For those of you outside of Michigan, Mackinac Island is a great trip to take. It has just a little bit of everything: Tourism, fudge, old-timey educational landmarks like a cool pre Civil War fort, a state park with lots of natural sites, etc. Plus they have quirky things about the island like “no cars allowed” – everything is by bike or horse. It’s definitely a very affordable trip that you could do in one day or make a long weekend out of.
Real Estate on Mackinac Island?
When you first get off the boat and step into Downtown Mackinac Island, there is tourism for about a mile in either direction. But later on when we got the chance to do some bike riding, we got to the see the other side of the island where the locals live. Some of the homes they had there were just plain beautiful!
I’m always impressed by the diversity of people who have their small businesses setup in towns like this where they simply cater to the masses of incoming tourism. It would be a really nice plan to setup some kind of LLC and form together a business that would thrive at a place such as this. After looking at a few articles, it appears as though it wouldn’t cost that much money to set something up.
Also as I get older and become more hermit-like, the idea of escaping to my water-front mansion on a secluded island becomes more and more lucrative. So I decided to look up the prices of some of the houses I saw for sale. Here’s a small sample. Check out #1346 about half way down the page.
Yikes! $4 million? Unfortunately I think I’ve still got a pretty long ways to go before that vision becomes a reality. But it’s good to dream!
Blogs You Should Check Out:
In case you missed them, here are a few great stories you should check out this weekend:
- Club Thrifty – Why I Quit My Job: A Club Thrifty Confessional
- The Financial Blogger – How Can I Retire At 35?
- Stumble Forward – Niche Site Update: 2 Big Mistakes I Made
- Money Life and More – Is Our Student Loan Debt Killing the Economy?
- Retire Happy – How Much Income Do You Need in Retirement?
- Eyes on the Dollar – Your Credit Cards Are Paid Off, Now How Do You Stay Out of Debt?
- Candian Budget Binder – Teenage Pregnancy: Couple Makes Amazing Life Changes and A Budget!
Carnivals & Mentions:
My Money Design was featured on the following sites this week:
- Yakezie Carnival at Money Life and More!
- Carnival of Financial Independence, 10th edition
Thanks to everyone for linking to my site and enjoying my posts. I really appreciate your support and hope you continue to visit!
Posts This Week:
- Building My Money Earning Sites – Niche Website Update Part 5
- Using the Dividend Yield Formula to Evaluate a Stock Prospect
Image by MMD
I’ve never been to Mackinac Island but my wife says she has and it’s a good time, educational at best.Thanks for sharing a bit of history with us and of course CBB! Cheers mate.
You’re welcome CBB!
I think time you spent with you daughter is worth more than owning a mansion on that beautiful island. I am glad that you took time to go with her. Way to go, Dad!
Thank you Shilpan. We did have a pretty awesome time together. I can’t wait until my younger son also goes on the same field trip.
Thanks for the mention MMD 🙂
You’re welcome!
What a fun trip. The Island looks lovely.
Thanks! It really does have a humble charm to it.
Thanks for mentioning me MMD. I haven’t ever been to Mackinac Island before but I have been over the Mackinac Bridge a few times and that is quite a site to see.
There is a wonderful little Pizza place in Mackinac City that has an ongoing movie playing all the time of how they built the bridge. It is very incredible to watch considering it was done without computers, modern equipment, etc.
Nice! Reminds me of Catalina Island in California, where they use golf carts to get around instead of cars. It really makes the area much nicer without noisy cars running you down.
The lack of cars do really give it a feel that you can’t really seem to find anywhere else.
Mackinac Island is gorgeous! I have been there multiple times (living on the Great Lakes). The Grand Hotel is famous for often catering to world dignitaries, celebrities and American presidents. They are also famous for charging visitors just to look into the gift shop. The history (War of 1812 fort) as well as the quiet atmosphere (no cars are allowed on the island, only horse and bike) make it an amazing place to want to live.
However, there are few job opportunities there so anyone would have to be doing something online or be pretty well off to live there. Of course, you could go across the bridge everyday but that could get expensive.
While you’re in that area (Great Lakes) and checking out islands, consider the Lake Erie islands as well as the Thousand Islands in New York/Canada. There are some awesome opportunities for investment there.
The island does seem to be pretty quiet (no cars) and scarce on jobs, which might be perfect for someone looking to retire! Ha, I’ve still got a long ways to go though.
I’ve never been to the Thousand Islands. I’ll have to remember to check that one out. Thanks for the suggestion.