Tag: Mackinac

  • Mackinac’s Orbit, Part 11 (What’s Brewing?)

    Twelve Mile Circle readers don’t really care about my brewery visits. I get it. You won’t offend me if you skip this article or scroll through the pictures without reading anything. I really do this more for myself to create a record of my visits that extend beyond the simplicity of my list or my…

  • Mackinac’s Orbit, Part 10 (Into the Highlands)

    A typical tourist on Mackinac Island sticks pretty close to town. Maybe they’ll take a carriage tour inland or head over to the golf course. Still others may venture around the perimeter on a bicycle along Lake Shore Road. But there are other spots that get less attention. I wouldn’t call any of them “obscure”…

  • Mackinac’s Orbit, Part 9 (Lake Shore Road)

    Bicycles are the most popular form of transportation on Michigan’s Mackinac Island, other than foot. They’re perfect for an area of less than four square miles where motorized vehicles are essentially prohibited. There are plenty of places to rent bicycles within an easy walk of the ferry docks. However, I had an inside track. My…

  • Mackinac’s Orbit, Part 8 (In Town)

    I’ll just come out and say it, Mackinac Island is an odd place (map). Lots of people love this scenic spot on Lake Huron for that specific reason, and I admit I enjoyed my brief time there too. But it was disorienting and bewildering to this first time visitor. It felt like a topsy-turvy version…

  • Mackinac’s Orbit, Part 1 (Up North)

    I had good reason to travel up to Mackinac Island in Michigan, a place sandwiched between its Upper and Lower Peninsulas. My older child worked at an internship there this summer, a requirement for a University degree. You know, the kid who loves zoos, designed a town, and noticed all those modes of transportation? Yes,…

  • Beaver Island in the News

    There’s an interesting human interest story about Beaver Island, Michigan making the rounds via the Associated Press, “Technology a blessing, a curse for remote island.” I mention it both because it’s an interesting narrative and because I’m one of very few people who’ve actually visited Beaver Island. If you care to know more about that…