On Mackinac, we just celebrated our annual Christmas Bazaar and now Main Street is illuminated at night with a Christmas tree on Main Street. People are getting ready to celebrate Christmas and the Holidays with festive gatherings, family meals, lots of presents and being grateful for all that they have.
Over the years, I received lots of nice gifts but last year, my wife got me one of my favorite gifts, ever. A 1,000 piece puzzle of Mackinac Island! Let me begin by saying that usually puzzles aren’t my game because they require concentration and extreme patience. But by getting a huge, 1,000 piece Mackinac puzzle, my love of all things Mackinac far outweighed my obstacles. Looking at the box cover was exciting because I could see all of my favorite Mackinac places as the image was all put together. But that came to an abrupt end as I dumped the 1,000 pieces out of the box, and onto our table. Putting the puzzle together was like a big Mackinac adventure- and so my journey began. First stop on our Mackinac journey was piecing together Arch Rock, and while it took some time, we loved seeing it take shape.
Bike riding is one our favorite things to do as we explore 8.2 miles around the Island and many more into the inner depths so next, we assembled a family enjoying a bike ride on Mackinac. Putting each piece together, mom, dad, and kids was like welcoming a family to Mackinac for a magical experience. Putting the pieces together to create another familiar site on Mackinac- a horse taxi was great fun and I could hear the clip-clop sound in my head with each piece being connected.
And speaking of connected, what a blast it was to build our very own Chippewa Hotel, our sister hotel, the Lilac Tree Suites & Spa and the Pink Pony, piece, by piece. For a moment, I felt like the Architects and builders as each piece was secured into place with a flood of memories of great times over many years. Mackinac Island’s amazing history, British Landing and the Fort always amaze me and it has more meaning now that one of my son-in-laws is from England. I told my daughter to take him to Mackinac as he would really appreciate our Island’s history. So, securing history piece by piece to form the soldiers was a lot of fun.
My Mackinac Island puzzle is still one of my favorite gifts, and now that it’s the time for gift giving, it’s also the perfect time to buy our Holiday Gift Certificates for great discounts at the Chippewa, Lilac Tree and Pink Pony! When you purchase $100 or more of our Holiday Gift Certificates, from now until December 23rd, we’ll add an additional 20% above and beyond the purchased amount! It’s a great way to bring the magic of Mackinac to your home for the Holidays. Click the link to check out all of our gift certificates available.http://ow.ly/VnxTG
This Holiday season, I’ll be enjoying time with my family and I hope you enjoy precious time with yours. For me, it’s also the perfect time to start assembling my Mackinac puzzle, all 1,000 pieces of it. The Holidays are all about family and we consider all of you a part of our Mackinac family. So when I’m putting my puzzle together this Winter, I’ll witness my favorite island come to life, piece by piece. And as all of the images take shape and memories come flooding back, I’ll know that one piece of the puzzle will be missing, YOU! We’ll be looking forward to your return next Spring or Summer so there are no missing pieces and the puzzle will be complete.
So, from our family to yours, we hope you and your families have a very Happy Holiday season, a joyous New Year and we’ll see you in 2016!
George Piliouras for The Chippewa Hotel
