By Capital News Service
Horse-drawn carriages clatter down car-free streets. The mouth-watering smell of fudge wafts from quaint storefronts. Ferries glide across the Straits of Mackinac, carrying visitors to Michigan’s famous – and most charming – tourist destination.
Located in the northwestern tip of Lake Huron between the Upper and Lower peninsulas, Mackinac Island hosts over one million visitors per year. Its beauty and stalwart community are the keys to its tourism success, according to a recent book.
Frank Boles, a retired Central Michigan University historian, has spent decades documenting Michigan’s past.
His latest book, “Visiting Mackinac: 150 Years of Tourism at Michigan’s Fabled Straits” (Michigan State University Press, $37.95), explores how Mackinac Island and the surrounding Straits region became a hub for travelers from across the country.
Boles’ fascination with Mackinac Island began in 1997 when his wife suggested they join the Mackinac Bridge Walk.
“I kind of grudgingly said, ‘Oh, what the heck? Five miles, but sure, we’ll do it.’ Well, we’ve done it every year since and fell in love with the Mackinac area, and that got me very interested in the history of tourism in that particular part of the state,” he said.
