Mackinac Island

We just returned from our final trip to Mackinac Island and the Grand Hotel. For the past 15 years my dad has been in charge of the Michigan Bankers convention up there and he's kind of a big deal (our description, not his). It's a five-star hotel and after 6pm men have to wear a coat and tie. It was one of my Mom's favorite places and she always loved the conference, the people, the food, the hotel and island. We must have mentioned a million times how much my Mom would have loved this or that aspect of the time together. We had so much fun hanging out as a family. We laughed, ate and drank pretty much non-stop. This is my Dad's last year up here as he is retiring this year, and he treated us to a first class time up there to be with him and celebrate with him - and wow did we celebrate.

Due to my flight debacle, instead of leaving at 5AM, we left at 11:30. We got to Mackinac city in time to make the 3:30 Dan. When the Ferry arrived, we were greeted by a huge group of people (Susan claims they were waiting in line, I'm pretty sure they were there to see me.)

We had the most amazing rooms at the hotel - some of the best (it helps to have your Dad know the owner and organize the shindig), right at the front, overlooking the property and the lake. We had an amazing view with balconies that were perfect for sitting out and reading as you heard the horse hoofs clomp on the sidewalk below. If you look at the picture above, we're dead center in the top of the hotel.




As a retirement gift, the owner of the Grand Hotel took my Dad for a ride on his high stepper horses. All of the girls went with my Dad (including Dan). Kevin and I decided instead to ride our bikes around the island. It seemed like a good idea until we hit the gale-force winds on the back half of the island. We decided to cut through the middle of the island which was 90% up-hill, and 10% down hill.

We were able to get lots of free swag at the conference, including these nice sunglass holders. Dan took the instructions seriously that suggested he could wear these on his belt clip. Most of the staff at the hotel is brought up from the Jamaica to work for the summer. My Mom and Dad had gotten to know the maitre'd at the Grand Hotel, who leads the midnight Jamaican worship service at the catholic church on the island. Susan and my Dad headed over to see that while Dan, Kevin, Cathie and I hung out on the porch of the Grand Hotel, drank expensive scotch and smoked cigars.

Wednesday night's entertainment was the music group The Letterman. There were no top-ten lists or stupid-human tricks - instead it was 3 pretty old guys singing even older songs. I had low expectations, to say the least. I had no idea who these guys were or what they sang, but I could not believe all of the songs they have. Check out this list of singles. Ok, I wouldn't have recognized many from this list either, but as they sang, it turns out they wrote just about every song from the 60's and 70's. I recognized at least 30 of the songs they sang, including Unchained Melody from Jon's favorite movie, Ghost. At one point in the concert, they said we could come up on stage and get a picture. We did.

My personal highlight for the whole trip was when we all went on a bike ride with boxed-lunches for a picnic. As we sat and ate our lunches the seagulls came around like scavengers. I knew my sister didn't like birds, but I didn't know she was afraid of them. As the seagulls came closer, she ran screaming and hiding behind the person furthest from the bird. My brother-in-law Kevin impressed me by continuing to throw potato chips at her, which would draw the seagulls right to her and send her screaming in another direction. I laughed so hard I just about wet myself.

One of the best parts of the event was hearing Dan Dierdorf speak as the keynote. Dan played for U of M, the St. Louis Cardinals, is in the Hall of Fame and is an announcer for ABC. He talked for almost an hour and half, and every guy in the room was hanging on his every word. We could have stayed another hour easily listening to stories about the NFL, his career, and about coach Bo Schembechler. When we saw Dan walk into the room, he could barely walk. He has two new knees, two fake hips and his body shows the beating he took.


We had to leave early and took the 9pm Ferry off the island. We stayed at my friend Bill's cottage in Gaylord before heading to Spring Hill to pick up the kids.

You can see the rest of my pics here, and other pics here and here. You have to read my sister Sooze's rendition of the whole event, which you'll find here.