A couple of weeks ago Jamie and I got away for a few days with our friends Brad and Kelly Morin for a short Memorial Day vacation on Mackinac Island in north Michigan. Jamie had spent Memorial Day there with Kelly and some other girl friends last year, and this year Brad and I surprised them by actually agreeing to go along (they expected us to say no so they could recruit their loud friends and raise hell for a few days again. That'll teach them).
Anyway, after spending all day in airports getting there (Mackinac Island is at the northern tip of mainland Michigan) we spent one night at a hotel in Mackinaw City (on the mainland) and then went across to the island where we spent the next four nights at Grand Hotel. 
Kelly's a frequent visitor, and asked that Jamie and I get a really nice room as it was our first time there as a couple, but neither of us expected what we got - which was the corner Lincoln Suite on the first floor, down the hall from the parlor and dining room. 
As we fronted on the famous front porch (on the west end) every night we heard the horses clip-clopping right outside our window, which we really enjoyed.We dressed for dinner every night, walked the grounds, admiring the tulips in bloom, 
shopped in the town, and took a very cold carriage ride around the island. Jamie came down with a cold while we were there, so I amused myself touring the old fort in town and reading in the wine bar. We went up to the bar in the cupola to enjoy the view a couple of times, watched everything on TV about the history of the hotel, 
and enjoyed the cold temperatures (went into the 20s the night we left, making for a chilly walk to the ferry the morning we left). It only took two flights to get home, so we were back Wednesday afternoon after Memorial Day.
