As we continued around the island, we found ourselves a chunk of the island along the Northeast shore that we could stop and hang out at. Jen felt the need to take off her shoes and stand in Lake Huron. I felt the need to take a picture of it.
This is Jen looking towards the other side of Hennipen point. Most of the beach along this side of the island is made up of small pebbles and stone that are lined with larger stones near the roads.
The wind wasn't really significant on this side of the island. We would later find out that on the other side of the island that it was REALLY windy. The last 2 miles were decidedly more challenging. I managed to take this picture of Jen just as she was whipping her hair around for the real picture. It's all about timing, ya know?
Much better. Along our private personal beach, there were some very large stones that went into the water, a few stones well into Lake Huron. This would be one of those stones being claimed for the land of Wrobel.
A fun story about the sunglasses she's wearing: I affectionately referred to those as her J-Lo's. When she went to band camp the week earlier, on the first day her sunglasses had a rather unfortunate encounter with mean old Mr. Gravity. Unfortunately, Mr. Gravity won that particular challenge. When she called me later that night, she told me about it. Being the awesome boyfriend I am, I took it upon myself to head to the mall and get a replacement pair for her to surprise her with when I visited her on the last night of the camp. I'm even house trained!
As we continued around the island, the Mackinac Bridge started to come into view. We immediately hopped off our bikes to snap away. Little did I know that this would be only one of the 20 or so I would later take. I guess 19 just wasn't going to be enough. You can see how hazy and overcast the weather was. Sadly, the clouds never really went away, something that kinda put a kink in my original plans for the evening... But I'll get to that later.
Yet another picture of the bridge. In one of the other pictures of the bridge, we had to be somewhat selective as to how we framed our shot. As we slid through the trees to the coast to get a better vantage point, we started to hear somebody talking. Upon closer inspection, it was a man speaking in French with a decidedly French-Canadian accent. Upon even further inspection, we discovered that he was wearing a tiny black speedo. For your safety, we made sure he never got into our shots. Also, if you are in a speedo and the water is cold, there really is no need to grunt and moan loudly. We get it. It's cold. Fine. If it's such a problem, either get out of the water or PUT SOMETHING OF MORE SUBSTANCE THAN BLACK DENTAL FLOSS ON. Unless you're hot.
Oh, what's this? Another picture of the bridge?
One thing that is pretty fascinating about the bridge is how from a distance away, it seems so small. Obviously it's a large bridge and all, but it doesn't seem like it's 5 miles long. That it can retain that kind of presence from such a distance away is a testament to its majestic power.
When we were riding the ferry in, we saw this cute little lighthouse on the edge of Round Island. I managed to get a much better picture of it from the Southern edge of Mackinac Island.
After I took the picture of the lighthouse, I turned around and realized that the boardwalk along the South side of the island was pretty cool as well. This is one of the few spots away from downtown that has street lights along it. Up the road the opposite way I was facing was the public library for the island as well as Mackinac Island Public Schools. I can't imagine that their marching band is really all that fantastic. I have a hard time imagining living on the island year round. Even with TV, radio, and internet, the ability to be isolated from the rest of the "real world" is amazingly easy, even if you are a visitor on the island for only one day. Cell phone reception was very good on the island, although I imagine that to some extent, cell phones have removed some of the seclusion of the island for both good and bad. I think part of the charm of the island is being able to get away from everything for a little bit. It is also interesting to note that I really can't think of a single corporate presence on the island; unless I missed something, everything on the island seems to be privately owned and operated. This I'm sure came to the dismay of somebody we rode the ferry with who informed her friend that "there had better be a Starbucks when we get over there". No. There isn't, and you'll be a better person for it.