And for our next adventure: Mackinac Island. Being from an ocean town, I’m no stranger to ferries and bridges. In fact, they’re one of my favorite things. So, when we planned our trip to Mackinaw City, I couldn’t wait to take the ferry to the island and the bridge to the UP. Both adventures far exceeded my expectations but I wanted to talk about our time on the island because, WOW!

Going into this trip, I didn’t know much about Mackinac Island. I knew there was a lot of history, a lot of tragedy in the straights and a lot of beautiful scenery. The thing that floored me right off the bat: no motorized vehicles of any kind. I’m strangely obsessed with this lifestyle. You truly don’t realize how prevalent motors are until they aren’t around you. I…

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By the way, what is a CTA? I get this question a lot so I thought I’d explain what it is.

CTA means Certified Tourism Ambassador and it’s a professional nationwide designation that you can earn by taking an initial class to learn the ins and outs of Grand Rapids! To renew each year, CTAs need to continue to experience the attractions in the city and log points online for a yearly renewal. So, yes, I got “credit” for recently visiting Boulder Ridge Animal Park in Alto, Butcher’s Uniondowntown (hello Bloody Mary’s!) and Millennium Park…all in the last week. I love being a tourist in my own city, so I try to rack up the points each year and see how many new places I can learn about!

Grand Rapids has one of the fastest-growing programs in the USA…

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