12B -The Michigan Daily Weekend Magazine - - Thbrsday, November 19, 1998
0 0
Thursday, Novemt
Nov. 19: Isle of
View.
/ What: Mackinac Island
/ Where: The Straits of
Mackinac, where Michigan's
Upper and Lower peninsulas
meet.
/ How: Take 1-75 north to
Mackinaw City. From there,
board a ferry to the island.
/ How Long 4 1/2 hours
/ What's there: Mackinac
Island is well-known for its
horse-drawn carriages, fudge
and historical bull ings. In
the winter, when most
tourists leave, its trails are
used for cross-country skiing.
Road-Trip of the Week
Mackinac Island is
More than just a
summer destination
From Theodore Cardman's
L'ackyarl
.... to over 450,0(
aroun
JEFFREY KOSSEFF/Dadiy
Mackinac island does not allow cars, but its natural limestone formations and
bluffs overlooking the Straits of Mackinac are accessible by foot, bike or horse.
I U
LSA Student Government Elections
TnuavEI
1 mN o I
Polling Sites.
Pierpont Commons:
10 - 3pm
Angell Hall (Fishbowl):
10 - 4pm
By Jeffrey Kosseff
Daily News Editor
One of the most unique road trip
destinations in Michigan does not per-
mit cars.
Mackinac Island, the historic little
city between Michigan's Lower -and
Upper Peninsulas, has become one of
the state's top fall and winter tourism
destinations.
Shedding its image as a summer
tourist trap that provides cheap plastic
souvenirs, fudge and horse manure-
covered streets, the eight-mile, round
island offers fall color tours and cross-
country skiing throughout the early
winter months.
During the summer, Mackinac
Island attracts close to one million
tourists who come to escape the hustle
of everyday life and experience the
island's historical and natural beauty.
The island has a 100-year ban on
"horseless carriages, or automobiles,
so more than 500 horses can be found
roaming the streets and dirt paths in
the summer.
Local marketing efforts and public-
ity over the past decade have length-
ened the tourism season on the island
from three months to a majority of the
year. Hotels, bed-and-breakfasts and
restaurants are staying open later into
the fall and winter, and a few busi-
nesses are open year-round.
"People come to cross-country ski,
and just to see what it's like up here in
the winter," said former University
Regent Paul Brown, chief executive
officer of Arnold Transit, one of the
island's three ferry lines and the only
one that stays open into the winter
months.
For more than 120 years, Brown
said, Arnold Transit has run boats
from St. Ignace to the island until
early January, when the Straits of
Mackinac begin to freeze over. Unlike
the fast catamarans that carry passen-
gers to the island in the summer
months, Arnold Transit only offers
slower, half-hour ferry boat rides in
the winter.
When the straits are frozen, there
are two ways to travel to Mackinac
Island - by plane or by snowmobile.
Airplanes run from St. Ignace to the
Island regularly year-round, and a
round-trip ticket costs $28.
Margaret Doud, who has been
mayor of Mackinac Island for 24
years, said the tourism season "has
definitely lengthened."
"In the fall, people come to see our
wonderful fall colors," Doud said.
The extended tourism season, Doud
said, has improved the island's unem-
ployment rate, which skyrockets in the
colder months.
The state of Michigan owns about
80 percent of the island and uses the
land as a state park. In the winter, the
park's bicycle trails and roads are used
for cross-country skiing, and a few
hotels and bed and breakfasts stay
open to accommodate skiers.
This year, for the first time, Mission
Point Resort - the island's second
largest hotel with more than 250
rooms - will keep some rooms open
all year.
During the week between
Christmas andNew Year's Day, many
Mackinac Island hotels and bars re-
open so tourists can celebrate the hol-
idays.
Doud said she expects a large end-
of-the-millennium celebration during
the last week of December in 1999.
Mackinac Island's beauty is its top
attraction. Boasting . spectacular
views of the Mackinac Bridge, the
world's largest suspension bridge,
clean air and roads undisturbed by
automobiles, it gives people the rare
opportunity to escape the daily grind
without spending an exorbitant
amount of money on air fare.
The island offers tourist attractions
such as historical museum exhibits,
shopping and horse carriage tours in
the summer, but it's atmosphere in the
winter is much more relaxing and laid
back.
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