More Than Fudge

Since our last serendipitous side trip to Mackinac Island during the last Mackinac Bridge walk a few weeks ago I've been wanting to return to the island before the "Closed for the season" signs go up and the island hunkers down for winter. So, with some free 'VIP' tickets that I got from an ex-ferry captain in hand, we hopped on a Starline rooster-tail boat and held on for the bumpy 15 minute ride from St. Ignace across an unusually choppy channel. The rooster-tail spray from the back of the boat, if not functional, was at least fun, especially with the "rooster rainbow" that followed us all the way to the island dock. Upon disembarking the vessel the first thing I noted was a surfeit of Mitt Romney for President signs. It seems he and the Michigan Republican Party had chosen the same weekend for a rah-rah ice cream social at the Grand Hotel. Did they get free tickets, too?

Fudgies, as locals call tourists carrying those dense, calorie-laden blocks of chocolate fudge, walked the streets with every kind of Romney paraphernalia a printer could print. "Romney in '08" was the definite theme of the day. I like Romney, and might even vote for him, but we quickly felt the need to escape the blue t-shirted army of Romney-ites wandering the streets in groups of 2 like missionaries proselyting the virtues of conservative values.

So, for $5 an hour each, we jumped on 3 bicycles and headed down the road to circumnavigate the island on a relatively flat, paved road that heads out of town in either direction. After passing million dollar mansions and several top-notch resorts the road soon gave way to a beautiful two lane path following the shoreline completely around the island. The colors of the lake actually reminded me of the waters of O'ahu with white beaches turning to tan, azure, and then the deep blue of the distant channels surrounding the island. One thing O'ahu doesn't have is the fiery reds and oranges of the turning leaves of fall. That makes Mackinac special. The ride took about 2 hours, and was one of the most enjoyable things we've done in a long time. I'm beginning to think I could learn to love island life, whether it's O'ahu, Maui, or Mackinac. And, as it turned out, when we finished our ride, we were happy to sit with all the Romney supporters serving up free ice cream and sodas. I guess it beats kissing babies.

Of course, we loaded up on fudge before the last boat to the U.P. set sail. I hid mine in my camera bag to avoid the fudgie epithet, but I think the locals knew.