Wow, was today a long day! We woke up early early early for sunrise. It was really pretty, but very early. The sun came up in vivid pinks and oranges over the lake. And it was so still and quiet out. After sleeping for a few more hours, we woke up for adventurizing around Mackinac Island. We took the Shepler's Ferry over to the island. We rode on the top of the ferry, which was pretty chilly. Welke was frozen, understandably. We got there and started exploring around the island to scope out what we wanted to do. No cars are allowed on the island so most people ride bikes or horses. Our choice was bikes first. The Bike Shop that we rented bikes from was amazing! They were not only friendly, but made sure we had a good time. The staff was very considerate by making sure our bikes were the right height and that we had water and helmets! Not gonna lie, I was a little scared to ride the bike. It has been so long since I have ridden a bike. But, as the saying goes, it was easy to remember, just like riding a bike. To ride around the entire island is about 8 miles, and we did it! The ride was so easy and peaceful. I think we could have done that all day long! Along the way we would stop for pictures or do a little hiking. We also did some sing-alongs. "Do, a deer, a female deer..." I was glad we went biking first in the morning because we didn’t meet too many people along the coast. But by the time we were finishing, there were a ton more people coming out on the trail. After a nice 2 hour bike ride we went to the cheesy old-fashioned picture studio. We have taken 2 of those types of pictures before. It’s a tradition for us! So we did the southern belle look in front of The Grand hotel backdrop. Lunch was done at the cute Irish pub called Sinclair’s. We all had a beer. I will repeat that. We all had a beer! Kinda shocking if you know my group. J Once we had stuffed ourselves silly, Nass wanted to ride a horse. So we wandered over to the horse rental area where Welke and she got horses. Erin, Claire, and I wandered up the Grand Hotel to look around. We also stopped to look in a few shops. By this time all of us were completely exhausted! For about another hour we explored all the different fudge shops. How can you go to Mackinac Island and not taste the fudge? By the time we found the fudge we wanted to buy, we really couldn’t stand anymore. So we decided to go back to the hotel early. Somehow we managed to buy pasties and make it back to the hotel. (Pasties are basically pot pies with gravy on the outside. Pretty good. I guess it’s a UP thing.) The rest of the night consisted of napping, watching the Food network, and sitting in the pool. What a day!