon & native of Louisville), then finished at Sunergos (met FB marathoner Heidi), before trekking north to Indianapolis for my flight HOME to Colorado.
Sooo much to see & do in Louisville. That said, if you wanna see Kentucky, you gotta see the ponies. FAAAANNNTASTIC!
-
- largest, most prestigious Freestyle competition in the sport of Reining
-
- my Connecticut BFF Dawn, fan of everything equine
-
- home to the Kentucky Derby
-
- exercising horses a week before Derby
-
- today’s WOW pic – when in Kentucky, must see the ponies!
-
- historic Churchill Downs
-
- first Saturday in May, three-year-old Thoroughbreds run a mile & a quarter on this famed dirt track
-
- “The Greatest” — Ali was bold, fought for race equality & stood strong as boxing’s Heavyweight Champion
-
- “Float like a butterfly, sting like a bee”
Kentucky Reining Cup
Took an early a.m. flight to KC, in prep for Saturday’s Garmin Marathon in Olathe (oh-LAY-tha, ‘Beautiful’ in Shawnee). I know what you’re thinking – what to do in Kansas? Aside from KC BBQ, all I imagined was open prairie & tornados.
First destination: the Nat’l World War I Museum at Liberty Memorial.
Can tell ya, I previously knew very little about WWI – was only going ’cause it was lauded America’s premier WWI museum. Exhibits retold WWI via film, photos, news clips, memorabilia & cars/planes/tanks of the era. By the end of the Great War: Germany was left bankrupt; Russia erupted into civil revolution/end of czarism. Last of the great wars to actively involve horses & the first to introduce aerial warfare.
Insightful, interesting, super impressed; museum well done.
Next stop, lunch at Joe’s Kansas City Bar-B-Que. Place came highly recommended by my boss, Jim. Settled on KC’s famous Z-Man sandwich & fries – did not leave disappointed 🙂
With clouds rolling in (yesterday’s Colorado snow arriving as thunder & lightning here on the Plains), wanted to squeeze in a quick visit to Mahaffie Stagecoach Stop & Farm. Located on the Santa Fe Trail, folks regularly stopped in Olathe during the 1860’s-1880’s while re-settling West. Migration halted during the [pre-Civil War] Bloody Kansas conflict with neighboring slave state Missouri. [Mahaffie was cousin to John Brown, the Harpers Ferry WV abolitionist.] Sooooo much history here – LOVED it!
Stretched my stay at Mahaffie to closing time. Draft horses, oxen, sheep, goats, pigs, chickens – everything you’d expect to find on a Kansas farm. Auntie Em & Dorothy’s life was no joke.
Gotta say, Kansas – not so bad. Some of the nicest folks I’ve ever met.
-
- 4th straight weekend marathoning – state #26 tomorrow a.m.
-
- monumental artwork painted in Paris during the First World War — described as the largest painting in the world
-
- worth the 45 minute wait
-
- KC’s famous Z-Man sandwich & fries – today I killed a cow 🙂
-
- draft horses
-
- Springtime in Kansas
-
- “Little House on the Prairie”
-
- big eyes, crazy long tongue & a wet nose
-
- Santa Fe Trail Stagecoach Stop
-
- watch out Prairie people, K* at the reins
-
- well done, Kansas – some of the nicest folks I’ve ever met
