The Grand Hotel

A character of interest in Fanny and Matt's story is the historical architectural beauty of the Grand Hotel on Mackinac Island, Michigan. Matt’s gift to Fanny after her graduation from Medical School was a much needed respite to this picturesque location. He had two ideas. Firstly, he had a pile of gambling winnings burning a hole in his pocket, and next he hoped during this special time together he might invite Fanny once again to marry him. The Grand Hotel, less than ten years old in 1896, reputed to be the epitome of elegance and sure to impress Fanny, was located only an overnight sail from Chicago.

I chose this location for Matt because I visited Mackinac Island long ago as a teenager and cycled the entire circumference. The huge hotel looming over the town caught my imagination and I dreamed of what it would be like to stay over. My dream came true many years later when my husband and I had two romantic getaways in what has become one of my favorite places of all time.

The Grand Hotel which opened on July 10, 1887 was built by railroad and steamship companies for affluent tourists during what is known as the Gilded Age. It has what is called the world’s longest porch, some 650 feet of Adirondack chairs accentuated by many U.S. flags. It was the setting for the 1980 movie, Somewhere in Time, starring Christopher Reeve and Jane Seymour, an early precursor to Outlander's time travel. That movie put the Grand Hotel back into the public eye.

A generation earlier the hotel hosted another film production. This Time For Keeps starred Esther Williams and required a large swimming pool which was built for the production. As the story goes, Esther dipped her toes in the water and said that she would not swim in that pool because the water was too cold.  (The swimming scenes were filmed in Florida - oh well.) The hotel has a small museum in which the two movies play starring roles.

The island itself does not allow motorized vehicles but offers horse-pulled buggies or bicycles for transportation. Both methods have their drawbacks. The horses make it imperative to watch where you put your feet, and the speeding bicycles cause crossing a road to be hazardous.

The Grand Hotel is just that, Grand—and the charming Mackinac Island is so worth a visit

Imagine Fanny and Matt on the Flirtation Walk or bicycling around the island.