I’ll put it out there.  I am afraid of ghosts.  Also ghouls, zombies, vampires, headless horsemen, things that go bump in the night – really anything that could be classified as paranormal.  So when I jumped at the chance to attend a training retreat with the Junior League at Mackinac Island I had no idea it was at a resort that had been featured on the show “Ghost Hunters” last year.

If you aren’t familiar with Mackinac Island it is a beautiful, scenic island (seemingly trapped in time a century ago) in between the lower and upper peninsulas of Michigan and only reachable by boat.  The island does not allow motorized vehicles so the clip clop of horses pulling their buggies down the street creates the music of this island.

Of course, we were assigned a room in the Straights Lodge – confirmed by paranormal experts as one of the haunted areas of Mission Point Resort.  fantastic.  We checked in later in the evening so it was dark outside as we headed out to find our room; the cobblestone paths that led to the Lodge were noticeably eerie in the chilly night.

The next day we learned of Harvey and his tragic love story – including a specific room in the Straights Lodge that is (was?) a favorite of his.  Now this is a group of intelligent, educated women but the next morning most of us had a ghost story to share from the wee hours of the night before.  I’m fairly certain something was knocking on the lamp next to my bed (eek!) and a friend in the room next to me kept smelling lavender.

Yes this all happened after we started talking about Harvey and his flirty, ghostly ways so I’m sure that had something to do with all the “bumps” we experienced that night – but the ghost stories were a fun backdrop to a chilly, October weekend on Mackinac Island.  However, I can almost guarantee you my next trip to the island will be in the summer – during the day.