Lilac Time in Mackinac Island
June 13-17 2025
TWO Nights at the “Historic Grand Hotel”
*Round Trip Motor Coach Transportation from Northeast Minnesota's Iron Range, Grand Rapids, Duluth
AND ... Boarding in Central Minnesota's Brainerd, Little Falls, Rice and Sartell
*FOUR Nights Lodging: Two Nights @ The Comfort Inn in Manistique, Michigan (Pre Night and Post Night)
Two Nights @ The Historic Grand Hotel on Mackinac Island, MI
*Round Trip Ferry across Mackinac Straights from St Ignace to the Island / From Island to Mackinaw City
* Two Full Days on Mackinac Island to Include a Horse-Drawn Carriage Tour & Horse-Drawn Taxi Voucher
* Seven Meals-Four Breakfasts, Two Dinners (Grand Hotel and Lunch at the Rittenhouse Inn
* Fully Guided with a Happy Trails Tour Host; Luggage Handling, Most Tips and All Taxes Included
Deposits: $200.00 per person deposit due per reservation-This is non-refundable after February 1, 2025 Full payments: March 1, 2025
Cancellations: With cancellations received up to February 1, 2025, deposits are fully refundable. Monies returned with cancellations
between February 1, 2025 and April 10, 2025 are contingent on what Happy Trails Tours receives back from hotels, charters, tour companies,
restaurants and theaters. Cancellations after April 10, 2025 receive no refunds. We must meet our minimum required passengers by March
10, 2025. If we do not, then all monies paid to Happy Trails Tours for this tour are fully refundable.
Dress Code: The Grand Hotel asks that women wear dresses or nice slack outfits and that men wear coat & tie after 4:30 pm in lobby area
Travel Insurance: Trip cancellation insurance is available at an additional charge. We HIGHLY RECOMMEND this investment as it offers
peace of mind and financial security.
Final documents: Your final documents, day-by-day itineraries, hotel address & phone numbers should arrive around the last week of May.
Central Minnesota Departure on Day One Information
NOTE: If you are from Baxter, Little Falls or Rice area, you will board in Sartell. Happy Trails has a limited number of complimentary rooms available for thosetraveling more than 30 miles from Sartell. First come, first served. Kindly contact us for further information. You will not need overnight lodging on the last day of the tour. On our return, we plan to arrive in Sartell early enough, you should be able to return home at a reasonable hour.
Day 1: Tuesday, June 13th
Travel to Michigan's Upper Peninsula to Manistique, Michigan - 350 Miles from Duluth
Travel to Michigan's Upper Peninsula to Manistique, Michigan - 350 Miles from Duluth
9:25AM - The motor coach departs SUPERIOR for Manistique Michigan.
Settle back and leave the driving and tour arrangements to Happy Trails Tours and Trobec Bus Company! After a long winter and spring, a beautiful summer drive through upper portion of Michigan can be quite refreshing! Our journey will include mostly two-lane highways as we travel east along highway #2 to Manistique. The times listed below are only estimates. We'll be moving into the Eastern Time Zone about mid-day. Lunch break and comfort stops will be made as the day goes along.
7:25PM - (Eastern Time) Estimated arrival to Manistique, MI - Hotel Comfort Inn.
This is a nice property with an indoor pool, two beds in the rooms, coffeemaker, irons & boards and a great breakfast. All meals on own today
Day 2: Wednesday, June 14th
6:30-8:00AM - A nice breakfast awaits us this morning before departing Manistique.
We'll travel about 90 miles to St Ignace, Michigan where we'll board the ferry that will take us to Mackinac Island. Once we arrive to the island, we'll have a couple of hours to explore as per our own agenda and have lunch at one of the quaint restaurants along our way. What a beautiful time of year to visit Mackinac Island during the Lilac Festival. Celebrating Mackinac’s lilac collection began in 1949 after a conversation with Evangilene “Ling” Horn and Nurse Stella King who encouraged the then teen and today’s Mackinac Island Carriage Tours veterinarian Dr. Bill Chambers to have a parade on Lilac Sunday. The idea was to bring people to the Island to enjoy a great horse drawn parade Amidst the lovely lilacs that fragrance the Island in June. What began as a one-day event called the Mackinac Island Lilac Day has blossomed into a ten-day festival. In the mid-afternoon, we'll board a narrated Horse Drawn Carriage for a two-hour history tour of the island. Once our tour is complete, the carriage will bring us to the glorious Grand Hotel! We'll begin the check in process and settle in for the next two nights at the Grand Hotel.
Dinner Hour: Our evening Dinner is included in your package and consists of a 5-course dinner served with the elegance that only the Grand Hotel can do! Folks are invited to go and eat at their leisure. If a small group of you wish to eat together, we recommend making reservations. You’ll have a variety of entrées to choose from. Please note that folks must be in formal attire in the dining room. Gents need a coat & tie…ladies will want to wear dresses (long or short) or dressy slack outfits. Breakfast & Dinner
Day 3: Thursday, June 15th
Breakfast is served at the Grand Hotel.
Enjoy a full day to explore this Amazing island at your leisure.
Another wonderful day has been dedicated just to YOU! A fabulous full American breakfast is yours to enjoy as per your personal schedule dictates. The rest of the day may be enjoyed however you wish to spend it. The gardens on the property are AMazing! The hotel also offers a variety of nice activities throughout the day…but the main activity at the Grand Hotel is relaxing. You may wish to walk downtown (or take a horse-drawn taxi) to explore the many little village shops, historic landmarks, and more. They have a wonderful afternoon tea or you can just go to
the lobby area, find a place to sit and listen to the harpist play. Dinner is included tonight at the Grand Hotel. Breakfast & Dinner
Settle back and leave the driving and tour arrangements to Happy Trails Tours and Trobec Bus Company! After a long winter and spring, a beautiful summer drive through upper portion of Michigan can be quite refreshing! Our journey will include mostly two-lane highways as we travel east along highway #2 to Manistique. The times listed below are only estimates. We'll be moving into the Eastern Time Zone about mid-day. Lunch break and comfort stops will be made as the day goes along.
7:25PM - (Eastern Time) Estimated arrival to Manistique, MI - Hotel Comfort Inn.
This is a nice property with an indoor pool, two beds in the rooms, coffeemaker, irons & boards and a great breakfast. All meals on own today
Day 2: Wednesday, June 14th
6:30-8:00AM - A nice breakfast awaits us this morning before departing Manistique.
We'll travel about 90 miles to St Ignace, Michigan where we'll board the ferry that will take us to Mackinac Island. Once we arrive to the island, we'll have a couple of hours to explore as per our own agenda and have lunch at one of the quaint restaurants along our way. What a beautiful time of year to visit Mackinac Island during the Lilac Festival. Celebrating Mackinac’s lilac collection began in 1949 after a conversation with Evangilene “Ling” Horn and Nurse Stella King who encouraged the then teen and today’s Mackinac Island Carriage Tours veterinarian Dr. Bill Chambers to have a parade on Lilac Sunday. The idea was to bring people to the Island to enjoy a great horse drawn parade Amidst the lovely lilacs that fragrance the Island in June. What began as a one-day event called the Mackinac Island Lilac Day has blossomed into a ten-day festival. In the mid-afternoon, we'll board a narrated Horse Drawn Carriage for a two-hour history tour of the island. Once our tour is complete, the carriage will bring us to the glorious Grand Hotel! We'll begin the check in process and settle in for the next two nights at the Grand Hotel.
Dinner Hour: Our evening Dinner is included in your package and consists of a 5-course dinner served with the elegance that only the Grand Hotel can do! Folks are invited to go and eat at their leisure. If a small group of you wish to eat together, we recommend making reservations. You’ll have a variety of entrées to choose from. Please note that folks must be in formal attire in the dining room. Gents need a coat & tie…ladies will want to wear dresses (long or short) or dressy slack outfits. Breakfast & Dinner
Day 3: Thursday, June 15th
Breakfast is served at the Grand Hotel.
Enjoy a full day to explore this Amazing island at your leisure.
Another wonderful day has been dedicated just to YOU! A fabulous full American breakfast is yours to enjoy as per your personal schedule dictates. The rest of the day may be enjoyed however you wish to spend it. The gardens on the property are AMazing! The hotel also offers a variety of nice activities throughout the day…but the main activity at the Grand Hotel is relaxing. You may wish to walk downtown (or take a horse-drawn taxi) to explore the many little village shops, historic landmarks, and more. They have a wonderful afternoon tea or you can just go to
the lobby area, find a place to sit and listen to the harpist play. Dinner is included tonight at the Grand Hotel. Breakfast & Dinner
Day 4: Friday, June 16th
Breakfast is served at the Grand Hotel.
Relax and enjoy a late morning breakfast and check out. We'll take our last horse-drawn taxi ride to the boat dock where we'll catch the ferry - this time to Mackinaw City. Here we'll cross the unbelievable Mackinac Bridge linking Michigan's peninsulas. Our driver awaits our arrival and we begin the next leg of the wonderful tour. We’ll travel the same route we took on the first day with lodging in Manistique. Set your seats back and relax. A lunch break and comfort stop will be made as the day moves along. We'll arrive to Manistique in late-afternoon. Breakfast Included
Day 5, Saturday, June 17th
Breakfast is served at the Comfort Inn prior to an early morning check out. Manistique
We’ll travel along Hwy #2 homeward bound…. We’ll move from Eastern Time back to Central Time and pick up an hour today. We are about 6.5 hours to Bayfield, our afternoon stop, with an estimated arrival to about 1:30PM. A nice lunch is planned at the Rittenhouse Inn. (Included) An extra bit of time is also built in for shopping and exploring the little downtown area.
4:00PM - We’ll board the coach and continue home. Bayfield is about 2 hours from Duluth. Breakfast and Lunch
Estimated arrival home:
NE MN Sites: 5:30PM – Superior 6:00PM - Hermantown 7 :45PM – Eveleth 8:00PM – Virginia 8:30PM – Hibbing 9:15PM - Grand Rapids Twin Cities & Central MN Sites: 7:30PM – Roseville 8:45PM – Sartell
Disclaimer: Happy Trails Tours acts only as an agent for the various independent suppliers that provide hotel accommodations, transportation, theater, or other services connected with this tour. Such services are subject to the terms and conditions of those suppliers. Happy Trails Tours, INC and their respective employees, agents, representatives accept no liability whatsoever for any injury, damage, loss, accident, delay, or any other default of any company or person in performing these services. Responsibility is not accepted for losses, injury, damages or expenses of any kind due to sickness, weather, strikes, hostilities, wars, terrorist acts, acts of nature, local laws or other causes. All services and accommodations are subject to the laws and regulations of country in which they are provided. Happy
Trails Tours INC is not responsible for any baggage or personal effects of any individual participating in the tours/trips arranged by Happy Trails Tours. Individual travelers are responsible for purchasing a travel insurance policy, if desired, that will cover some of the expenses associated with the loss of luggage or personal effects.