The Mackinac Bridge Walk

Last Monday, Labor Day, was such a fun and unique day for us! It was the whole reason for our trip, and it did not disappoint. If you have not done this walk before and want to participate some year, you can find information here. This walk takes place every Labor Day, and there are several ways to do the walk to fit your abilities!

We could have driven down to the bridge area, but our hotel offered a shuttle (for $20 per person) from the hotel to the bridge and back again, and we decided the price was worth it. We didn’t have to worry about finding our way on unfamiliar roads, getting stuck in traffic before or after the walk, or (most importantly) car doors hitting ours! We signed up for the 6 a.m. shuttle, and when it arrived, it was a whole charter bus! And it was FULL by the time we all loaded on. I confess to feeling a bit worried when we flew past the bridge exit, but it turned out the driver actually knew what she was doing and got us there safely.

Mark and Lynnette came on their own, so we met up with them when we got to the bridge.

There was a DJ who kept us entertained (and called for a medic for someone before the event even started), and they played the National Anthem. A group of runners kicked things off, and then those of us walking began our trek.

If you don’t know…they close the entire bridge to traffic starting at 6:30 a.m. Walkers can begin at either end of the bridge and cross to the other side. They can also turn around at any point and head back to their own starting side. Walkers can also double-cross, which we did.

The tricky part of the walk was this: they wanted all walkers from each side to stay in the outside lane on their side. They wanted to keep the two inside lanes clear for emergency vehicles. We learned pretty quickly that trying to keep 33,000 people in two single lanes of traffic wasn’t easy. Everyone wanted to go a different speed, and there wasn’t much room to pass.

Here are some pictures from when we started the walk at 7 a.m. The sun was just coming up, and it was GORGEOUS.

The bridge looks so steep and high when you’re viewing it from land, but honestly, it didn’t feel like that steep of an incline to me as we walked up toward the middle. It also didn’t feel terribly high. Maybe I was distracted by all the people…not sure.

As we neared the towers in the middle, the flag was SO pretty!

Speaking of the towers in the middle…when we got in between them, that bridge started to swayyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy. We could see the cables vibrating, we could hear them creaking, and no one could keep their balance. I was really struggling, since I have frustrating equilibrium. I didn’t feel sick to my stomach, but I did feel absolutely dizzy. I was hanging onto Ryan for dear life, and for a while, I was also hanging onto Lynnette on the other side. It was a mess. We heard people around us – people who had done this before – saying they had never felt it sway that hard before. It wasn’t even a very windy day. Not like I know it can be! All I could think was…I have to do this again to get back across!

Eventually the sway calmed down and I was able to walk independently again. (Didn’t take many pictures for a while, though.)

It took us about an hour and a half to cross five miles to the first of our two finish lines!

We paused for a snack break and then crossed over to the other side of the bridge to walk back.

We had hoped the return trip would be less crowded. How adorable of us.

Truly, though, it was easier to slide into empty pockets the farther we went. Mark and Lynnette took the second half a little slower, so their daughter could have a walking break. (She walked the entire ten miles! Rock star!)

Mercifully, the sway on the bridge was MUCH better on the return trip. I’m not sure if it’s because of the number of people on the bridge or some buses they seem to have strategically parked. I don’t need to know why it was better. I was just glad it was better.

Found the second finish line!

We made our way to our shuttle waiting spot and joined the handful of people already there. Many more showed up, and I began to panic, because I realized other than honesty, there was no system for making sure those who had been waiting first got a seat on the bus. And I’m fairly certain the honor system was not exclusively used once it showed up. It looked so full, and we stood at the bottom of the steps waiting to see if there would be room for us. There were THREE seats left. If we hadn’t gotten on that bus, it would have been over an hour before a new one showed up. I might have cried. I was 20,000 steps into my day and more than ready for lunch.

We got back to the hotel, changed, rested a bit, and then met Mark and Lynnette for lunch. We ended up eating at Dusty’s Dogz, and we agreed these were the best hot dogs we’ve ever had. I don’t have hot dogs very often anymore, but I was so glad to have one this day! Ryan also liked getting his picture taken with the life-size hot dog.

Mark and Lynnette went exploring in Mackinaw City that afternoon, but we really wanted to check out St. Ignace, so we split up. We ended up with another 10,000 steps (!!!) and enjoyed some coffee and ice cream along the way.

We met up with Mark and Lynnette for dinner at The Gangplank, which was a cute patio seating restaurant. We said our goodbyes to them after dinner. We still had a couple of days of vacation left, but they needed to head home.

I’m so glad we did the Bridge Walk. I’ve had several people ask me if I’d do it again, and the answer is yes and no! Yes, I would absolutely do it again from the adventure standpoint of it. It was a fun walk and a neat thing to say I’d done. But being gone in September is not ideal for my job, and I want to use my days off to see places I haven’t seen before, so I don’t plan to do this annually. But even with the swaying middle, I had a blast – and so did Ryan! We recommend!