After the kids and I had such a great experience at Mackinac last year I was excited to show it to Karrie this year. Luckily for us about 3 minutes after we called the horse taxi from the FBO, a horse taxi pulled up to pickup some other passengers so we got spared the 30-45 minute lead time for a ride. While the walk from the airport to city center is only about 2 miles through scenic roads the novelty of the horse taxi is a huge draw to come to the island. After eating some pizza and sweets we took a stroll so the kids could play in Marquette park. Unfortunately this time we were not lucky enough to get a last minute hotel room so we headed back to the airport. While we had been flying along the shore of Lake Michigan Karrie had made note of the nice beaches everywhere. After taking a look at the map Karrie decided that Traverse City would be a nice spot to checkout. Once we landed she booked a hotel and we took the shuttle from the FBO to the hotel. After a good nights sleep the next morning we woke up and took a short walk to lake shore. The kids found a park and made some new friends while playing on the park toys. Siting on the park bench I found the now repurposed The Northern Michigan Asylum that offered tours of the asylum and housed boutique stores in converted portions of the building. Sadly we missed the available tours but did enjoy walking around looking at the one of a kind shops.
Lake Michigan
Mackinac Island
Rybas for some snacks.
Karrie wondered what type of ambulance they operate on Mackinac. Here is the answer.
Traverse City lake shore.
They seem to love whatever beach we visit.
Poor little girl did a scorpion while London and Violet played on the spinning park toy.
The Village at Grand Traverse Commons.
Violet and London investigating corn for the first time at a fuel stop in London, Ohio.
Mackinac Island to Traverse City Michigan.
Traverse City, Michigan to London, Ohio.
London Ohio to Orlando.
7.3 hours with engine running,
80.8 gallons of Avgas burned,
2.1 hours of IMC,
1,313 miles flown.
