Escape from the Memphis heat.

Heat indexes exceeding 100 degrees are not uncommon this time of year in Memphis. So the Missus and I decided to fly north about 685 nautical miles to the tip of Michigan to cool off at Mackinac Island.   That's pronounced "mack in aw." This was a great trip, and we will return there when it's stinkin' hot in Memphis.  For the pictures check out my Picasa link.

This was the longest single leg I have flown in the RV-7.  I generally like to keep flights to two and a half hour legs, but with all the deviating around weather, it was just over four hours to our fuel stop just short of Mackinac.  If you fly into Mackinac, I would suggest a late morning or afternoon arrival in order to avoid the fog which sometimes enshrouds the area.  Since there is no fuel at the airport, we landed at Pellston, 18 miles to the south, for fuel before continuing to Mackinac. Once there, we were directed over the radio to a parking place, although we had to steal tiedown ropes from the adjacent space.  There was no tiedown available for the tail, so I screwed my own tiedown into the rocky earth to secure the tail. The tiedown/landing fee was $42 for three days.

I had called the airport from Pellston so that we wouldn't have to wait so long for the carriage which would take us to our hotel. Turns out this was a good idea. The carriage driver was sort of surly, but I might act the same way if I had to stare at two horse butts all day.





I'm too cheap to drop the cash to stay at a place like The Grand Hotel - you could expect that from a guy who built his own airplane, I guess.  Our hotel was called Harbor View.  It was very nice at about $200 per night, including a pretty good continental breakfast. Kind of a weird room though, with sloping  angles in the ceiling, a great big jacuzzi right in the middle of the room and two bathrooms with showers at either end of the room. Mary loved the two bathrooms.




There are no motorized vehicles of any kind on the island.  Bicycle is king here, and there are literally thousands of them. Our hotel rents the basic single speed bikes with coaster brakes. You could elect to rent from one of the local bike shops if you need a fancier bike with multiple gears.  I'm accustomed to a carbon frame bike with clipless pedals which I speed around Memphis on, but it would be wasted here as there are few hills, and speed is limited by the large amount of bike traffic dawdling along on the roads. We managed to get some good excercise pedaling along on the hotel bikes.
We biked over to The Grand one morning, but we were not allowed to enter or approach the hotel. They have plenty of security to keep the riff-raff away.  I understand they will give you a guided tour of the hotel for $10.  Fat chance! I guess if I were paying to stay there, I wouldn't care for gawkers enjoying all that atmosphere for nothing!  I actually thought the sign outside was a joke.  It ain't no joke, Bub. After 6, you need a coat and tie, and no slacks for the ladies. And I thought I was prepared by bringing a shirt with a collar!

We were thinking of going to The Grand just for dinner, but, needless to say,  I did not have the appropriate attire. Having said all this, I may have to sneak back up to Mackinac during the off-season when rates are more reasonable just to stay at The Grand.

We did manage to find some good places to eat. We were directed to "The Yankee Rebel Tavern" by the staff at our hotel, which was OK. Much better was "The 1852 Restaurant" at the Island House hotel which was just next to our hotel. I recommend this restaurant if you want a little more atmosphere.  Also very good was "The Pink Pony" in the Chippewah Hotel downtown.  We had a table with a nice view of the bay. Mary wanted to dine at "The Carriage House," but we could never get reservations at a time we wanted.

I never knew this was the fudge capital of the world. There must be a fudge store every 10 feet when you walk down the main street. Fudge is not my weakness, but I did spring for a half pound of English toffee, which IS my weakness!  With all that biking here, I guess we need some calories to keep our asses from getting too small!

The weather was just what I hoped for - nice and cool. It drizzled a little bit late one afternoon, but very nice otherwise.


All too soon, it was time to wing our way back to Memphis.  We stopped in Danville, IL just to break the trip up.  I met a nice man named Larry there who has just completed his RV-7A.  You can't go anywhere without meeting RV builders!


If it's hot where you are, consider Mackinac Island as a place to beat the heat.