Fall leaves and Snow Flakes

Due to all the crazy developments of our second season on the island, you might be wondering what our winter was going to look like. Just like anything in our new lives, the plan changed about a million times as the summer continued. 

Before I landed my new job, we had already made the decision to not travel by boat in the upcoming winter. While we have loved sailing the past two winters, we were interested in some west coast travel. We also knew that there were a few big boat projects that we wanted to accomplish, which would make a Bahamas trip pretty rushed. So, we made the general plan to travel off-boat in the coldest months (December and January) and work on Alaya in February and March before returning to the island in April.

Before we could start our travels, we had a lot left of the island to enjoy. First, on my priority list – the fall colors. Last year, we got a taste of the colorful beauty of October but left before peak. This year, we got to witness the colors in all their glory. Whether it was on group rides through the island or on our commutes through the woods, we made sure to enjoy every beautiful phase of the fall. 

We also made sure to enjoy the “lasts” of the season. Last lunch at the fort, last round of golf, last trip to the Grand Hotel for an employee appreciation event, last Sip N’ Sail cruise and last bike ride around the island.

Next on the agenda was Island Halloween. Mackinac Island goes hard for Halloween, so hard that they celebrate it one week before everyone else. Everyone dresses up, no matter your age. We really wanted to do a good job on our costumes. Lucas and I brainstormed multiple ideas, finally landing on “recreating favorite childhood costumes.” 

I consulted YouTube university and found a Rave-Girl making these huge foam hats. I ordered the pattern and supplies and got to crafting, working on it weeks in advance. I hand-painted all my petals and even added biodegradable glitter loaned to me from another Emily.

True to form, Lucas started working on it two days before showtime and completely nailed it. The train was constructed out of salvaged cardboard and hot glue. It was accented by a train conductor hat, whistle and 3D-printed smoke stack, cow catcher and beverage holder.

Island Halloween exceeded all of our expectations. I spent the workday at the tourism bureau, passing out candy to trick-or-treaters downtown. Lucas spent the day closing up the fort, it was his last day working for the park of the season. That evening, (once Lucas glued on his final touches), we biked our costumes over to our friend’s house and got the party started. 

Around 9 p.m, we all walked downtown in our costumes, cutting through Fort Mackinac in all of our silly get-ups. The State Park crew had turned out – from soldiers to dolls to movie characters, our group had a diversity of costumes. We traveled in one long singing train between bars, lead by our fearless engine – Lucas. I was so impressed with all of the amazing costumes we encounted throughout the night. I think my favorite (other than our own) was a couple who made themselves into the Mackinac Bridge, complete with lights and a span between them. The night ended with a slow walk home under a beautiful starry sky at 2 a.m.

It took us a bit to recover from island Halloween but I’m proud to say that I arrived on-time to work the next morning.

We experienced another very island-event on the Monday after Halloween. One of the hotels on the island had a furniture liquidation. It was undergoing a massive renovation over the winter and replacing all room furniture. They invited island residents to take whatever old furniture they wanted, first-come, first-serve. Only catch was you have to move it yourself, which is a big undertaking for those of us who live up the hill. Lucas and I scoured each hotel room and decided on a few smaller pieces that fit in our bike cart. Other friends went big, refurnishing multiple rooms with new (to them) furniture. A few days later, the domino effect of this infusion of furniture helped us again. We inherited a new queen size bed, dresser and desk from the friends who had just upgraded. The circle of life on the island is a beautiful thing.

As November began, I had multiple meetings downstate which meant a multi-modal and multi-day travel adventure. Lucas joined me on these work trips and we both really enjoyed a change of scenery. Lucas also started helping the tourism bureau with our IT systems, so we officially work together again (that didn’t take long).  We also managed to squeeze in a Friendsgiving before many of our friends left the island for the year.

We spent a few more weeks on the island in November and then headed downstate for Thanksgiving. It was lovely spending the holiday with our families again. We enjoyed many of our favorite traditions including Pie Day, turkey dinners, watching movies and football games with our friends and family. While we were there, Lucas got invited back to our school’s robotics program by my nephew, Jacob. Lucas and his family helped to create Chelsea’s robotics program way back in 2005. The program has grown exponentially from those early days, it is now Chelsea’s largest school club, including teams at the elementary, middle and high school levels. Lucas was thrilled to be invited back and we both really enjoyed seeing what Jacob and his friends had been working on.

After Thanksgiving, we headed north one more time to enjoy our first Christmas Tree Lighting and Bazaar weekend on the island. When we arrived, we were greeted by more than a foot of snow! Our poor bikes that we left at the ferry dock were completely buried. All the sudden biking was no longer an option and snowmobiles were king. It was quite the change. We busted out our new snow gear and headed up the hill on foot. 

The weekend was straight out of a movie, including a Christmas tree lighting in the middle of Main Street Friday night and a community theatre production of Elf on Saturday. Our friends, Riordan, Devin and Margot visited us and the island for the first time. We all had a blast hoofing it around the island, we even got to borrow a friend’s snowmobile for some sightseeing. 

After Christmas Bazaar, it was time to pack up and start our winter travels. We loaded up our totes, leaving most of our stuff behind in our beautiful condo, turned off the water, packed up my work supplies and took one more pony ride to town. We grabbed the 12:30 p.m. ferry and started our next adventure. 

We’ll be back soon, Mackinac. Thanks for everything!