Day Six
My day started at Java Joe’s Cafe for espresso. They did pour it into my cup, but what they put in it was so thin that it might pass for regular coffee. From there I drove down to the dockside ferry parking lot, which requires scanning a QR code to access an e-commerce website for payment. When I got to the checkout, I discovered it would cost $40.00 per day. So I canceled and drove up the street to find a cheaper option. I found a free lot; I don’t know if it was open to the public, but my car was still there when I returned that afternoon.
I was just in time for the 8:30AM ferry to Mackinac Island run by the Arnold Transit Company in St. Ignace. The ticket taker had a Jamaican accent, so when he scanned my ticket, I said, “You’re a long way from Kingston.” He responded, “Ya mon.” Then I asked, “Do you stay through the winter?” He answered, “No, I will be leaving soon; I can’t take the cold.” The ferry really gets up and goes. I guessed about 20 knots, nothing like the 5 knots that the clam boat, Robert M. Utz, that I worked on when I was young.
Java Joes' St. Ignace, MI
When I arrived on the island, I rented a mountain bike at Ryba’s on the dock. After riding for a while, I thought that maybe I should have rented a comfort bike because my taint wasn’t tough enough for the hard seat. Additionally, the derailleurs needed tuning because it wouldn’t shift into the highest front sprocket. I went around the island on the relatively flat shore route to British Landing Road. I met a couple from Michigan who asked me to take a picture of them with their bikes. We had a long conversation about the concerts and hitchhiking we did back when we were young.
I rode up British Landing Road, which the guides don’t recommend because it is a long hill to pedal up. I made it all the way up to Sugar Loaf Rock before I realized I left my Mission Bay hoody on a picnic table back at the bottom of the hill. After going down to see the Sugar Loaf (a tall limestone pillar) close up, I climbed the 137 steps back to my bike, and I rode back down the hill. Fortunately my hoody was still there. I finished the ride around the island on the shore route and decided to go see Arch Rock (a natural limestone arched bridge), so I rode through town and roughly a mile back along the shore route. There are 207 steps up to the Arch. On my way up I stopped for a rest, and a couple laughed at me as they went by. I started climbing and found them sitting on a bench at about the halfway point of the stairs. After seeing the arch, I was eating lunch at a picnic table, and the same couple walked by, and she was eating something and said, “I needed to eat something after that climb. I noticed she had an accent, so I asked where they were from, and it turned out they were Iraqis.
From there I rode back to town and went looking for Sadie’s Ice Cream Parlor. It is located in the Grand Hotel, which is a hundred-plus-year-old super luxury hotel. It has the longest veranda of any hotel in the world. Unfortunately, they charge $12.00 to walk on it. I met a couple from Kentucky who wouldn’t pay the $12.00 either. As we walked by a stairway down to the recreation area, he said, “Maybe I can get a good picture from down there.” I told him, “I will wait at the top, and you let me know if it is worth the trip.” He gave me the thumbs up, so I went down and took some pictures. On the way back up the stairs, which would make about 500 stairs for the day, he told me he was a second cousin of Mohamed Ali; his mother’s maiden name was Clay. He showed me a picture of him with the champ when he was a kid.
I stopped at Lucky Bean Coffeehouse and got a decent espresso and then went and visited Fort Mackinac. It was interesting, but not worth $17.00.I returned the bike and was just in time to catch the ferry back to St. Ignace.
Sugar Loaf
My Ride
9/15/2025
Mackinac Island
203 Miles
I took a ride to De Tour Village at the tip of the upper peninsula that I had skipped the day before. After that I did enough laundry so I would have clean clothes for the rest of the trip.
After dinner I drove out into the wilderness for about 20 minutes and headed down a dirt side road. I shut off the car and got out, and when all the lights went off, I looked up and saw more stars than I ever remembered seeing. The Milky Way showed all the way across the entire sky. It made me so happy I laughed a bit.
Devil's Kitchen
Arch Rock
North Huron Byway Rest Stop
