Don't forget - the 4th Annual Mackinac Bridge Antique Tractor Crossing is this weekend

Over 800 antique tractors will parade across the Mackinac Bridge this Friday, September 16th. The parade begins in Mackinaw City at approximately 9am and will head north over the bridge, through St. Ignace, and finish at Kewadin Shores Casino. You will also be able to view the antique tractors on September 16th & 17th at the casino grounds. The parade will go on rain or shine, but will be cancelled if there are winds in excess of 35 m.p.h. There is no makeup date for this event.

For more details on this event check out www.bobstractorpartscorner.com

The Mackinac Bridge under construction ca. 1956

Included in the slew of old photos I found quite a few gems from Michigan's past. There are about 16 or 18 shots of the Mackinac Bridge during its construction in 1956, the year before it opened. Watch a slideshow of all of the photos I have uploaded so far -

Mackinaw City Travel Deal

There are some great travel packages to Mackinaw City that start at $154.97. Go to www.mackinawcity.com for the full list. Here are the details on one of the better looking packages -

• 3 Nights Lodging at your choice of hotels
• Round trip ferry boat ticket to Mackinac Island
• Mackinac Island carriage tour
• Admission to your choice of three parks (Fort Michilimackinac, Historic Mill Creek, and Fort Mackinac)
• Mackinaw Trolley Tour
• Live show at Mackinaw Theater

Prices for this package start at $154.97 (now until June and then again in October) and go as high as $374.34 in-season at a premium waterfront hotel.

If you were to pay for all of these items separately it would break down as follows -

1 Adult Roundtrip Ferry ticket - $20.00 1 Adult admission to Fort Michilimackinac - $9.50 1 Adult Mackinac Island carriage tour - $19.00 1 Adult Mackinaw Trolley Tour - $20.00 1 Adult ticket to Mackinaw Theater - $19.00

A grand total of $87.50 without even considering the hotel costs. A nice hotel room in Mackinaw City could easily run in the neighborhood of $80-$100. This package deal looks pretty good with all of the extras they are giving you.

If you are going to be heading up north this summer I would recommend that you look into taking advantage of one of these packaged deals.