Join me as I recount a truly unforgettable weekend at the newly renovated Inn at Stonecliffe, where I was surprised with a proposal from Neil, marking it as my favorite trip to Mackinac Island yet. From the moment we arrived, we were enveloped in the beauty and charm of the inn, which had just reopened after extensive renovations. One of the highlights was our complimentary pizza-making class, where we indulged in delicious flavors and fun experiences. As we explored the island, the picturesque views and cozy atmosphere made the moments even more special. This episode captures the magic of our weekend, filled with laughter, love, and delightful culinary adventures, culminating in a heartfelt surprise that I'll cherish forever.

www.theinnatstonecliffe.com

www.totallymackinacislandpodcast.com

Located on the crystal blue waters of Lake Huron lies Mackinac island.

She is tucked in between Michigan's upper and lower peninsulas.

Indulge me as I share all the ins and outs of the place that stole my heart.

This is totally Mackinac Islandhouse.

Hello and welcome to Totally Mackinac island podcast.

I am your host, Heather, and this is the episode of the recap of our most recent trip up to Mackinac island.

And if you remember, the inn at Stonecliffe had been closed for two years of renovations.

And so this was their first season back after doing such renovations.

And I am beyond excited to share, share everything with you guys.

But I'm gonna start with the beginning, from when we started the trip to the end, and I'm gonna see how things are going.

If this is taking a lot longer, this might be a two parter, which I could definitely see it becoming a two parter.

I made sure to sit down and write notes I was gonna record outside while I was there, but unfortunately some of the days were a little bit windier and I knew that that would cut into stuff.

So not a problem.

I was able to do this, sorry I couldn't get it out on Monday.

Able to get this done a little bit early before I had to go into the salon.

So typically when we go to the island, Thursday through Sunday is a really good time.

Now, sometimes we'll head up Wednesday afternoon.

So that way we stay in Mackinac City.

So we have all day Thursday, Friday, and Saturday, which is fantastic.

But we left Thursday morning at about six in the morning.

And it takes just a little bit over 5 hours to get up there.

And we really were not in any kind of rush.

So before you get there, a stone cliff is located a little under 2 miles away from where Shuffler's ferry dock is.

And they will contact you that morning asking you if you know which ferry you're going to be coming on, because they like to make sure they have a porter down there to get your items up to stone cliff.

Now keep in mind there's also a complimentary shuttle if you are guests at the hotel, to take to and from Stone Cliff.

They run every hour on the hour.

And if you're not a guest, it costs $10.50 to go up there, which is great because you can then, you know, relax going up there.

We got in there, got our luggage unloaded and everything.

It was.

They were boarding and I just didn't want to push it.

So going into Shepler's, this was the first time since everything happened with the ferries.

You go in and I don't know if this is pretty standard or if this is new, because again, since they are the only fairy line running, when you go in, they ask you, of course, if you're staying overnight and where to go and where to drop items off.

Once you get there, they will come over and ask you and then they will come over with a cart.

We, of course, had cash to tip them because it's, you know, a lot of work to be doing that.

So you pull into the spot, get unloaded, get everything ready, and then we hold on.

You hold on to your bikes.

So we actually put our bikes up against the fence, went and parked our car.

And we did.

We went and parked and it was $20 a day to do that parking.

Once we were parked, we headed back on the shuttle that they have provided for you to go back to get on the ferry.

So heading back there, we got off and grabbed our bikes.

They had the bike tickets on there that are the same as what they say is your license while you're staying over there for that time.

Got on there and sat downstairs.

It was beautiful day.

It was just a little chilly.

I did not want to sit outside.

And the ferry is very nice.

The seating is.

They're a little bit different seats.

They're not large bench, they're individual seats.

They got a little bit of cushion to them.

So that was great.

And headed over to the island.

So we were left from Mackinac City.

Upon arrival there, we found the porter that was going to be with Stonecliffe.

And we told him, we said, we, you know, you can take this up there.

He's like, well, it might not get up there till, like, one.

We were in no rush.

We.

But to be honest, we were just looking forward to taking our time.

We had our bikes, we let them know that, so there was no rush.

So we decided to go ahead and go get something to snack on because we knew we were eating at three with the pizza, but we wanted something else.

So we went to Millie's on main, which Neil had never gone into.

Millie's on main island.

Super cute, charming little place.

I remember back in the day before.

I believe it was Millie's.

It was something else.

And that was a spot that we would go to.

Or maybe it's always been Millie's.

And I just thought it was something else.

But anyway, lots of memories at that bar.

But we ended up getting just the smoked whitefish dip.

Because, again, we were hungry.

But we wanted to save room for our pizza.

And that was served with toasted garlic parmesan crostini and crispy pita chips.

It was amazing.

And it did have an excellent smoked flavor.

This was a perfect little light appetizer to have because you were full.

But it wasn't heavy full.

So highly recommend it if you're wanting to get something again.

I always push the fish because the white fish up there, in my opinion, is just done perfectly.

After that, we decided to go ahead and start heading up to the inn at Stone Cliff.

Because we wanted to take our time a little bit.

But we knew we had to ride the bikes.

So heading up there meant we had to go up connaught Avenue, right by the grand.

And that is a big hill.

We were not going to be able to bike that.

But I told Neil I was going to do that trick where you look down the entire time, which I was.

Which was hilarious because I almost ran into a carriage because I was.

I was so focused on looking down.

But you guys, I was completely fine.

When we got to the top of the hill, I was not winded.

So that really helped.

Now, for the rest of the trip that I couldn't do that the rest of the trip for all the hills that we had to do.

But anyway, so we got up there.

And mind you, I mean, it was a beautiful day.

Okay.

So we just enjoyed our bike ride to Stonecliffe.

And super easy to get to.

There's a.

Like, maybe two or a possibly three hills, but they're not bad hills getting up there, so.

And if you want to just get off and walk it, we would do that sometimes.

So getting into stone cliff, riding into there, especially because I saw back in June then to see it now, everything was fully open, which was so fantastic to see.

And it just brings a smile to your face when you're pulling in on that long driveway.

Going up to the front there, walking into the lobby, you also see the dining area right in front of you.

And then to the left is going to be the bar that they have.

It is the decorations in there.

It's a light blue, but it's still, in some ways, got somewhat of a nautical theme, but yet it isn't all nautical.

I know I'm not good at describing that to you, but that's kind of what it was.

So in front of us was the straights, fine dining for breakfast and dinner.

And then the horsey's pub.

Horsey's pub was right next to us.

And that's the one that I just.

I love this little place.

It's so cute.

I've never been to England, but it reminds me of something from there.

From.

We told them we were there and they said our room wasn't quite ready.

We were in no rush.

We said we were going to go out and sit on the back lawn because it was gorgeous.

And then at that time, I was lucky enough to run into Mackenzie.

And so she came up and we got to chit chat a little bit.

And then I got the word that our room was ready.

Each room has a different name.

It's not a number.

So we were in the Audubon room.

It was facing out towards the bridge.

It was a king size bed.

And when you walked in, there was a small little seating area in front of the tv right there, the bed back against there, and a large wet bar, if you will, with a fridge.

And then the bathroom off of there.

The sink for the bathroom was on the outside, which was very nice.

Plenty of storage.

I loved this so much.

They had two dressers that were huge, so you could have put so much.

Plus a closet.

This is massive.

I love to unpack.

And so having that feeling was huge for me.

I loved it.

They gave us a wonderful welcoming gift that included more information about and the family that now owns it, the Pulte family and their humanitarian organization.

And then also this information was about weddings.

All of that will be discussed in the other podcast that I was able to record up there with the general manager and then director of sales.

So while we were there, we got all unpacked and just soaked up the view because it was amazing.

Got all ready and decided it was time to head down to our complimentary pizza making class.

So under the menu, when you're there for the inn at Stone Cleft, they have a whole bunch of different complimentary things going on for you to do while you're there.

And pizza making was one of them.

We enjoy pizza making at home, so this was definitely something to look forward to.

There was about eight other people in there with us, so we got to talking to this one couple, and this was their first time ever there to the island, and they were from California, so it was fun to hear how their experience was going.

A lot of checking out the island, but I thought it was great that they were at the inn for their first experience.

Made the pizza.

So how the pizza making worked is they had the dough already done.

You didn't have to do that.

All of that was done.

You just had to roll it out, pat it out, do all of that fun stuff, and then you added your toppings to it, and then they would put it in the wood fire grill, and you got to watch it cook.

It was so good.

They were very good at explaining it.

They didn't do an insane amount of toppings, because just like on their menu, they have brisket, pepperoni, onions.

Let's see here.

Red peppers, three different kinds of cheeses.

Let's see.

I think there were olives, so I just did pepperoni and onions, and it was delicious.

It was perfect.

I couldn't.

I wish I could have eaten it all, but I couldn't.

And Neil did a little bit of brisket on his, and he really liked it like that.

So we sat there, got to enjoy that, and that was perfect because we just had the whitefish dip.

So with that, we were full, and that was amazing.

After that, we headed over to the general store, which is right next to where you've got your backyard.

The backyard is where the pizza making was made.

They've got the wood fire pizza grill there and everything.

It looks like a little.

They put down blinds, if you will, and even more protectors against the wind, because when that wind is blowing, it can be pretty intense.

So the general store is right next to it.

Super adorable.

I will share videos with it.

They make homemade ice cream in there, so they let you sample it.

And I tried the strawberry, and then the coffee chocolate chip, and the coffee chocolate chip was my favorite.

They also have clothing in there that has in it stonecliffe information, like, it has embroidery of it on there.

There's cups, there's blankets.

There's little snacks for you to take back to your room.

You can get breakfast sandwiches in the morning.

You can get coffee.

They just.

I'm excited to see how this general store grows over time, especially with the location that they are.

For some of the rest residents that are around there, I wonder if they'll end up adding some more in there.

But I felt that this was a nice added touch, especially being up there.

So we decided to go ahead and bike down to Wwashkimo.

Because Neil brought his golf clubs, even though he said he didn't want to.

But I was glad he did.

And he said earlier that week that he was going to put them on his back and ride with them.

And he said, I used to do that all the time in junior high.

And I'm not trying to say that he can't do some things, but all I was thinking is, yeah, but that was junior high.

This, this.

That was in Goshen.

This is Mackinaw.

This is different.

I just didn't want him to fall or get hurt.

I didn't know how it worked.

So anyway, we decided to go bike there.

And when we did that, we went around the opposite way of which way you go to.

So we went around the back part of where the airport is.

This took us down by sunset Forest took us in a little bit more that we ended up coming to where it took us out on M 185.

Then once we got there, we turned right and we ended up at british landing shortly after that.

So then we rode up from british landing all the way into Awashkimo, which was hilly.

I'm not gonna lie, that is hilly.

Got off a lot because I was tired.

Cannonball was closed.

I think it might close on Labor Day weekend.

So that was fun to ride up there to Wobachimo.

Once we got up there, then we could see where we needed to turn, come back around.

And it really was not a bad ride at all.

It was less than a mile.

And I felt really good about us being able to do that the next day for him to do that.

Once we got back to the hotel, poor Neil, he had woken up really early.

I didn't sleep good the night before.

But once I get up there, sometimes I am just go, go, go.

But he wanted to go up and just relax in the room.

And there was.

At this time, it was a little bit after five.

And there was a musician there who was playing out on the back porch.

And so I sat on this couch.

They have provided blankets and listened to music.

And I was just in heaven.

Guys, it was absolutely gorgeous out.

It wasn't that windy.

You were able to really see out and see the bridge.

It was just a very cozy place.

I can't.

I can't explain it enough.

It was just wonderful.

I absolutely loved it.

So while I was down there, I decided after a little bit, I was hungry.

So I went in and I just wanted something to snack on.

So I ordered some fries from the pub.

Guys, these were the best french fries I've ever had.

They came with aioli sauce, and I could have just poured that all over the french fries.

So I felt bad, so I thought I better go back up to the room and give Neil some french fries.

So headed back up to the room, and, you know, it starts to get dark out earlier.

So at this point, it's starting to get dark out.

And I head back up to the room, and he's actually in bed.

And I decide to open our windows because the musician where she was playing was right below our room.

And I opened the curtains, opened the windows, and I could hear her playing.

And I just sat there and listened to it, looked out over everything, and we had the tv on, so I was kind of watching some of that.

It was perfect.

The northern lights were going to come out that night, but I coming back up to the room, then hit a wall, and I was tired, and I thought, you know what?

I'm just gonna go to bed.

So we missed the northern lights, and they were.

They were gorgeous.

So little.

Little bit of fomo with that, for sure.

But honestly, we slept so good, it didn't matter.

So day two, we got up, and we decided to head into town for breakfast because we love to go try the different places, but of course, we love the chuck wagon.

So headed down there, and I got the breakfast sandwich on a pretzel bun with bacon.

So it's just egg, cheese, bacon on a pretzel bun, and it's, I think, a perfect size.

And then Neil got a.

It was like ham and egg, and it wasn't an omelet, but it was, like, almost a scramble.

And then he got a pancake on the side.

When you go to the chuck wagon, they have everything so meticulously ready that they've cooked so much bacon ahead of time that they've got everything just flowing on that grilled.

It's really fun to watch.

I would highly recommend going in there and just watching them do this.

They shut down for an hour before lunch because I'm guessing that they do a lot of prepping beforehand, and it just allows it to flow really smoothly.

It is very tiny in there, but it is worth everything, in my opinion.

It is so good.

Their diet Coke, phenomenal.

Like, I am a sucker for a good Diet coke.

And they had a great Diet coke.

So then after that, we went into Sanders to get our bumpy cake fudge.

And if you don't know what that is, they have this bumpy cake at Sanders.

It's like this rich devil's food cake.

Well, they put this bumpy cake in the fudge.

It is so good.

And especially because the cake is so rich.

And I hate this word, but it's moist.

It just.

It is such a great fudge.

Highly recommend it.

We were gonna get the bumpy cake alone, but I'm not gonna lie, we ate so many sweets over the weekend, it's probably good we didn't get that.

After that, we decided to head back to the lucky bean.

I saw Carolyn there.

I got a caramel drink while I was there.

And we just kind of putzed in and out of some shops, looked at some different places, and went down and saw Alyssa at the Mackinaw house so Neil could come in and see it.

And he really liked it in there.

And I was glad I got to see Alyssa.

Be sure to be following alyssa Doe on TikTok, because she provides valuable information for anybody that is going there.

It's just traveling.

If you want to hike everything, she has it on there, so she does a great job with that.

From there.

We called.

So we called bowashkimo, and they could get him in at eleven.

So we had to book it up to Stonecliffe from downtown, get him changed, and then make it over to washcomo by eleven.

And you know what?

We did it.

We were.

We made it with plenty of time.

Neil made it perfectly fine with his golf clubs.

I was excited to ride with him.

I was actually looking forward to being like, okay, I'll do some work while he's playing.

It will take a while.

It's not a big deal.

So we got to wawashcomo.

And this, the gentleman that helped us, kind of filled us in a little bit about the course and what to look for.

And we went over there, got ready to hit off.

There's so much neat information that's loaded, located throughout this course to read it.

So that was fine.

And so riding on the cart with him, I loved it.

It was.

It was definitely bumpy.

But I'm not sure if that was just the course.

Neil asked them afterwards, and I guess that they've only ever gone over that with horse and trailer, so they've never smoothed it out.

So it was a little rocky.

But again, I've never gone out on a course before.

Whatever.

It was fun.

It was a beautiful, beautiful, beautiful day.

There weren't a lot of people out, but there was some people in front of us that they allowed us to play ahead of them because it was just Neil hitting.

So I took some videos and pictures and was sending it to Neil's brother and nephew and then to his dad because they're all golfers and he really was enjoying himself.

At one point, he hit the ball.

We couldn't find it.

It was.

And they had cut, I guess, the heather down.

So I can't imagine if the heather had been grown up, if you would even be able to find your ball.

So did the just.

He just did nine holes, and it was over before I knew it.

Like, I couldn't even believe it was done.

So after that, we finished up, and I went over and I heard a plane leaving the airport.

So I was able to get a video of that, which was really kind of cool because washcomo is literally right next to the airport, so you can walk right out of there with your bike to do that.

And cave in the woods is not too far from there, too, and crack in the island.

So if you want to cut, you know, kill two birds with 1 st, that's a great way to do it right there because it's all located in that spot.

After that, we decided to head back to Stone cliff.

And I said, why don't we go to the woods restaurant?

Because it's right there and we can just get some appetizers.

So we went over there, and, of course, I had to get some popcorn because their popcorn is delicious.

And it was.

A lot of people were sitting outside, but we just sat on in the bar area because we weren't gonna get a lot.

So we got their pretzels and a pecan ball.

Now, in all the years I have gone to Mackinac, I have never had a pecan ball.

From the Grand Hotel.

And what is that?

It is a round ball of ice cream with chocolate sauce on the bottom.

Covered in pecans.

Yes.

That just sounded amazing.

So at this point, we were like, okay, let's do it.

The pretzels were so good.

We got two regular sized.

They weren't huge.

They were just a normal sized pretzel.

And then Neil said it was the best mustard.

I don't like mustard, but it was the best mustard he's ever had that he was dipping it in.

I loved the cheese sauce.

I thought it was absolutely perfect.

So we had the pretzel, and then we had the pecan ball.

And that was perfect because we weren't exactly starving because we had had a full breakfast.

But we knew later that night that we would be, you know, going out to eat and stuff like that.

After that, we went to go find the abandoned car.

Now, I have heard about this abandoned car for years, and it's really a big mystery about it.

When I first heard about it, I reached out to some people, and they were very apprehensive to let me know where this car was at.

And I think part of the journey, the fun part about it, is actually finding it by asking a lot of the locals.

That's how my one girlfriend found it, and she is the one how I found it.

Um, not.

I can't find out much about this car, you guys.

So I.

I don't know the story.

This is something I need to look into.

If anybody has any information about it, please let me know.

I feel reluctant to even share with you guys on here, but if you want to know, reach out to me, and I will give you some hints to help you find it because it is kind of neat.

And there's other stuff back there, too.

So we found it.

At this point, I don't even know what time it was.

It was in the afternoon, and I knew this was on Friday, so I knew on Saturday.

I had two interviews that we scheduled that I needed to make sure I got everything to them, questions and stuff.

So we went back to the hotel.

I showered, cleaned up, and Neil wanted to watch some of the football game, the Notre Dame game.

And I said, I'm gonna go down.

I was gonna try and record outside, but it was way too windy.

So I set up in the corner bar down there.

And I loved everything about it.

I just wrote out my questions.

I wrote out my summary of what we had done so far, which is hilarious, because you have to write it out because otherwise I forget stuff.

And I just enjoyed sitting in there.

And the bartender, which I feel terrible.

I am blanking out on his name.

He was phenomenal.

He'd been there about a month, and he had come from the mexican restaurant downtown, which was closed because I guess when Starline closed, they closed, guessing that they rented it out.

And I don't know the whole story behind it, but that really shocked me because we were gonna eat there and instead of at Millie's, but they were closed.

I just thought maybe they closed early for the season.

So that was a real shame.

I hope they're back next year because they had a great location and it looked like it was doing great.

So after that, Neil came down and he wanted to go over.

We had the things for the wellness room, and it's a separate building, so you can walk to it.

We went over there to look at how to, and somebody did reach out to me.

She had stayed there a couple weeks ago.

And I'm going to say this much.

If you walk into a room like that, you want to work out, it motivates you.

It just is so well decorated, but it's just got a very calming.

I love the atmosphere in there.

They have a treadmill, a rower, a bike.

They have all the free weights you could want.

They have a small sauna with, like, red light therapy, the rooms to get ready.

And after you work out, they have a full shower in there.

Upstairs is a masseuse.

And then they have a special room for you to get ready with if you're part of the bridal party, which we will talk about later.

As I got in.

So once we finished in there, we had kind of gone around the property the day before.

We had taken him.

I taken him over to Sunset Rock, which if you're going to go to Sunset Rock, when you need to figure out how to go there.

There used to be that you could get there from the main lawn out in front, but now you have to go out in front of stone Cliff and you'll see signs.

You're going to walk towards, like, sunset condos, and you're going to see a sign that says Sunset Rock.

And that's going to take you directly to Sunset Rock.

And that is just beautiful.

Again, you don't even have to go there just at sunset, it's gorgeous.

And then when you're down there, it's going to take you back behind where the chickens are.

And because they have honey and farm freshen, they're trying to do more of a farm to table kind of food element there.

So that we took back up there, and we had seen a few places, but we hadn't.

Sunil's like, let's go down here.

It was called the grotto.

And we had seen a few pictures of weddings that had been down there.

And I'm not gonna lie, guys, as we're walking down this hill, all I kept thinking is, how does the bride get down this hill?

Because it was really steep.

So then as we were looking up, we could see this gate, and I said, I wonder if they, like, bring them down in a golf cart.

That would make a lot of sense.

Or even for guests, like, have them bring them down to do that.

And we walked over and there was a fountain there and I was standing there and I was telling him, I'm like, ah, great.

We walked down this hill, and now I have to pee.

I have to go pee.

And I started to walk away and he grabbed my hand and he goes, well, before you do that, I have a question to ask you.

And I just was kind of like, what's happening?

And I think I knew in my mind, but I wasn't sure.

And then he proceeded to say, I know I'm doing this backwards because I don't have a ring.

Now, in Neil's defense, I do not wear rings.

I have, I used to wear rings in my twenties, but doing hair, I always hated getting stuff underneath them.

It was just a big pet peeve.

And I just, I just don't wear rings.

I have not worn them in forever.

So he goes, but I didn't know what to get you.

And he goes, I was filling stuff out.

And he goes, you should have seen what they picked out.

And I was just laughing.

And then it's kind of like when this was happening, I knew what was going to be happening, but I was blanking out.

Like I remember it, but I don't.

And all of a sudden, he asked me to marry him.

And this was in the grotto at the inn at Stonecliff on Mackinac island.

And I was with the love of my life and I couldn't believe that this was happening.

And I, of course, said yes.

I felt like we were both shaking.

It was just so magical.

Like, I'm still in shock about it, you guys.

I can't believe it happened.

He did so good.

After we got done, I was, I was laughing with him because when he started describing what the ring would look like, I said, yeah, that's not me at all.

And so then it's like I could tell a weight was off his shoulders.

And he said he had literally just decided that week.

He goes, he goes, I knew I needed to do it here, which just says so much about him.

And then he told his mom, and then he told my niece Nya, and he was telling his mom about the ring, and she's like, well, what size?

And he's like, I don't know.

And again, I don't have any rings.

Like, there's nothing he can go off of.

So Nya was trying to help him secure a last minute photographer to take pictures, but there wasn't.

You know what, though?

It's totally fine because it's our moment and I love that so much, and it's gonna it's just that much more special to me.

I just, I can't believe it happened.

I still can't.

So we went and we were calling everyone.

I had a constant permagran on my face.

The rest I felt like I was floating.

It just didn't feel real.

I was texting everybody in my phone.

I didn't care.

I was so excited.

And we went down to dinner and I wasn't even hungry because I just, I couldn't even think.

So I just got fries again because I love their fries.

I don't know if I mentioned it, their fries are amazing.

And Neil got the jerk chicken which was so good.

This sauce that you dip the jerk chicken in, I don't know what it was, but again, I could have poured that on my friesen.

And so that night was just us celebrating getting engaged.

Having that experience was truly magical.

He really, really, really did a great job.

And I am beyond happy and excited.

We did tease my mom.

I called her and said, oh yeah, they're going to be calling you and they need to get a deposit and they need to get all this information.

And she's like, at first she was like, oh.

And then, then I, she was like, wait, what?

And I was totally kidding with her.

I was, no, we have no idea that nothing has been said.

I'm not.

We are wanting a house.

That's our main focus.

So a big wedding is probably not in the cards.

But just stay tuned.

I will keep you guys all informed with that.

And so after that we just, we hung around.

I think the full day of everything just caught up with us because we were exhausted.

I don't even know what time we went into bed, but we did.

And again, we missed the northern lights.

But I didn't care.

I was so happy.

I slept like such a baby that night.

And I think Neil did too.

He said he had been stressed that whole day.

He said, I'm sorry if I felt that way.

I didn't get that.

I thought he was just tired.

So Saturday morning we got up to do breakfast downstairs because I had a couple of interviews to do for the podcast.

And we got the pancakes and I think they used a little bit of cornstarch in there.

These pancakes were so golden, crispy, fluffy, fantastic.

I can't say enough about them.

It was so nice to sit in the dining area down there for breakfast and to look out and see the straits of Mackinac ahead of you.

And again, it was just another gorgeous day.

Now it was a little bit windier, but that I mean, that is what it is.

I am somebody that loves to be able to put on sweatshirts and be cozy.

So from there, I got to go down and do an interview for the podcast.

This took place in the honey cottage, and.

And this cottage itself sleeps ten people.

It is incredible.

First of all, it's like my dream decor.

It's soft colors, like on the wall, but bright color accents.

And I loved it.

And honestly, for what you might pay per night there, if there's a group of you, you're really getting a fantastic deal.

And they bring the groceries up to you, which is another added bonus.

So I met with Patrick, who was the resort manager, and Bethany, who is director of sales.

She also does like your events, your weddings.

So those interviews are going to be coming up in the next few weeks as well, too.

And I'm very excited to share those with you.

And I was so grateful.

Mackenzie got these set up for me, and I will do another one with Mackenzie to talk about her position that she's taken up at Stonecliffe.

We're going to do that through Zoom.

She had to go out of town, which was not a problem at all.

After that, we decided to go.

I wanted to take Neil up to Fort Holmes because he had never gone there.

So headed up there, and we went to the one area where you can take the steps.

And when we were heading up, Neil was starting to kind of feel a little shaky.

So he said, we'll probably need to go get some food after that, which was totally fine, and went up.

Fort homes just gives such a magical feeling when you're up there in the fall with all the leaves just starting to pop out with color.

You look at one side, which is towards Fort Mackinac, and then you go on the other side, and it's like night and day with the trees and how they are.

And there were two girls there taking pictures.

And I just thought, my gosh, those are going to be gorgeous because the colors they had on with the colors in the background were just going to pop.

And I loved it.

So we hung up out there for a little bit, and then we rode back down.

We ended up riding down by the grand, doing down that hill because it seemed the less dangerous for us.

And headed into downtown, where we ended up going to Winchester's, which I never gone to, and just to get some appetizers because we knew we were going to be coming back down to eat dinner downtown.

So we got the waffle fries that came with gravy, green onions, and mozzarella cheese.

On them and pretzel bites.

I realized I did not know how I was gonna like that with the gravy on the french fries.

It was so good.

It was so good.

Loved it.

Loved it with the green onions.

It gave it a crisp texture to it.

The pretzel bites were amazing.

The cheese was so good.

And then I got a margarita there, and it was good.

It was fresh.

It's like that TikTok, you know, oh, this is fresh.

This is good.

It was really good.

Highly recommend it.

From there, we then did a little bit of shopping, and we got our engaged on Mackinac ornament at little luxuries.

And then we went, saw Lana at Swit gallery and got some of her watercolor work, because it's incredible.

I got a picture for Caleb and a picture for Cassidy from there.

And then we went and got some more fudge, because, again, you can never have too much fudge.

Had to bring some home to family and friends.

So we were eating, and we were thinking, because we knew we had our bikes down here, and honestly, we were so tired.

We were like, I don't know if we can do any more because I know I've left out.

We did a lot of exploring, like walking, biking, doing all of that.

So we decided to grab the shuttle back up to stone cliff, then take the shuttle back down, and then ride our bikes back up after eating.

So got back up there.

I actually laid down for a nap, um, and took a nice little nap.

Neil was watching some football, got up, got changed, and then went down to the bar.

I had a spicy margarita there, which was super yummy.

And because we had a little bit of time before we got on the to head back downtown.

So then we got back on the carriage to head into downtown, which was really fun.

We sat next to a couple that that was their first visit on the island, and her friends actually worked for the pulte family, that is the organization that owns the stone cliff.

And so she recommended they stay there, which I said, boy, you guys really, really got an experience for your first time coming to the island.

So they had really, really liked it.

They had been going downtown and just, you know, exploring a lot of different things.

They really enjoyed it.

And they were from Iowa, so that was fun to talk with them.

So we headed down, and Neil really wanted to go to Mary's because we love Mary's draft house, and he wanted the chicken tenders, and I do not blame him.

But I said, you know what?

I'm gonna get the whitefish meal.

So we shared and got down there.

Another great Diet Coke is there at Mary's.

It was so good.

So we got the fish and chips, and then we got the chicken tenders, and we were so full.

It was so perfect.

And afterwards, we just walked downtown a little bit around, and it was starting to get dark out, so we knew we needed to start heading back up.

And we didn't have lights on our bikes, which I didn't even think about that.

So on my basket, I put my phone in there and turned the light on.

So riding up, we got to see the grand at night, which is always so pretty.

There were lights along the path as we were going.

But I honestly don't know the last time that I've biked like that at night.

And, I mean, nothing to be scary about, but that could be scary.

That could be so scary if you really wanted to freak somebody out to do that.

Yeah, that would be it.

So got back there and we decided to take some pictures and videos of the outside of Stonecliffe at night because it's just gorgeous.

The view is incredible.

It was really windy, so a lot of people have really moved inside.

And there was the Ohio State and Oregon football game on.

So people were watching the game and it was just a very welcoming atmosphere, which is something that I feel at Stonecliffe is extremely inviting.

I just cannot emphasize that enough.

The staff is so nice, and if they aren't aware of what to do, they find out for you with no questions asked whatsoever.

So we headed back up to our room and we knew we'd wake up early.

We just needed to, you know, pack.

We asked them a few questions and they explained the process for leaving.

I got the small cinnamon roll, which actually was the size of a plate, so I have no idea what a large cinnamon roll would look like.

But I got it with the cinnamon butter on top.

It was so good, I only ate half of it.

We finished it when we got home that night.

And then I got the white mocha latte.

I then went over to Dowd's to get a new hat because Dolly had destroyed my other one.

I take blame because I do set them down, and so she has gotten them.

So that is on me.

But I now have something to hang them on because I love my trucker hats.

So got a new hat.

We're safe.

And then headed down to Shepler's dock.

They did recommend that we get there 15 minutes early, especially because we didn't want to sit upstairs and got on the ferry.

And it was just smooth sailing from there.

Got back over, Neil went and got the car, and we got on the road and we got back in no time.

Honestly, was the best weekend ever for so many reasons.

Obviously, the number one, getting engaged.

I cannot even believe it.

I'm so excited.

And to say there just made my heart even happier.

So excited to share what's going on with that as we are planning it.

I'm gonna give you a little backstory on Neil and I's history because I think it's something that is fun.

I met Neil.

I'm actually three years older than Neil, okay.

But when I first met him, it was well over 20 years ago.

I had started working with his sister, and I was over at her sister's, at his sister's house.

And I remember being there and she said, oh, here comes my other, my brother.

And he's a huge Dave Matthews band fan.

And I was like, oh.

And I now, knowing Neil how Neil is, I don't know what was said, but I said something to him and he responded to me.

And at the time, I, of course, took it so offensively, what it wasn't, it was just Neil being Neil.

But at that moment, I was like, I don't like you.

I think you're a punk.

I don't like you.

And so when Carrie, his sister, would talk about him throughout years, I was like, yeah, whatever, you know, a couple years ago, because his sister and I had worked on and off at different salons together, so I never would see him.

So I finally saw him in the salon the one time, and Carrie mentioned that he was taking her son to his first Dave show.

And I said something to him about it.

He was on his phone and I said, oh, I hear you're taking him to a Dave show.

And he just kind of was very dismissive, like, yeah.

And I just thought, well, I'm glad to see things have changed in 20 years.

And I just.

But in the back of my mind, I was thinking, it's too bad because I thought he was good looking.

And that winter, I became friends with him on Facebook because I wanted to see how the whole concert went for him and Jake.

And then that winter, I had shared something on a Facebook story or through Instagram.

And it went on that stories and he commented to it and I responded back and then we just started talking.

And at first I don't think either of us really knew what was going on with it because I didn't really look into it too much.

I have been sadly burned by a lot and I was very not open minded to stuff and you know how they always say it happens when you least expect it.

That is exactly what happened with this.

So we started talking and his sister said for years that we would be perfect together.

And I always went back to how he used to be, which is silly on my part, but I also know it wouldn't have worked had we gotten together then and we wouldn't have Caleb and Cassidy.

And I know that that wasn't our journey then, but it is our journey now.

And now I can't imagine him not being in my life like it was.

It was so smooth.

It's been so smooth.

There's just.

It's been nothing but the best ever.

And his love too of Mackinac has been so fun for me to see grow and his support with everything is just incredible.

I'm very, very lucky.

He's got a wonderful family.

My family loves him so.

And I get Caleb and Cass in my life, too.

So that's an even bigger bonus.

So, yeah, we started dating and it's been great ever since then.

So with the market finally looking a little better, we're hopeful to get a house this next year.

And that, that is our big plan.

And of course in there sometime probably getting married.

So this was our weekend.

I'm sure I will think of other things to share with it but I feel like I covered most of it.

Check out the inn at Stone Lift cliff.

Guys can't say enough about it.

They are wonderful.

They've done a great job.

There's so much more to it.

I can't wait to share with you those interviews.

Stay tuned for those.

Be sure to watch all my socials and get on the website for updated information and pictures.

I just feel like I'm gonna have a whole page, just dedicated pictures that I'm gonna have to work on this week for you all to see on the website because it's just incredible.

So thank you as always for sharing all your stories, information, anything you can.

That concludes this week's episode.

I look forward to talking to you next week about our favorite places.

Mackinac island.

Totally.

Mackinac island is written, produced and edited by me, Heather.