A Trip Back In Time

(CBS)  The first thing tourists need to know about a trip to Mackinac Island is that cars are not allowed.

It's not that there isn't enough parking, or enough gas stations, or there's terrible traffic on Main Street. Cars are not allowed. Period.

If you visit Mackinac Island, you leave your car on the mainland and take a ferry over. And once you're there, you rent a bike — or take a hike. If you're feeling lazy, you hop on a horse-drawn wagon. Skateboards: yes. Motorbikes: no.

Chris Shepler and his family have been on the job for three generations. They run the ferry boats. Dave Price asked Chris why his family has stayed there for so many years.

"I think just the beauty of it all," he said. "The people in northern Michigan make it, Mackinac Island makes it, Mackinac Island's a great place to hang out, to vacation and, you know, to live in as well."

There are 600 horses and 800 bikes on Mackinac; cars were banned in 1898. When Dave came to visit, he rented a tandem bike. Though it took a while for him to find someone brave enough to ride with him, one woman was happy to hop on board and she took Dave on a tour of the "downtown," such as it was.

They shopped till they dropped, took some photos and ate some of the justifiably famous Mackinac Island fudge. In fact, tourists here are called "fudgies" because the first thing you do on Mackinac is try the fudge.

And once their sweet tooth is satisfied, tourists can go hiking, boating, horseback riding — or just lounge around and look at the water and the sublime sunsets.

[patstoots]

I recently visited Mackinaw Island and it is truly beautiful, but I doubt that anyone would be enticed to visit the island after watching your segment this morning. The Grand Hotel is the main reason most people want to visit and you didn''t even show the front of the hotel or the rows of gorgeous flowers. You mentioned the beautiful grounds, but didn''t show them. After emailing my friends to be sure they watched it, I had to apologize to them for the poor coverage.

[queenlinda2]

My Husband and I just drove to Machinac City and then took the ferry over to that gorgeous Island in June. The Island is truly a lovely place and very relaxing. We had the lunch buffet at the Grand Hotel -- ummmm good. A bit on the pricey side but I enjoyed every minute. We did not ride bikes or horseback but if I get back, I would take the time to do that also. I would recommend the trip although the drive from Detroit north took at least 4 hrs if not more.

[shiptonsarch]

The island is beautiful. But the Grand Hotel''s prices are akin to robbery! Outrageous!

[kmhhelsel]

Best place to enjoy quality family time. There is no reason to rush anywhere on the island because time moves at a much slower pace. Great people everywhere and so much history. The beauty of the island is breathtaking.

[sharonafro]

The island has the best bloody Mary''s ever. Very cool place to hang with friend and family.

[adak4]

The Island is a place for many happy memories for me. I have visited many times and even though I was born and raised in Michigan you can call me a fudgie anytime.
If you really want to go back in time, stay at the Grand Hotel. It has the longest front porch in the U.S. and dinner is served to men and women who dress for it. And I do mean dress!
Please don''t call the downtown "such as it was"; because during the summer there is not enough room on the sidewalks for all the tourists. Many college students come to the Island to work in the summer and the population zooms because of it.
During the winter the locals are surrounded by silence and beauty. If Lake Huron and Lake Michigan freeze well enough, the locals can use snowmobiles to get to the mainland for supplies. What a wonderful way to live!
Hollywood has used it as a background for many movies, sometime making it look as if cars were allowed. "Somewhere in Time" was filmed on the Island and Jimmy Durante and crew filmed one there too.
There is one car -- the police chief and I think the fire department has a fire truck.