If you aren't familiar with this state of Michigan, it's basically made of two separate peninsulas and those land masses are surrounded by three (or four) of the Great Lakes. While by all rights the upper peninsula of Michigan probably should belong to Wisconsin, it doesn't, thanks to us giving up Toledo (I think).
The upper peninsula and the lower peninsula are connected by a five mile long cable suspension bridge called the Mackinac Bridge. Nestled just south of the bridge, is the small town of Mackinaw City. If you want to know why one ends with 'c' and the other with a 'w', you can Google it yourself.
Given a number of factors, Mackinaw City has become a typical tourist town. It is a destination location for many people who are on their way further to the north, the local historic attractions, or the famous Mackinac Island slightly to the north east.
Mackinaw Crossings is a victorian inspired shopping center with a variety of entertainment options and restaurants for people to enjoy. They also have quaint little specialty shops along with entertainment options like live music, buskers and a laser light show every night.
There was one specific reason we made our way over to Mackinaw Crossings after we finished filling our faces at Legs Inn.
Given we had a young teenage boy with us on our trip, we knew that he would be over the moon to see this 30 foot tall replica of Bumblebee from the Transformers. They actually call it Mack-A-Tron which is kind of dumb considering it is clearly Bumblebee, but most of the kids didn't seem to mind.
The attraction was assembled on site in Mackinaw City, and according to some of the information I saw they used old pieces of the Mackinac Bridge to make some of it.
Even as a grown adult, I have to admit that it was pretty cool. Once you take your photos and look at it for a bit though, there isn't much else to do in the immediate vicinity of the statue/sculpture(?).
As I mentioned, there were buskers around the victorian village and this was one of them. The guy was playing an accordian and he had a dog that would sit on the chair next to him. When you wanted to give a tip the dog would come down off the chair and take the bill out of your hand, bring it back, and put it in the hat. The guy wasn't very nice to the dog to be honest, so we didn't stick around this area too long.
We had a bit of time to kill, so the kids decided to do a little bit of exploring around the crossings area. They found a hall of mirrors that they wanted to run through.
Meanwhile I found this cool place called The Forge where you could craft your own knife right on the spot. I didn't do it, but I should have. I stepped in and snapped a photo anyway. I've always wanted to learn a bit of metalworking. This might be a good option for me next time I am in the area.
Ultimately, the kids decided they wanted to see a movie in the theater that is right in the village. We decided to see Inside Out 2 and I have to admit, it was a really good show. I found myself laughing despite myself at many of the jokes. The theater was packed with young kids, but we still found it enjoyable and comfortable minus the occasional crying child.
On our way out, I stopped into the Straits Distillers tasting room, but most of the whiskey's were in the $70 range and I want to save my money to pick up a special bottle when I am out in Colorado next month.
If you don't mind the tourist scene and the tourist prices, Mackinaw Crossings is a pretty cool place to hang out on a breezy summer afternoon. If nothing else, stopping by to say hi to Mack-A-Tron is worth ten to fifteen minutes out of your life!
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That's pretty cool!
Funny enough, I was just in the electronic store the other day and I ended up wandering over to the model kits while my kids ogled the Switch games. They had a Megatron! The same design as the one in the cartoon we grew up with. I haven't built a model since I was in middle school, but I was really tempted....
That is pretty cool. I remember my neighbor across the street had all of the transformers. His parents were divorced and I think they bought him whatever he wanted as a weapon if you know what I mean.
I like the idea of making a knife. At least it would be useful. There are tourist traps like this wherever you go in the world, but I do prefer more authentic locations with some history.
This place actually does have a lot of history. There are several old forts in the area that have a lot of educational opportunities and a stream powered sawmill that is still in operation.
That's cool. I have noticed that what counts as 'really old' varies between the UK and US, but we should preserve some history.
Wow I never imagined that there would be these type of shopping mall across the USA, its really amazing and beautiful, thanks for sharing this @bozz
We have a lot of cool open air places like this. Especially further south where the weather cooperates a little more.
That is awesome. Mackinac island is beautiful.
It really is! I haven't been there in forever though.
It really is!
Wow, thanks for sharing this interesting place.
The Mack-A-Tron is really cool! But like you said it is clearly Bumblebee....
Forging your own knife sounds like a lot of work... Pay for the privilege to do some hard labor.. lol
$70 is a little expensive for a bottle. Was the whiskey any good? I'm sure you can find something nice in Denver though. I always thought owning my own distillery would be fun, but it's an expensive thing to get started. Plus I might drink away the profits...
I'd rather drink it than make it 😃. $70 is pretty common here for a craft bottle like this.
It really is normal anymore, and I've had some good craft bottles over the years. I still love going back to Booker's though, but anymore it's getting so hard to find in stores!
Yeah, Bookers is hard to find. I still wish I had grabbed a bottle when I was at the Beam distillery.
Seeing that Bumblebee in real life would make my boyfriend's day for sure! He's a big fan of it. Too bad most of the toys including it are ridiculously expensive.
This is totally free to see. You just need to make your way to Michigan. The good thing is, my state has so much to offer it would totally be worth it.
I'm sure about it! Too sad I don't have much hope that I'll ever make to that part of the globe. The tickets are so expensive! But never say never..
Flying has gotten totally out of control!
Exactly! 😩
When my youngest was little, he would have loved that Bumblebee. You ar a well traveled person across your state. I need to get out more here in Indiana and see more of my state. Hell I have seen more of the rest of the world than my own state.
I've seen there are some really nice areas of Indiana. I've only been to the top part mostly, but I have seen some really cool forests and caves online towards the south west I think.
Yeah, we have some caves down here in the southeast portion toward Louisville. The top half of Indiana is where I haven't seen a lot of myself.
When my sister and her husband lived in Indianapolis, they made a point of visiting every county in the state. They now live back in Michigan and they are finishing up every county in our state this week.
That is cool, I am sure there is something to see in every county too.
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