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July 7 • 2016 33 crafted-on-property frozen fudge and check out weekly culinary events, including the DIY Cocktail Program in the Cocktail Garden. WHILE YOU'RE THERE Mission Point Resort offers every imaginable activity: Lounge on the beach, take in a movie at its historic theater, a dip in the pool or play a round of golf, croquet, bocce or tennis. Relax on the expansive lakefront Great Lawn with a picnic basket prepared by the property's Cafe or catch a film under the stars. Rent Mission Point's bikes for the whole family, play a night- time game of glow golf, or join the Sun-Up Sessions for a light group hike to view the sunrise over Lake Huron, followed by a picnic breakfast of whitefish benedict and house-make croissants with Michigan peach jam. Rates start at $229. Missionpoint.com. ANOTHER OPTION Lush, luxurious — and very grand — the Grand Hotel is steeped in elegant history. Towering majestically on a bluff overlooking the Straits of Mackinac, the hotel's famous 660-foot porch beckons to visi- tors approaching the island by ferry. Since opening the summer of 1887, when vacationers from Chicago, Montreal, Detroit and across the continent arrived by lake steamer or rail for a $3 per night stay, the Grand Hotel has delighted visitors with its opulence and still-impeccable service provided by 700 staff members. In 1919, W. Stewart Woodfill was hired as a desk clerk; in 1933, he became the hotel's owner. Woodfill appoint- ed staff member (and nephew) R.D. (Dan) Musser president of the Grand Hotel in 1960 — the Musser family has owned the hotel since 1979. The Grand Hotel offers 390 guest rooms and suites, each uniquely designed by the famed Carleton Varney, the president of Dorothy Draper & Co., the oldest established interior-design firm in the country. Varney's credits include New York's Plaza Hotel and the Breakers in Palm Beach. Who has rested their head in the hotel's vibrantly colored, floral- patterned rooms? Since Mark Twain lectured in the casino in 1895, the Grand Hotel has hosted the luminous likes of Thomas Edison, Jack Benny, Rosemary Clooney, John F. Kennedy, Hillary Clinton, Robert De Niro and Madonna. A shining highlight of the Grand guest experience is din- ing. Among the multiple on-site restaurants is the 1,000-seat Main Dining Room overlooking the picturesque porch, where guests (men require a jacket and tie) sup on a five-course dinner served on the hotel's gold-trimmed signature china. Or venture into the wooded inte- rior of the island by horse-and- carriage to Grand-owned Woods, a Tudor mansion dressed in opulent Bavarian-lodge fashion. Save room for a thick shake or built-to-share sundae served in a dog bone-shaped bowl at Sadie's, named after the Mussers' Best in Show Scottie. WHILE YOU'RE THERE In addition to lawn games including bocce ball and cro- quet, guests can try their hand at a round of Pickleball on the only clay court in Michigan, duck pin bowling, saddle horses, golf on the 18-hole Jewel course plus FootGolf on the Grand nine. Cool off with a poolside snow cone at the ser- pentine-shaped Esther Williams Swimming Pool, named after the bathing beauty who filmed This Time for Keeps with Jimmy Durante at the Grand Hotel in 1947. Partake in the Grand Hotel's 100-year tradition of Afternoon Tea, with fresh- baked scones, sherry and cham- pagne, petite finger sandwiches and tea served in the Parlor. And, of course, take in some of the legend that is Somewhere in Time, starring Christopher Reeve, Jane Seymour and Christopher Plummer and filmed on location at the Grand Hotel and around the island. Rates start at $304 per person; kids 12 and under stay and eat for free. Grandhotel.com. * CLOCKWISE FROM TOP LEFT: Mackinac's Grand Hotel Main Lodge at Mission Point, including the elegant Chianti res- taurant in the left bay An aerial view of Mission Point Resort Sadie's ice-cream shop is in the foyer of the Grand Hotel Grand Hotel's 660-foot porch is the longest in the world. The Grand's massive Main Dining Room