Mackinac Island's Hidden Charms: Exploring the Off-Season Magic of the New Year

[@jimknarr]

Ideas for a future Mackinac Island history video: (1) history of when it was a national park, (2) Mackinac College 1966-1970.

[@sarabeth1104]

Another island fun fact: my husband’s uncle owns a summer cottage in Harrisonville and it’s the only property with every variety of lilac on the island. Love the island! I visit twice a year. Chad’s tour is on my 2024 bucket list. Loved the vid. Thanks for all you do.

[@RestlessViking]

Thanks for sharing!

[@jeremyburns4350]

I live and work here!

[@truckdaddy1957]

I'm not much of a crowd kinda guy. However, I could hang out with That bunch at New Years.

[@OldManTomJulio]

I tell everyone that will listen to my ramblings...go to the island on the offseason and hang with the locals. Pure magic.

[@michellefarell5256]

I have a friend who has lived there year round for ages. You speak the truth.

[@michellebieke2589]

Chad is the best and is passionate about his love of Mackinac Island!!!

[@CorinneHSmith]

"Hub-bub and horse poop." Now THERE'S a marketing slogan for Mackinac Island. :-)

[@RestlessViking]

😂😄😂

[@cherriecamilleri4022]

Bump in the dump full of history. Should be a book.

[@RestlessViking]

😂😄

[@sarabeth1104]

Do tell!

[@burtzorn4059]

Happy New Year you two !!! Stay warm and safe !!!!!

[@sid7088]

Happy New Year folks, from French River Ontario.

[@RestlessViking]

Happy new year!

[@truckershammock4250]

no snow no ice unusual

[@ladyofjazz448]

Happy anniversary you two! What a grand way to celebrate your love!

[@ThePauly248]

This by far is best video on the island yet!!!

[@Jay_Hall]

More gems from the Vike and Poppin,,thank you! :)

[@margogordon6231]

Very sweet! Thank you for posting.

[@leadslinger49]

Great video. I love the North Country. A lot of interesting History.

[@peggymalaski4061]

Happy Anniversary!

[@PracticalKen]

Thanks for sharing this adventure. Chad's a funny and great guy. 👍

[@CalvaryOnTheFly]

Great Video ! Happy Anniversary

[@RestlessViking]

Thank you!!

[@gypsybead9076]

Wow thank you for sharing! New Years on Mackinac island on my bucket list now!

[@sillarsscott7694]

Happy Anniversary Chuck and Martha

[@jenniferwade4203]

Lovely video. Thank you! ❤

[@michaelpfister1283]

Great video! I proposed to my wife on the ferry, at sunset, coming home from the island. We returned for our 25th anniversary a few years back. I have always wanted to visit the island over New Years, or at least in the off-season. Thank you for this glimpse of the possibilities!

[@LadyYoop]

This is so fantastic...you two gotta be a couple of my most favorite folks ever! This is just magnificent. Thank you! (PS...look at the lighthouse one on 14 mile point. I posted a link a long time ago..there was a fire there this summer that was burning underground!~) There was another one too...the tree lighting on the island...we have a local tv program, and they showed the tree lighting on the island, and you and Poppins were in it...I put that link on that vid too.

[@greyhollow3820]

I work on the island at the state park and doing the haunted history tours! I love your enthusiasm for the island and it’s history. If you’re back on the island come summer come take a haunted history tour!

[@timclark7507]

I worked on the island for several years. Always loved the off season. However there was always way more snow when I was there. Much more relaxed and quiet.

[@NorthernStruggler]

Outstanding video!

[@RestlessViking]

Thank you very much!

[@franklowe779]

Somewhere in Time is a wonderful movie about the Grand Hotel & Mackinaw Island. Well written story

[@robinmoore5181]

We have a great time watching you both and everything is so interesting. 🌸

[@RestlessViking]

Thanks so much!

[@zacharywalters8139]

Love seeing this. I grew up on the island in the summers. Mackinaw City the rest of the year, and went to Cheboygan schools. I'd go over and stay a few nights in the winter each year, too. It's at its best in the winter honestly 😂

[@jimberry4871]

Great Video!!

[@timclark7507]

One of my favorite rides was up over the center of the island through the village to British landing.

[@dominikz.1376]

Love you two guy’s’s’ channel … did I do those punctuation marks right in “guy’s’s’ “ ??

[@dominikz.1376]

I’d ask Webster the Dictionary but he’s out of the office for Martin Luther King Jr. Day

[@RestlessViking]

Innovative wordsmithing stuff. . .

[@cameliadunwoodie5543]

Very nice! Happy New Year and Happy Anniversary! You should've mentioned that viecle except fire trucks are not allowed on the island. The only way to get around is by bicycle, horses and carriages. Thank you very much for the video!

[@triciaskiles]

I saw some snowmobiles 3:31

[@dennisgrant538]

Saw a trash truck at the hidden landing once

[@BikerJim74]

I love those old pictures of you guys. My partner and I have often considered staying on the Island but havent yet.

[@spacenut58]

One of my happy places. Thanks guys

[@RestlessViking]

Our pleasure!

[@brendanfisher6289]

GREAT video of the island! I've snowmobiled out there a few times. Your history teachings as you go along is quite good! I've probably landed at that airport a dozen times and never knew it was the old landfill. The winter-over at the South Pole is over but a few of us are snowmobiling up to Copper Harbor in early February.

[@CP-sj5qz]

Winter is probably my favorite time of year on Mackinac Island. SO quiet and very very few people..

[@franklowe779]

Yes Great video you both tell the history of Mackinaw Island 😊❤well done

[@FjHenderson]

Awesome 👌 I knew there was a video coming soon, because I seen poppins story somewhere and read it a few days back. Thanks for a personal adventure in the off season, and Happy New Year 2024, to you and your family.

[@Auxrad39]

Thanks for a great tour , I hope you have a wonderful new year from the land down under:)

[@RestlessViking]

Happy new year!

[@mpd42781]

I snowmobiled across the ice bridge in the mid-late 90's. The island was so much fun in the winter, but I didn't spend the night. I have been to the island so many times in my youth & yet I never knew about the crack or the 'caves'. That was so neat to learn!

[@dsbdbq5788]

It was awesome to see you guys staying our favorite hotel on the island and in the room we stayed in! Not necessarily a great view but a wonderful hotel!

[@Chadswonderfulwalkingtours]

You guy's are awesome.

[@RestlessViking]

You're Awesome

[@Chadswonderfulwalkingtours]

@@RestlessViking No, YOU'RE awesome.

[@RestlessViking]

@@Chadswonderfulwalkingtours 🤣

[@heidinewcombe696]

Northern MI is the best place to recharge the battery of my soul. I always try to stay in a little motel in Mackinaw City called the Beachcomber. I plan day trips to the UP. With having the most freshwater coastline in the world, there's plenty of stop off points to view natures majesty.

[@franklowe779]

Thanks for sharing fascinating insights, stories. Happy anniversary. Angels watch over you there are many kinds of angels. I would like to go back to Mackinaw Island off season before or after the tourist season. I would like to try eating at the Grand Hotel before the crowds come tourists

[@ASMRPeople]

My best memory of the island was when I was in my 20s. My friend & I were young guys without a care so on a dare we took the last ferry out the Friday of memorial weekend without a reservation. We proceeded to bar hop all night. At 2 am we just hit up hotels & it was like the second one that gave us the honeymoon suite at a normal room price as somebody canceled. That of course became our mantra you'll never get the honeymoon suite unless you take a chance.

[@theconsultant8732]

Happy New Years guys. Quick question, does the island stink in the winter like it does in the summer?

[@RestlessViking]

Not at all! No flies either!

[@Coopersmith7718]

What a nice time to be on the island. Your last comment about the turtle be optimistic for the new year, in the most non optimistic tone that could possibly be used. That got me laughing. It was said perfectly. You definitely have a wonderful grasp on the English language and have mastered its inflections.

[@RestlessViking]

🤣😂

[@mestep511]

All the trips here and now more reasons to have to go back. Thank you. Love the backroads of the islands, fudge not really my thing.

[@jeffreymurphy5313]

I thought the island closed in late fall. So cool that you were there for New Years.

[@denisedutcher4897]

You are both a pleasure to watch!

[@Frozenflame-ji4bl]

18 seconds into video i'm already invested. December 29th is my birthday.

[@jlions72]

Happy Anniversary, You Two..and Happy new Years to you also..!, I really love your adventures you go on,.!..very interesting and we get to see and learn about life on The Island, never knew that it was even open at all during the winter also I have never been all around the Island before ..this makes me want to check it out more ...thanks for sharing !

[@avoid_ice2]

As always such wholesome content. Thanks Viking and popins!

[@robertsanders6463]

Thank you again!

[@Thrashsquatch]

I love it!! Was just there last weekend... all over it. Will be back later in the fall! Great channel, cheers!! =)

[@gowings9127]

Always wanted to go in winter, I will someday. Thanks for the trip report!

[@valaraepfister5460]

I have been to the island three times. The first on vacation with my parents at 16 . The second was the day that my husband and I got engaged on the ferry boat coming back from the island after one of the young men in our group presented my husband to be with a horseshoe ring that he bought on the island and announced to the entire ferry, (which was extremely full because it was 5 o’clock and raining) that we wanted to get engaged but couldn’t afford a ring. We went back again on our 25th anniversary and it was wonderful. I wish we lived closer so that we could visit more often.

[@RestlessViking]

😀

[@brucevipond2222]

Congratulations and happy new year! The lowly Muskrat saves the day. This last tidbit I didn’t remember from the story. I’ve spent many weeks on the island though my older brothers both worked there. I’ve never visited in the off season but it’s now on the bucket list.

[@adventure.anywhere]

Great video! I have only been on there once about 20 years ago. Maybe this summer we will make it up there with our bikes!

[@sixramsalot]

Dang! in so many ways, Happy Anniversary! been over 40yrs,lookn at ferry fees and been working up the courage to ask my gf of 17yrs to stay A shore,lol wish me luck! top 3 for mee,love the humor ,tff,stay at it,and don't change a thing!

[@RestlessViking]

Good Luck! I think she'll love it!

[@LisaHouserman]

Love your channel. Have you ever toured people on Drummond Island? I have a friend who has a cabin up there like a weekend place. Thanks. You two are adorbs and I love watching your content.

[@Ellis1127]

Happy anniversary and awesome videos you put together!

[@RestlessViking]

Thanks!

[@MeMyselfAndUs903]

FYI..you can bring your dogs if you stay at Mission Point Resort.

[@richardcooke9948]

I saw you two around the Christmas tree in someone’s KZbin video

[@jurysummons2194]

How did "Martha" turn into "Poppins"?

[@marthahayden6021]

I had been a nanny and then an elementary teacher who always carried a never ending handbag. Poppins became my radio call sign on expeditions.

[@jlions72]

Hi, Again I have a couple of questions for you " Is Popins" your Wifes real name..? Or is it a nick name or channel hostess name .? just wondering its interesting !....And where do you get your Ideas for all your adventures you go on ..? and how much work is it to dig into an idea and put it on your video ..? I am sure its a lot of planning goes into it and money to go on these Adventures , ..OK so it was more than a couple of Questions ....lol...I really look forward to what you cover next ..Thanks for sharing you two are really Good at it ...Wish i had your Talent to do my own ......

[@RestlessViking]

Poppins is her "radio call sign" from our former expedition organization.

[@dickrice6583]

Where is the snow.?.....Lived in Michigan for years and this is unusual weather for December

[@RestlessViking]

Last year was extremely mild.

[@shirleysecord3916]

I remember as a child, "dump picking" with my mom..who was born on the Island

[@MrBradleyDavid]

Very interesting! How did you book this? Does this happen every year?

[@MrBradleyDavid]

Only thing that couldn't be predicted was the weather. Looks like it was a mild year.

[@RestlessViking]

They do it every year. Book from one of the few lodges open (with openings), then buy the ferry ticket online with the winter surcharge. Make sure you book that later so you know they can pass through the ice. Alternative is snowmobile if iced up or aeroplane.

[@daddyrabbit835]

Shhhhh, I live 45 minutes from here. Don't give our secrets away.

[@garthsnidpick4151]

horses = poop=flie's but the flie's also bring bats lots of bats

[@ericgulseth74]

Too bad the weather has changed so much that there is no more ice across the straights. No snowmobiles either.

[@mbi777]

If it wasn’t for the movie “Somewhere in Time” I would have never came here. The stench from the horse poo is the first thing you smell when you arrive. No thanks.

[@triciaskiles]

Thinking about going there in May, is the smell really that bad?