As some of you know, my family and I spent the last 12 days in various parts of Michigan, including a few days in the Upper Peninsula, the childhood home of our very own Yoopers.
We spent one day on Mackinac Island. Mackinac Island is a small island (about 8 miles around) that sits between the Upper and Lower parts of Michigan and between Lake Huron and Lake Michigan. It is only accessible by boat or plane. There is a famous old hotel there called The Grand Hotel. It was the setting for the Christopher Reeve movie, Somewhere in Time.
One of the most unique things about Mackinac Island is that motorized traffic is not allowed on the Island. The only forms of transportation are foot, horse and carriage or bike (or in our case, unicycle).
So we took our unicycles and prepared to board the ferry. The ferry company charges $6.50 to take a bicycle, unless it is a tandem, then there is a slightly higher charge. Therefore, being a rational, thinking person, I assumed since a unicycle is half a bike, I would pay somewhat less than $6.50. (Bear with me here–making mountains out of molehills is about the only exercise I have time for right now). I mean, if you charge more for a tandem since it is bigger than a bicycle, then it would only make sense to charge less for a unicycle. But apparently, the people at the Star Line ferry service don’t think that way. They charged a full $6.50 for each of the unicycles we took.
My only explanation is that their capacity for logic is damaged due to living too close to Canada.
Last summer we were taking a private ferry to a small private island across from Everett, WA. They do have a policy of taking bikes on a space-available basis only. Even the boat was not very full, they refused our three unicycles because they weren’t taking “bikes” on that trip.
Hey there. I spent much of my childhood in Canada and I can do Boolean Algebra as good as the next guy!
What suprises me is that they let the unis on the island. It’s a tourist trap with so many rules. Glad you got to take them and hope you didn’t scare too many horses with them!
I rode the ferry in 1984 with my unicycle. It was part of an organized bike tour, and my unicycle was my 45" wheel. Should I pay less for that? It ended up riding on top of all the bikes. I remember taking a picture of that. I also have a picture of my unicycle leaning up against the end of the world’s longest porch (Grand Hotel). A nice place to ride.
That brings up yet another injustice I suffered on Mackinac Island. I had been there many times before–several times as a child and, most recently, 14 years ago with my wife. Each time, we went up to the Grand Hotel, walked the grounds, sat on the porch, etc.
This time I tried to take Christopher, my 9 year old up there. I wanted a picture of him riding on the world’s longest porch. We pedaled all the way up that freakin hill only to be greeted by a hostess type person telling us that unless we were registered guests, there was a 10 dollar charge for “viewing” the hotel.
Needless to say, we enjoyed a view of the hotel from a distance.
Mary has been to Mackinac Island but I never have. I have been to Mackinaw City (notice the spelling difference), though, and had their fudge.
I did the 6-mile Labor Day walk across the Mighty Mac in 1967 when I was six and still remember that. I walked with Grandpa Claude (from my grandmother’s story) and remember that his hat blew off and over the side of the bridge. It’s a pretty nice view from up there.
Well now, blaming Canada for your 6.50? I’ll have to talk to Paul Martin tonight and get you to set him straight that Canadians arent as stupid as Americans, so anyinfluence we had was only a good one.
It ended up riding on top of all the bikes. I remember taking a picture of that. I also have a picture of my unicycle leaning up against the end of the world’s longest porch (Grand Hotel). A nice place to ride.