Star Line ferries have hydro-jet drive which they say makes them faster and which certainly makes them stand out. Of course, they operate in a slow no-wake mode while near the shore but once we cleared the docks the hyper-jet came on and we shot off straight in to the sun.

Marah told us the story behind just about everything we passed but I only got a few pictures. The big white building is the famous Grand Hotel. Non-guests can tour the hotel for $10 during the day or free after 6 PM provided they are dressed formally. That $10 can be applied to the Grand Luncheon Buffet which was $45 a year or two ago. I'm not sure what it is now since this picture is as close as I got.

After the village tour, passengers switch from a two horse to three horse carriage for touring the park. After dropping us off, Marah, Dylan, and Brenda get to rest a bit. The building where the switch occurs contains some shops and a nice little display of carriages and sleds. There is a butterfly display down the hill. I had to settle for looking over the carriages since the package I purchased didn't include admission to the butterfly house. And you thought butterflies were free.

Fort Mackinac and the entire island have a lot of military history and I won't attempt even a summary. Pertinent information is that the appearance of the current fort is intended to represent the fort as it appeared in the 1880s. It was part of a national park then. Yellowstone became the world's first national park in 1872. Mackinac became our second national park in 1875. Twenty years later, it was determined to be too small and too remote so the federal government turned it over to the state. Docents at the fort today are anchored in the middle of the national park years.

The fort has a commanding view of the harbor and could have lobbed some cannon balls in the general direction of any naval assault on the park. But the available artillery was from the Civil War and not quite state of the art even for 1885. Today I got to see the firing of a big gun and a couple of small guns and I was able to look out the holes through which the small guns would have been fired had there ever been a need. One cannon now protects diners at the Tea Room Restaurant. The Tea Room is operated by the Grand Hotel and offers a fraction of the grandeur at a fraction of the cost. On the other hand, I'm not sure those cool yellow umbrellas are available at the Grand Luncheon Buffet.

A bit of a oddity on the return ferry ride was the fact that there was never a rooster tail behind the boat. I asked the captain about this after we docked and learned that the hydro-jet drive had almost overheated on the trip out to the island and he had turned it off. Maintenance folks would be looking at it before it left the dock again.

I probably should have known of the giant pie at Charlevoix but I didn't and it was a wonderful surprise. In 1976, the town set a world record by baking a fourteen foot cherry pie and the pan they used is displayed in a little park at the west edge of town. I think I'm almost as impressed with the nicely varnished picnic tables as with the pan. The recipe is here for anyone wanting to duplicate the feat. The fine print below the recipe contains the curious sentence, "It was the first world's largest cherry pie in the USA." There will be more pie discoveries tomorrow.

As I passed within a block of the brewery the next morning, I drove by to get this picture of the brewery's unadorned exterior. The sign high on the building is for another business and the lights pointed at it weren't on anyway. The brewery is identified only by the yellow and white sign in the window.