Mackinac Bridge Walk

Posted on September 7, 2011 by

Walking on Mackinac Bridge

This past Labor Day I finally got to cross another thing off my “bucket list”.  This wasn’t an official item, but one that I’ve always wanted to do: Walk across the Mackinac Bridge.

For those who have never heard of this bridge and/or don’t live in Michigan, this bridge connects the two peninsulas of Michigan, the upper and lower.  It is a 5 mile bridge across the Straits of Mackinac – where Lake Huron and Lake Michigan meet.  Due to its length, the bridge does not have pedestrian traffic (it’s also part of the interstate system).  However, once a year, on Labor Day, the city celebrates the close the of the summer season and the hard work and dedication to build the bridge by hosting its annual Bridge Walk.

I’ve spent many summers in Mackinaw City, Mackinac Island, and its environs.  However, with school always starting just before or just after Labor Day, I was never able to walk the bridge on Labor Day (I live in the suburbs of Detroit and thus, a 5 hour car ride/300 miles away).  But this year I had the Tuesday off to drive back home and happily chose to spend my holiday waking up earlier than I normally to to walk 5 miles in the chilly air.

Thankfully, my aunt and uncle were more than happy to have us stay with them at their place off Cecil Bay.  Their dog Lily was very eager to receive our adoration.  Before the walk Dave & I ate a quick breakfast at Burger King.  I still prefer McDonald’s, but Mackinaw City doesn’t have one because of a dispute a dozen years or so.  We parked in an overflow lot and walked the couple blocks to the Arnold Line parking lot where the shuttles picked us up.  It was $5/person to have a bus shuttle us from the lower peninsula to the upper.  The buses were requisitioned from many neighboring school districts in both the upper and lower peninsulas (Cheboygan, Pellston, Gaylord, Tahquamenon, and more). On our ride over we saw people who jogged/ran the 5 miles and finished already.  It was 7-something in the morning, way to early to be considering running (at least in my opinion).

We were dropped off right next to the toll booths and started our walk at 7:45am.  The first two miles are mostly uphill and were a bit rough on my hip bones for some reason.  I enjoyed walking on the bridge, especially walking on the grate.  I liked looking down at the water below me while I walked above it.  We stopped a few times so I could snap a picture or two, but for the most part we walked non-stop (though slow).  We finished in just under two hours.  Dave & I each received a certificate for crossing the bridge.  And of course we had to go buy a shirt that says we walked the bridge (at Shirt Tales…they screen print shirts in store).

The rest of the day we spent enjoying the city, walking in and out of stores, eating some fresh fish for lunch, snoozing back at the trailer, and then finishing the day up with a pizza at Mama Mia’s Pizzeria.  As a kid, it was my favorite restaurant in Mackinaw.  Several years ago it was destroyed in a fire caused by a pizza oven.  It was a total loss.  The town changed over the years but Mama Mia’s was a cornerstone, frequented by locals and tourists.  I heard they completed redesigned the place and the Bridge Museum upstairs was gone.  For years I could not bring myself to go in.  But this year I was ready to accept their attempt to move on despite a complete loss.  The place has only a few remnants of the old restaurant.  It was hard to take in: a slightly different pizza recipe, the loss of the memorabilia, the loss of the museum memorabilia, and the loss of its character.  It was now more commercialized, more touristy.  The memory still lives on with me and I’m glad they rebuilt the restaurant instead of let the fire destroy a mainstay of Mackinaw City.

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Cedar Point – Ride On®

Posted on August 25, 2011 by

Tickets in hand, Dave & I arrived at the park just after it opened.  We ate a very big, very filling, breakfast at Perkins Restaurant hoping it would keep us from spending gobs of money on food in the park.  It worked – for the most part.  Food was just so over-priced that even the tiniest amount of food was gobs of money.

The line for the Raptor was rather long since it was the coaster closest to the entrance.  Dave & I took a more logical and methodical approach to our time and thrills at Cedar Point.  We would build up to the big coasters so we could enjoy the small stuff and the big stuff (and I may have needed a bit of building up my nerves).  The small amusement park rides had no lines so we quickly rode the Scrambler, and the Matterhorn.

First coaster of the day was one of my favorites: the Gemini.  The line was pretty short, we waited maybe 15 minutes.  As I climbed in and the lap bar locked in place my nerves got to me a little, but I pushed them away.  I sat on the inside and wasn’t even bothered by the chain hill this time.  However, the first drop…I swore.  A few times.  The feeling of the first drop had somehow escaped me and thus, took me off guard.  I enjoyed the ride, but was completely unprepared for the drop.

Next up was the Maverick, a coaster I had not been on before.  I was comforted by the shoulder harnesses (I really prefer those on ALL the rides if I could…) and was a bit taken aback as the train shot up the chain hill quite fast.  I was not expecting it to be so quick.  Or the drop to be so steep.  There was some more swearing (I don’t scream on coasters – just swear, but since no one can hear me, no one can mind) and me getting tossed around a bit.  Dave was having a great time and I was enjoying the rides, but those nerves easily made my hands sweaty.

We rode the Iron Dragon next, and compared to the Maverick, it felt tame.  I enjoyed it though, less anxiety and more time to enjoy the coaster as we coasted through foliage and over a pond.

I was excited to ride the Raptor – it was another one of my favorites.  The line was short, like most of the coasters.  The longest line we waited in was for the Maverick.  We twisted and turned, went upside down 6 times, and “kicked the sky”.  Those shoulder harnesses made me feel happy and secure so no worries.

Quick ride on the Blue Streak and an amusement park ride called Calypso before heading to the Millennium Force.  And then my confidence unraveled.  I fully intended to ride the Millennium and the Dragster, but when Dave pointed out the train stuck on the chain hill of the Millennium, my anxiety overpowered the wall I had built around it for the day.  The train eventually was “unstuck” but the ride never reopened.  I don’t think I could have ridden it anyway, even if it had reopened.  Getting stuck is one of my worst roller coaster fears.  I want the ride to keep going, from start to finish.  It’s a comfort knowing that once the ride starts it will keep going until the end.  A mechanical problem near the top of the chain hill is not comforting.

Dave & I on the Raptor

I was unnerved from the seeing the train on the Millennium that I wasn’t able to overcome my anxiety to go on the Dragster.  I wanted to, for Dave, and for myself, but I knew I wasn’t ready.  Next time we go, which will most likely be next summer, I hope to have better control of the anxiety and ride the Dragster and the Millennium.  Hey it gives us a goal to work towards, right?

Since Dave and I planned to buy a picture, we went back to the Raptor, the coaster that I felt the most comfortable with that takes pictures, and rode it again to get a pretty good picture of us.  This way we can start our Cedar Point Coaster picture collection with the Raptor and we’ll be able to afford to collect all the photos instead of buying them all in one trip!  At least, I comfort myself with these ideas.

Dave wanted to ride the new ride, the WindSeeker, but I wasn’t interested in it so he waited in a pretty short line while I sat down, relaxed, and took a few pictures of him on the ride.  Exhausted, and with the park closing in an hour, we headed out to beat the rush out of the park.  We stopped at TGIFridays for a quick bite to eat, but what we didn’t realize until it was too late was that it was still part of Cedar Point and all the food was overpriced.  It was convenient and decent food.  The Brownie Obsession dessert was as good as always.  We were stuffed after dinner, but after passing up so much ice cream and treats in the park, we just had to get a good tasty dessert to share.

We’ve made plans for Labor Day to walk the Mackinaw Bridge.  I have yet to walk it, even though I spent so much time up there as a kid, the timing of the bridge walk was always poor.  But this year it works our perfectly.  I’m excited to walk the 5 miles of the bridge across the straits.

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Selfridge Air Show 2011

Posted on August 20, 2011 by

I had high hopes for this year’s air show.  I love going – been a tradition of mine for many years.  But I have noticed a decline in the schedule, the line-up of aircraft demonstrations, and all around atmosphere of the show.  I still go – it’s free and something fun to do – but each show isn’t as good as the year before.

This year I was quite disappointed to see that neither the Blue Angels or the Thunderbirds would be at the show.  Their aerobatics have been the highlight of my show-going experience.  I’ve seen the Blue Angels once and the Thunderbirds about 3 times.  Althought I did not leave the show empty-handed, so to speak, I did get to see (and hear) the F-18 Super Hornets flying at Mach 3 (not exactly sure of the speed).  I’d see the plane fly silently across the sky and then hear the roar of the engines and the sound barrier breaking several seconds behind the plane.  It is a sight to see, hear, and feel.  They’d fly vertically up and down, back and forth, and all the while the soundtrack to Top Gun played in my head, specifically the songs “Playing with the Boys” or “Danger Zone”, both by Kenny Loggins.  I memorized that soundtrack many years ago and I still love it to this day.

Dave & I walked around the static displays, taking the time to enjoy some much needed air conditioning in the Delta 757 first class cabin.  It was similar to the plane he took when he flew down to Ft. Lauderdale on his flight benefits last fall.  We even had our picture taken sitting in the engine (it was off of course!).

I kept an eye on the radar on my phone, nervous about the impending storm and trying to decide if we should call it quits early or stick it out.  Thankfully, the decision was made for us, the air show ended early at 3pm.  We saw all we came to see and were able to see the pyrotechnics as well.  The wall of fire was quite a sight, but even more amazing was the distance we were from it and yet still felt the intense heat wave it produced.  We walked back to the car, opting to leave the shuttles for those who needed it a little bit more than we did.  The walk wasn’t too long, but we were very thankful for air conditioning by the time we sat down in the car.

It worked out for us that we went to the air show on Saturday because we were going to drive to Sandusky, Ohio Sunday afternoon to go to Cedar Point on Monday.  While reading the news on my phone Monday morning I heard about the wingwalker who fell to his death at the airshow.  He was too close to the ground to open a parachute.  I am thankful I was not there to see him fall – it would have been gut wrenching to watch a man fall to certain death.  I saw several posts on Facebook from friends who went to the show on Sunday and were unfortunate witnesses to his contact with the ground.

I am looking forward to the next air show in 2013 – hopefully I’ll be able to see the Blue Angels.  They took my breath away when I saw them and desperately want to see them again.  Perhaps Dave & I might be able to catch them at another air show.

 

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Selfridge Air Show & Cedar Point

Posted on August 18, 2011 by

This weekend is the Selfridge ANGB Biennial Air Show (or as some say bi-annual – although that technically means every two years rather than every other year).  I’ve gone to every show since 2003.  This will be my 5th show.  I am very excited to be going with Dave – he loves aviation.  There will be planes on display on the tarmac, aerial stunts, and other activities.  I’m hoping the weather is sunny; I hear a forecast of rain right now and I am saddened.  Last show was shortened due to crummy weather.

Sunday night we’re driving down to Cedar Point and going to the park all day on Monday.  We’ll drive back Tuesday.  I’m excited for some of the rides like the Gemini and the Raptor – others, like Top Thrill Dragster and Millennium Force, still make me nervous.

Have a good weekend!

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Mackinaw Island Plans Fell Through

Posted on June 24, 2011 by

I am a bit sad that our camping plans fell through.  Something came up at Dave’s dad’s work and he is unable to take some vacation days.  It’s alright, because on the bright side Dave & I will be able to see some of my friends who are visiting from Texas.

We’re trying to see if we can reschedule the trip, but trying to find something that works with 5 people’s schedules is a bit difficult.  We shall see.

We’re also going up to the lakehouse for Independence Day weekend so we still get a bit of a trip.

 

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Camping & Mackinac Island

Posted on June 11, 2011 by

I’ve been invited to go up to Mackinaw City, Mackinac Island, and camping in St. Ignace with Dave’s family for a couple days near the end of June.  I’m excited – I love Mackinaw and its environs.  When I was a kid my family and I used to go up to my uncle’s beach house on Cecil Bay for 2 weeks.  No TV and no phone, just the open blue sky, Lake Michigan, a small town, a beautiful island, a beautiful bridge, and nothing planned.  I loved those two weeks in Mackinaw.  The sand came into the house (even though we tried to wash it off before we went in), the breeze lifted the soul, and if you closed your eyes, you could feel paradise.  I spent days swimming and reading books and nights roasting marshmellows over a bonfire with my cousins.  Life outside of Mackinaw didn’t exist.

Of course the town changed, I grew up, and things changed and we no longer spent two weeks there.  Sometimes I see the the area as it is now and think the magic is gone.  But other times, if I close my eyes, I can hear the waves and seagulls, smell the fresh breeze, and feel the magic all over again.  And of course, my memories of summers past will always be with me, even though I can’t go back to my childhood.

I’m looking forward to visiting my favorite shops, seeing the island, seeing the bridge, some delicious fudge, and relaxing.  Oh and because Dave’s family has a camper in a pickup, only his parents and sister can fit in the truck.  So Dave and I will fly up to Pellston on his flight benefits and his family will pick us up.  We’ll squish for the short ride to the campground, but I don’t mind.  It’s cheaper for us to fly up on his benefits that drive up in a separate car.  :) Can’t wait!

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And It’s Back to MI…

Posted on June 4, 2011 by

We returned home without any fanfare…took the AirTran to JFK airport, ate some lunch, got on the plane, took off, and landed about a little over an hour later.

It was a fun trip, I enjoyed the few touristy things we got to do.  Of course there are tons more things to see and do in New York City, but we only had a few days.  NYC is expensive – they have a higher tax rate than MI (but most places already calculate tax in which is nice), food just seems to cost more (even a 20oz pop), and I earn not enough money to stay there much longer.  Pizza was great, the sights were beautiful, and the time away was good for the soul.  And I’m glad I got to see the city, I missed out on it when I was on a layover there in Jan of 2009.

Pictures coming soon!  Keep an eye out under “photo albums” on the right menu.

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Statue of Liberty & Ellis Island

Posted on June 3, 2011 by

Today we reserved the whole day for the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island.  By the time we made our way to Battery Park, it was around 10am.  We bought tickets for the ferry and walked around the park to find the end of a very long line to get the on the ferry.  We were told it was about an hour wait.  No biggie, time to enjoy the sights and sounds of Battery Park, the Hudson, and talk about whatever popped into our heads.  While in line there were several street performers around to keep us entertained.  This one was an excellent contortionist and twisted himself so he almost literally kiss his own butt.  He also was able to fold himself to fit into a plexi-glass box, which was rather amazing.  There were others who sang or played music, all trying to make a living.  We barely even noticed the time passing as the line moved quickly.  We quickly moved through the metal detectors and onto the 3 deck ferry to Liberty Island.  It was a bit windy, but the view of Manhattan, Brooklyn, Liberty Island, Ellis Island, and the statue was beautiful.  I snapped quite a bit of photos.

First order of business on the island was lunch.  We ate at the cafe on Liberty Island – I had some good fish & chips and Dave had the Fisherman’s platter.  Tasty seafood and fries.  We walked around the island, taking pictures of Lady Liberty, Manhattan, and people watching.  It was a beautiful day to be there.

A bit later we got on the ferry again to go to Ellis Island.  There was so much to see and do there, I wish we had more time.  We could have spent the whole day on Ellis Island alone.  I didn’t have money to access the computer records of my distant family, but it was just as well with the time.  We walked through an exhibit of how people were processed at Ellis Island.  It was heartbreaking to hear how quickly steerage passengers were judged.  An X on your back meant there was possibly something wrong with you that they didn’t want to have in their country.  Of course the process now is not as rigorous to enter the country, but it was definitely not advantageous to the immigrants.  Stories of separation, death, disease, and mistreatment broke my heart.

I wanted to stay longer and walk around the island, but my right leg ball joint was sore and we were hungry for dinner.  We left Ellis Island, heading back to the City.  We took the subway up to Greenwich Village to eat pizza at Ray’s Famous Pizza (on the advice of a friend).  It was good pizza.  I was getting tired and sore at an exponential rate.  But we trudged onward to take the subway and walk several blocks through Chinatown to get some ice cream that had been hailed as the best ice cream in New York City (by google).  I had some delicious oreo ice cream and Dave had some exotic flavors – coconut and something.  Walking all around Chinatown to find a subway station felt like eternity, but we eventually got there and went back to Times Square to buy a few souvenirs for ourselves and family.  Times Square at night was beautiful – so many lights – it felt like day time!  Almost needed sunglasses!

Crashing back at our hotel we fell asleep nearly instantaneously, happy to sleep in the next morning, but sad to head back home.

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I ♥ NY

Posted on June 2, 2011 by

The alarm went off at 4:20am.  Any other day that would feel so early, but I was excited to go to New York that I was wide awake.  We left for Detroit Metro Airport about 25 minutes later.  After an hour’s drive, parking, and shuttle to the terminal, we were at last checking in.  Boarding passes in our hand, we walked over to the new screening system at the airport – you know those body scans that people complain about the invasion of privacy.  I stood there, and in two seconds it was done.  The whole thing was rather anticlimactic, actually.  So much hype for something that I felt wasn’t a big deal.

We grabbed a bite to eat at Einstein’s bagels and boarded the plane around 7am.  No first class seating available :( but I was just as happy with the bulkhead seats as they had extra legroom.  The flight only took an hour and before I even had finished leafing through the SkyMall magazine we were descending towards LaGuardia.  It was a beautiful day, but our backpacks were rather heavy (no checked luggage for us, just carry-on).  We took a bus to the subway system and then took the subway to our hotel.  They were so nice to hold our bags for us.  We were starving so it was time to grab some food.  We headed to Times Square via subway and stood around like tourists who could not make a decision whatsoever on what to eat.  There was everything around us and yet we had no idea what to eat.  We decided it would be fun to eat at the Hard Rock Cafe, so we enjoyed some good burgers there.  I also bought a shirt on the way out.

We walked around Times Square a bit, stopping in at the M&M’s Store.  I had never seen so much stuff with M&M’s.  It was a 3 story store with everything from pillows, to Christmas Ornaments, to clothes all M&M themed.  Then there was the giant wall of M&Ms.  Every color of M&M that has been made in giant tubes.  Create your own mix of M&Ms.  They had peanut M&Ms, peanut butter M&Ms, milk chocolate M&Ms, dark chocolate M&Ms, and special NY themed mixes.  I made my own mix of purple, blue, green, and white.  Of course, there is no end to the chocolate in NYC because across the street was a Hershey’s store.  Giant 1lb bars of chocolate, many mixes, and cute bears were plentiful.  But my favorite section was the Reese’s section.  I am a sucker for Reese’s.  So good.  They had giant Reese’s package, with two giant cups, each 1/2lbs of Reese goodness.  I was so tempted to buy one.  But I walked away.  :-)

First on our touristy list was The Empire State Building.  It was hard to actually get to the entrance without being bombarded by people trying to sell us tickets to go up to the observation deck.  We ignored them, but they wouldn’t give up, continuing to walk after us, getting in our way, and telling us that there was a two hour wait, a long line outside.  Not trusting the tickets to be real or without a “service” fee tacked on, we decided to only buy tickets from the official desk in the building.  And of course, there was virtually no line and the correct price.  Since the city is rather expensive, we saved money by only going to the 86th floor observatory.  The city was beautiful from the Empire State Building.  I took some amazing pictures of Manhattan, Brooklyn, and perhaps even Queens in the distance.  360 degrees of beautiful New York City.  It was rather windy up there (since it was so high), but I enjoyed the sights.

After our fill of NYC from up high, we strolled over to Central Park.  We walked a little bit into the park and found a grassy knoll to lie down, stare at the clouds and be a cute couple kissing in the grass.  It was relaxing to just listen to the city’s rhythm.  Our grumbling stomachs forced us to get out and seek some amazing New York Pizza.  We headed to Little Italy for some margherita pizza at Lombardi’s.  I loved the coziness of the restaurant, many small dining rooms instead of one giant one.  Upstairs, downstairs, left and right to get to our table.  A 14″ pie is a SMALL!  I had my doubts about finishing one between the two of us since I’m a slow and moderate eater.  But we finished it.  And boy was it amazing.  Dave found it by googling “Best Pizza in New York City”.  Since I haven’t tried many NY pizza joints I can’t say it was the best in NY, but it was definitely a top contender that set the bar high.

It wasn’t that late, but knowing we had a busy day the next day and that we’d been up since 4am, we headed back to our hotel in Jamaica, Queens.  There were so many trains in the subway system that I had to check and double check the platforms I was on and the routes.  But I love mass transit by rail – above or below ground.  If there was a mass transit system like that where I live – I would have no problem commuting because I could read or listen to music, or get something done while commuting.  Driving, although nice when I have to go to the grocery store, takes your full attention and it can feel like a real waste of time on occasion.

We fell asleep rather quickly, excited to go to the Statue of Liberty in the morning.

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Leaving…on a Jet Plane!

Posted on June 1, 2011 by

Dave & I will be leaving for New York City quite early in the morning. We have a 7:30 flight from DTW to LGA. We’ll spend the day checking off our very touristy (but must-see) list. Of course depending on lines and admission prices, we may not get to every one of them. On Friday we’ll spend the day lounging around with Lady Liberty on her very own private island and looking up my relatives on Ellis Island. After that – it’s back to the touristy list (if there is anything left) or just walking around Manhattan taking pictures. Saturday we’ll sleep in, and catch an early afternoon flight from JFK back to DTW.

The Touristy List

  • Times Square
  • World Trade Center Memorial
  • A Walk in Central Park
  • Rockefeller Plaza
  • A Walk on the Queensboro or Brooklyn Bridge
  • Madam Tussaud’s Wax Museum
  • Rockefeller Plaza “Top of the Rock”
  • Statue of Liberty/Ellis Island

And even though I have an I <3 NY shot glass, I should get a t-shirt, right?  I have one nice NY shirt on I got at JFK, but since I’m doing the touristy things, I should get some touristy swag, right?

 

Next trip after that…Cedar Point. I enjoy roller coasters…but I do have a slight fear of heights (sometimes). Dave wants me to go on Top Thrill Dragster, the Millennium, and several others. I’ve been to Cedar Point twice before – favorite rides are the Gemini, Iron Dragon, and the Raptor. Least favorite – the Magnum, and the Mantis. The Magnum takes way too long to get to the top of the hill and has a lap bar that I did not feel secure in. Of course, it’s crazy drops in the dark didn’t help me either. The Mantis, I thought I’d enjoy but halfway up the chain hill I got charley horse cramps in both my legs. It torture during the ride. I limped off and they quickly escorted me away as if this happens often but they don’t want the next riders to see me crying and limping. Dates for this trip have not been set.

Pictures and stories from NYC coming soon! :)

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