And a block house. These are positioned around the edges of the fort.The second story contains cannons (the big holes) and rifle ports (the little holes). We went in one and looked out the holes on the first floor (which were just gun ports). The rock is about 8 inches thick. Pretty protected I would imagine from rifle fire... not sure about cannon. The fence was pretty low - maybe a little over 6 feet? I figured I could jump and see over it. I guess the block houses were supposed to protect it. But this is probably why everyone attacked from the back. 

One of the cannons pointing toward the harbor 

And left towards that side of the harbor. We never did make it into that part of the town, although I *may* get up early and bike over there. 

Looking towards the bridge 

Directly facing the harbor. All the carriages lined up for tours. The American's tried to retake the fort from the harbor, but their guns couldn't be raised high enough and the cannon balls just bounced off the hill. Eventually they did the same manuver as the British, and attacked overland from the back. 

Out towards the right side of the harbor - and a jet ferry in the distance, heading towards the lighthouse and then into the harbor. This is how we got here. 

Looking down main street 

Picture looking right from the fort. If you look dead center you can see a flag, and right under it our turret rooom! This is the second main street through town, one road off of main street. 

Me inside the Fort. This was the first place a battle took place in the war of 1812. Britian declared war and they attacked here. The backside was the weakest, and the 27 year old commander woke to look out the back and find 650 men and cannons ready to attack. He had 57 men. He gave up w/o a fight, as it would have been a slaughter. 

This is the Scouts quarters on the Island. The Boy and Girl scouts stay here when they act as the Govener's Honor Guard. When President Ford was a scout he helped build this building. He tripped while working on it and sprained his ankle. One of the first trips of what was to become many of the "most clumsy President." - guided tour facts. :) 

Looking down at the road that circles the island. 

More 

One of a number of shots of Arch Rock. 10,000 years old - they figure it will last another 50 due to erosion. Its pretty cool. 

And another shot. 

Skull Cave - some guy (I forget who) was hiding out from the natives on the Island and slept here over night. The ground was not very comfortable. Woke up to find that the "branches" he had been sleeping on were skulls and bones. He was in an Indian burial ground. Worked out though, because the Indians would not go there at night. 

Another shot of the cemetary 

One of only 4 US graveyards in the world that can fly a flag all the time at half-mast. The others are Gettysburg, Arlington and Normandy France. 

Post Cenetery - Fort Mackinac. Unknown soliders are buried here, because there headstones were wood and over time they eroded. Soldiers who died at the fort. 

St Anne's Catholic Cemetary. Used to be in town, but they moved it out into the country because they didn't think the tourists would like it. (I personally think they wanted to use the real estate for hotels, etc.) 

Picture of the carriage from further away, but shows some of the color a little better. 

As we are leaving Surrey Hall - back towards the town. You can kind of see some of the color and some flowers. The island is warmer than other parts of MI (like where Pat and Ward live) so the color hasn't really hit here yet. 

A "3 horse" carriage. This is what we take for the 2nd half of the tour. This holds 35 people. They run 19 teams of these throughout the day during peak season. 

Another shot of Tina, Rachel and the horses, w/o anyone else in the picture. 

Rachel is "resting". She was a hoot. Kind of out of it when we first started. Typical local young kid worker - "I was going to go south to FL for the winter, but I spent all my money partying all summer and didn't save enough." Not the first "kid" that mentioned that to us. She was a great guide. 

Mac day 2. Tina standing next to O'Riely and Coke. Rachel (our guide) in the background.