Return to Mackinac Island

The next stop on our Great Lakes cruise was Mackinac Island! I had visited this magical island a few years before and was so excited to be back! I documented much more of the island and the one-of-a-kind Grand Hotel last time I visited when I actually got to stay on the island for a couple of days, so make sure to click HERE, HERE, HERE and HERE for a more complete view of what this beautiful island is all about.

We only had a few hours this time around, so we tried to fit in as much as we could! We began with a horse drawn carriage ride around the entire island. No motorized vehicles are allowed on Mackinac Island, so the main modes of transportation are horses and bikes.

Our carriage ride ended at the magnificent Grand Hotel. I got to stay here the last time I visited, so I really got to thoroughly enjoy the eclectic and amazing decor. I linked all my photos of this  gorgeous hotel above, make sure to got take a look, because it is like nothing I have ever seen before!

 This time, we were just stopping by for their amazing buffet lunch.

That dog is definitely living its best life.

Fun fact: The Grand Hotel has a sister hotel that was decorated by the same interior designer. It's the Greenbrier, located in West Virginia and it has a secret government bunker in it that visitors can take tours of. And I have been there! We wanted to compare and contrast these twin hotels, so we decided to visit both. Click HERE, HERE, HERE and HERE for photos of the Greenbrier and see if you can see any similarities in their decor. 

We checked in for lunch and had a little bit of a wait before we could be seated, so we got drinks at the bar next to the dining room and  headed out to the grandiose porch to rock the time away before lunch.

The lunch buffet was massive, impressive and gorgeous!

For some reason I didn't take any photos of the savory options of the buffet, but I did take a video, so these are blurry stills from that video...

And it went on and on and on and on all the way down this walkway!

All of the desserts looked like little, artistic masterpieces.

Yum!

After lunch, we stopped by the art gallery located off the lobby. They were having a special show entitled, "Art of Our Loved Ones: Family and Furry Friends" so there were lots of gorgeous, sophisticated oil paintings of animals and pets! I thought it was so awesome to see the beauty of animals and the joy and serenity they can bring highlighted in an art show.

There were a couple of silly, quirky ones, which I absolutely loved.

Then we had the rest of the afternoon free. My mom opted to relax on the the porch of the Grand Hoel, while my Dad and I went on for a walk around town.

Mackinac Island is famous for two main things, The Grand Hotel and FUDGE! Almost every other store on the main street in Mackinac is a fudge shop. Last time we were here, we analyzed and researched each shop and decided to go with Joann's Fudge for our Mackinac fudge experience. We were happy with their fudge, so we decided to make Joann's a tradition and got some new flavors to try this time around.

Another fabulous visit to this romantic island, I always love visiting here.