Key West, February 2015, Getting ready

We are off to Key West.  I am quite excited to get out of town for a bit.  At the same time, we are both nervous.  We have not flown for quite some time and thing have really changed since our last flight.  We are hoping to have very good weather and it is currently looking that way.  This is true of both of the days we fly as well as while we are in Key West.   Now if the weather man doesn't change his mind, we should have a wonderful trip.

This morning when we got up it was -2 degrees in Lawrence.   Brrr.  Although I must admit it has turned into a sunny day with hardly any wind.  This morning in Key West it was 69 degrees but raining.  It was supposed to rain all day long but the chances of rain lowers to 20 percent tomorrow.  I am guessing by the time our plane arrives that will be gone.  Very little rain chances the rest of the time we are there.  Yay!  Enjoy the photo of the scenery at the Dog Park this morning.

Because Key West is such a small area, we plan to mostly do our sightseeing by foot.  If we get brave, might rent some bicycles.  I have invested in a swimsuit so plan to lay on the beach and stick a toe in the water.  We'll see.  It would be a shame if I don't get that suit on me.  James refused to buy a suit and will be using his Nike sports shorts.  I think he should be okay.

Mackinac Island, August 2014 - FInal Thoughts

We just really enjoyed this trip.  Last year we traveled to Door County, Wisconsin, but the weather wasn't as nice for that trip.  Door County is also a very good place for a vacation.  We watched the weather forecast closely for at least a week before our scheduled departure.  It wasn't looking too good.  The two full days we were to spend on the island started out with 80 to 100 percent chance of rain.  We even took the time to find waterproof jackets at Cabelas. Fortunately, the chances of rain went down.  I wore my jacket on the ferry and one other morning. James only wore his on the way back to Mackinaw City.

It rained during the night Tuesday into Wednesday morning.  By the time we left the Inn, the rain had basically stopped.  My jacket felt good, though.  We started most mornings in the 60s and the highs were in the 60s and lower 70s.  About as perfect as it can get.

We had never been in Michigan before.  It is a gorgeous state.  The highways, both two-lane and freeways, are lined by trees.

We also traveled through Charlevoix as we traveled from Traverse City to Mackinaw City.  The curbs on the streets were lined with petunias.  It was so colorful.  I had never seen anything like it.

I like to watch for quilt squares on barns.  I was disappointed that I didn't see more of these.  I saw the first one on highway 131 in Michigan and only one other after that.  I do think they just add to the side of a barn.

The brush along the side of the roads were turning to their fall colors.  There were trees that were beginning to turn as well.  It will be another month before that occurs in our part of the country.

James had trouble using the gas pumps.  He had to put in our zip code before he could get the pumps to work.  I shouldn't laugh because it could have been me.  The out-of-state pumps just work differently than they do in Kansas.  

We drove through Brookston, Indiana, on our way to Grand Rapids.  I taught school at Frontier High the year before Seth was born.  The gymnasium was still there but the rest of the high school was gone. They had built a large elementary near this gym.  The high school had been moved north to Chalmers.  

We loved the Harbour View Inn.  They served a very nice breakfast and the room was very clean. Our only disappointment was there was basically no internet access.  We do like to surf around first thing in the morning and also after supper some.  Because of the lack of wifi, I had to wait for all of my posts until we stopped in Crawfordsville, IN, on our way home.  Yes, we survived without wifi. It is the one thing I would have changed about the trip.

I am going to add a few more photos with some comments.  Hopefully you have enjoyed traveling with us to Mackinac Island.

Taken from the ferry as we crossed the Mackinac Straits.

The bridge goes from the lower to upper Michigan peninsulas.

Gorgeous hollyhocks all over the island.

Just one type of the many flowers to be found on the island.

They use the horse manure on the flower beds.  One of our horse carriage tour guides told us that manure was their biggest export.

These two photos were taken along the boardwalk.

Grand Hotel.

Mackinac Island, August 2014 - Day 6

We were up early today.  Time to start the long trek back to Lawrence.  We were on Shepler Ferry's first trip of the day to Mackinaw City.  8 am.  You can tell they have been doing this for a long time.  The Inns are very coordinated with the ferry companies.  The porter picked up the luggage from our room at 7:30.  He arrived at the dock about 10 minutes before we were to board. We had already given our car ticket to the agent who had scanned and sent that on to the dock across the Straits of Mackinac.  The luggage was put on the ferry shortly after we boarded.  Off we went.  As we were getting close to land, we received a text telling us where the car was parked.  We disembarked, quickly picked up our luggage, loaded in the car, and off to Crawfordsville, IN, for our last night of our trip.

There were a few problems along the way.  There had been a very bad accident along the freeway in Fort Wayne, Indiana.  All lanes were closed.  Took us a bit to find an alternate route as well as being able to reach and exit.  That took us about an extra 45 minutes.  We then hit Lafayette, Indiana, during the rush hour.  In total we probably had delays of an hour to reach Crawfordsville. We were glad to see the Hampton Inn and get checked in.

Tomorrow will be the final day of travel.  We will be glad to see our own beds and pick up Boz from the hotel.  (Oops, the kennel.) I will have some final thoughts in the next couple of days.

Mackinac Island, August 2014 - Day 5

All of a sudden we are on our last day of vacation.  Yes, we will be on the road a couple more days but that’s just the trip home.  It was another outstanding day, though.  Weather was perfect.  We woke up to a temperature of 49 degrees.  Couldn’t believe it.  It was in the mid 50s by the time we left the inn.  We decided we were going to walk over to see the summer homes that are on the West Bluff and then on to the Grand Hotel.  The homes on the West Bluff were just as awesome as those on the East Bluff.  It is hard for us to believe that these gorgeous homes are just for summer use.  We took the road along the lakeshore then climbed stairs to Pontiac Lookout.  Naturally, walked too far and had to turn back.  We could not believe that this the staircase up to the road in front of the homes.

Staircase to West Bluff

Look hard and you can see the roadway down below.

We are about halfway up.

Photo of West Bluff homes

These summer homes are very close to the Grand Hotel where we went next.  Would you believe we had to pay $20 just to get inside.  Yes, we paid.  I wanted to sit on the front veranda of this luxurious resort.  The largest veranda in the world.  Also, if you stay here, after a certain time in the evening, women must wear dresses and men must wear slacks.  I don’t believe this would have been our cup of tea.  At the same time, I am so glad that we were able to see the inside.  It really is unbelievable and from a different era.  We took the elevator up to the Cupola Bar for a beautiful view of the city and the Straits of Mackinac.  We also sat in rocking chairs on the veranda for a bit before heading back to town.

Grand Hotel

We finally did a little souvenir shopping on our way back to the Inn.  Dropped off our packages and ditched the wraps.  We walked back to town to eat lunch at the Pink Pony’s patio.  We have really enjoyed eating our meals outside.  Particularly at those restaurants that faced the harbor.  After lunch we took a horse carriage trip around part of the island.  We had read about most of the history that the guides told us but it was very interesting to hear about the horses and how they are cared for.  They transport the bulk of them off the island for the winter months.  We were lucky enough to be able to ride on carriage that is pulled by the only two clydesdale  horses on the island.  Not for the entire tour as they have you change carriages in the middle of your tour.  The carriage below is the second carriage of our tour.

3 horse carriage.

We ate our supper at the Seabiscuit restaurant.  Rather appropriate considering our afternoon.   Then back to the Inn to get ready for the long, long drive home.  We plan to catch the 8 am ferry back to the mainland. 

Mackinac Island, August 2014 - Day 4

Wednesday, August 27, was a busy day.  We had a rough night due to outside noises.   We never sleep with our windows open so were a bit surprised when it was soooo noisy.  Certainly no automobile traffic as there are no automobiles on the island.  The horse taxi made much more noise than expected as they came down the street.  Plus they were coming down the street through the wee hours.  Also, as people came home in the wee hours they didn’t seem to be too quiet.  We are now wise and will close windows tonight.  We also have a window air conditioner which we can just set to pull air in from the outside.  It is quite cool and no AC is needed.

Harbour View Inn

 Horse Taxi

We ate breakfast in the hotel.  It was a very good continental breakfast.  Sweet breads, fresh fruit, yogurt, juice, and coffee.  As much as we needed to fill full.  After breakfast we decided to walk a trail to see the Arch Rock. 

 Arch Rock in Background

Everything went smoothly until our return.  Tried to go in a complete circle but we seemed to get lost.  Spent much more time on that walk than planned.  Enjoyed the walk but were ready to be done.  Very glad to finally return to the city and find Fort Mackinac.  We bought our tickets and then decided to eat at the Fort’s Tea Room.  Very good place for lunch.  Portions weren’t too big and the view was outstanding.  After finishing, we toured the Fort and really understand the importance of this island during the Revolutionary War as well we the War of 1812.  We stopped at the Island Art Museum as we walked back to the Inn. 

Fort Mackinac from Main Street

Look closely to see the yellow umbrellas at the Tea Room

View from our table at the Fort Tea Room

Took a bit of a break to rest the ol’ feet then walked up to the east bluff to see some of the summer homes that had been built years ago. 

Summer Home on East Bluff of Mackinac Island

We ate supper at the Village Inn before doing a bit of shopping after eating.  We returned to the Inn for the rest of evening.  We were tired.

Mackinac Island, August 2014 - Day 3

Today, the third day of our trip, we started the morning by visiting the Gerald R. Ford museum in Grand Rapids. It was very interesting although I did prefer the Lincoln museum. I think this is because I actually lived through the Ford era. I did learn new things about him, his family, and his contribution to our country. Brought us through the 70s.

We left the museum and headed towards our final destination. We traveled up the middle of the state before heading to be closer to the lake. Ate our lunch in Traverse City in a delightful bakery. They had terrific sandwiches. We then walked a bit on the shore of Lake Michigan before heading to Mackinac Island. We arrived in Mackinaw City and drove directly to Shepler’s Ferry to get our car parked and to board the ferry. Worked out perfectly as we arrived around 5:15 and were able to catch the ferry that left at 5:30. The ferry took 16 minutes. There was a valet waiting on the dock to take our luggage to the Inn. Unfortunately, the wifi in the Inn is horrible which is a disappointment for James as well as me. One of the disadvantages of staying in an older building.

This is along a canal in Traverse City.  

Below is a photo of the Grand Hotel from the ferry on our way to Mackinac Island.

Mackinac Island, August 2014 - Day 2

We had ups and downs yesterday.  Before we left Springfield we visited Lincoln's home.  The night before we had gone through the neighborhood.  We felt like the homes were very nice for the late 1850s and early 1860s.  The Park ranger said the Lincolns would have been considered to be upper middle class in today's societies.  Amazing when you considered that he had started life in a one room cabin the size of the kitchen in this house.  The Lincolns had cash.  To be upper class, you needed land.  This would include plantation owners.  We also learned that people of that era slept sitting up.  The beds were shorter for this reason.  Interesting bit of information, I thought.

From the home we traveled to Lincoln's tomb.  We almost skipped this but I am so glad that we took the time.  It was a very impressive sight.  A very appropriate memorial for such a great president.  I am going to include a picture inside the tomb.  Lincoln is actually buried behind this and below ground.  Mary, Tad, Eddie, and Willie are buried in normal mausoleum tombs facing Lincoln.

From the Springfield, we traveled to Lafayette, Indiana.  We were wanting to visit Purdue and maybe see where we lived while James was in school here.  Well, this was a complete bust.  My fault.  I didn't even give thought to the fact that it was 40 years ago when we lived in this town. Yes, where our oldest child was born.  Needless to say, things were totally different.  West Lafayette had grown.  Purdue had grown.  We were totally lost.  If I had taken the time in advance to have James look at a map of the campus, he might have remembered the building.  Oh well, lesson learned.  

We traveled from Lafayette to Wyoming, Michigan.  This is just south of Grand Rapids.  The drive between these two towns was on two lane roads and raining.  Naturally, I was driving for the first time on this trip.  Never hard just a nice steady rain.  Wishing it had been doing that in Lawrence where we need the rain.  The ground in this area is really saturated.  Finished the day with a supper at Arnie's.  Every meal gets a cupcake.  We had soup and sandwiches which were very good.  Then finished with a carrot cupcake.  Yum, yum good.  Great way to end the day.