Mackinac Island Watercolors

By Josie Millikan

Hi, everyone!

A few days ago, I returned from a long-awaited vacation to Mackinac Island, Michigan, where I visited with my mom. Mama and I went on a girls' trip for the first time in a long time, and it was full of much-needed relaxation for both of us.

If you don't know, Mackinac Island is only accessible by time-travel, as the entire island is populated by Victorian buildings and automobiles don't exist there. If you want to get around the island, you'll need either a bicycle, your own horse, a good pair of walking legs, or to call a taxi (which is a horse-drawn carriage.) If you know me, you don't need me to further explain why I had wanted to visit this place for so long.

My mom and I enjoyed many moments of leisure sitting waterfront, on the porch of our cute bed and breakfast, in the grass at the park, or in fancy chairs at the very fancy Grand Hotel where we went for afternoon tea. The leisure time was welcome for this pair, my mom having a broken toe and I being at the beginning of my second trimester. (We took a lot of carriage taxis around the island.)

A few lovely moments to note on the trip were:

- Biking around the perimeter of the island which was a lovely flat trail of 8.5 miles. The trail didn't leave the coastline the entire time, so lovely views were plentiful.

- Sitting in the park while a high school band played patriotic songs for the town to enjoy. On the red-white-and-blue note, the island is surrounded by the beautiful light-blue waters of Lake Huron, the sky was sunny and blue the entire time we were there, and there were bright red tulips all around the island. The combination of light powder blues, true blues and reds that I noticed all around were so very pretty, and I just have to think that around the Fourth of July the island must be in its true form. With American flags out, star-and-stripe bunting on the windows of Victorian storefronts and cottage porches, the red tulips and the coastal blues must especially shine in that season! Even the room in our bed and breakfast was decorated in different shades of blue and white, which made it feel very light, crisp and airy.

- Afternoon tea in the Grand Hotel was an experience I'm very grateful to have had. The interior of this hotel is all pink and green, and they went absolutely maximalist with their choices of pattern and texture. It is so much fun in there, and to sit there for a while as we ate fancy desserts and drank our own pots of tea was a great time.

- Riding around the island in horse-drawn carriages was such a cool experience and I loved hearing the "clip-clop, clip-clop" of their hooves as they walked down the street. This noise was a constant to an otherwise very quiet town.

- We also visited Fort Mackinac, which dates back to the American Revolution. We were able to see an old cannon fired and enjoy the view of the town from the top of the island's hill. This fort was also quite close to our bed and breakfast, and a bugle would play every day at sunset as they lowered the flag. That was really neat to hear in the silence of the town after-hours. (Also, sun-down wasn't until 10pm on the island, which was lovely!)

Mama and I also had a few chances to sit and watercolor, so I have those to share with you here:

The Arch Rock is an icon of the island, which we luckily got to see from the above viewpoint and from the bike trail below. It is beautiful from both angles!

Round Island Lighthouse struck me from the moment I saw it while coming into the island on the ferry. I knew that I wanted to sit and paint it one of the days we were there, so I was lucky for a good vantage-point of it from the park where we sat to paint! It is far off the island, though, so I had to use some imagination in the details that weren't visible due to the distance.

Also, I promise that I won't just be posting about vacations in the future! It just so happens that Mackinac and Durango have been on my mind. I will, however, be on a weekend trip soon, so if I happen to do any sketching while there, you may just have to hear about that, too! We'll see...