Traveling with Tate

At the end of May, Ed was able to take leave for a week. We decided to drive (yes, I said “drive”) to Wisconsin via Michigan. We decided to break up the trip considering this was the first really long car ride for Tate. Ed decided that it would be best if we stopped in Toledo, Ohio, which was only a 6.5 hour drive, for the night. So, you might be asking yourself, what’s in Toledo, Ohio??? I wasn’t even sure what was in Toledo, Ohio. Of course, Ed knew what was in Toledo, Ohio. And it was….a fort! Who would’ve guessed that Ed wanted to visit another fort? You would think that once you’ve seen one or two of them, you would’ve seen them all – I mean, they all have high walls with buildings or some sort of living space inside of them, right? If Ed were writing this blog, I’m sure that he would be able to tell you all about the intricacies of the fort (i.e. how the angles of each wall and the placement of the canons helped to keep invaders out or anything along those lines). Since Ed isn’t writing this blog, I’ll just post some pictures from our trip to Ohio and some pictures of the spectacular fort that Ed and Tate visited (yes, I did not tag along that day. I was tired from entertaining Tate during the drive.).




Here is a picture of Tate taken during one of our brief stops on the way to Ohio.






Here are some pictures from Fort Meigs located in Toledo, Ohio. I didn’t go to the fort. So…I don’t know anything about it. I’ll just let the pictures speak for the fort.










The next day, we took off early for Mackinac Island, Michigan. The drive to the island was nice (even though it kept getting colder the further north we traveled). Before we boarded the boat for the island, we visited a couple of the tourist areas. So…guess where we ended up???






Yes, another fort! I must say that Fort Machilimackinac, an old French then British then American fort, was pretty nice. They had people there dressed up in costumes doing the daily chores as if they lived back in the era. The people did a really good job of explaining their various duties and chores. Also, the general restoration of the place was great.









We also visited the old lighthouse. Unfortunately, we were unable to go to the top of the lighthouse because they don’t allow young children (i.e. Tate) at the top. Can you believe that? It’s not like he wasn’t restrained in the backpack. All the same, we took a couple of pictures of the place.






After we finished touring on the mainland, we took the ferry to Mackinac Island. Tate was pretty tired at this point and was in and out of crankiness during the ferry over to the island.






Once we arrived at the island, we headed straight for our hotel so that Tate could take a nap. The hotel that Ed selected was wonderful. We had a room with a lake view. It was spectacular!






Our hotel is on the left of this picture.




After Tate’s nap, we went to dinner and then decided to walk about the town (the island does not allow cars on it. The only way to get around is either by foot or by bike or by horse). Tate really enjoyed watching the horses trot by. Whenever he would hear the clopping of the horses, he would perk up and look in the direction of the noise. It was so cute!








The next day, we toured the island and guess what it had??? Yes, a fort! This time, we saw a newer historical fort (is that an oxymoron?). Fort Mackinac was nice.












Tate enjoyed trying on the various hats again.






After we toured the fort, we decided to head to a butterfly exhibit. We thought that Tate would love it, but he was way too tired to enjoy the butterflies.

So, Ed and I had to enjoy them without him.

Butterflies are so majestic!

Once Tate woke up from his nap on Ed’s back, we headed to the church on the island, St. Anne Church. I always love looking inside old churches. Usually, they are so striking.

After Tate’s nap in the hotel, we decided to the Grand Hotel for afternoon tea. The movie, Somewhere in Time, was filmed at the Grand and they use that as an excuse to charge people ten bucks a pop to enter the hotel, if you are not a guest (of course). It’s kind of strange, they have people watching guard and attack you as soon as you come up the hill. Then you pay your ten bucks a pieces and they give you a walking tour guide. It’s strange (I know that I said that twice, but really…who cares that it was the location for Somewhere in Time???).

The hotel is also known for its front porch. Supposedly it's the longest in the world.

Okay, onto a more important story – tea time...It was nice (I must say that the best afternoon tea we ever had was at the Empress Hotel in Victoria, B.C. – yummy!). They had all of the basics, little sandwiches and sweets – still yummy! And the staff was great.

As you can see, Tate wanted to partake in tea too, but he had to settle for his little treats that we brought along with us.

We left the next day for Wisconsin to visit Ed’s family. But…before we left, Ed wanted to stop off at Marquette’s gravesite in St. Ignace, Michigan on the Upper Peninsula.

An additional picture of Tate (I decided to post it because I think that it's so cute!).