{"id":172,"date":"2010-07-12T11:49:11","date_gmt":"2010-07-12T18:49:11","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/traveltattler.com\/?p=172"},"modified":"2010-10-14T16:05:29","modified_gmt":"2010-10-14T23:05:29","slug":"take-a-tour-of-the-governor-s-summer-mansion","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/theaposition.com\/traveltattler\/library\/172\/take-a-tour-of-the-governor-s-summer-mansion","title":{"rendered":"Take a Tour of the Governor’s Summer Mansion"},"content":{"rendered":"\"\"<\/a>\n

MACKINAC ISLAND, MI \u2013 Mackinac Island recently played host once again to the annual Detroit Regional Chamber Policy Conference, a three-day stretch when the island\u2019s visitor population shifts from a typical majority of happy tourists to a collection of 1,400 business leaders, politicians, lobbyists and media members. Governor Jennifer Granholm, a democrat; and United States Congressman Pete Hoekstra, a republican from the Grand Rapids area who is campaigning to succeed Granholm, participated in the conference on the island.<\/p>\n

During the 17 years Hoekstra has served as a U.S. Representative, he has become known as one of the \u201cCapitol Phantoms\u201d because, rather than pay for a house, apartment, or condo for the midweek days he spends working in Washington D.C., the thrifty Hoekstra has chosen to live in his office, sleeping nightly on his office couch.<\/p>\n

Granholm, as Michigan\u2019s Governor, enjoys not only the privilege of occupying the Governor\u2019s Mansion on the river in the Moore\u2019s River Drive area of Lansing, but also seasonal use of the Governor\u2019s Summer Residence –\u00a0 a picture-perfect, white, traditional American antique classic on a scenic bluff overlooking all of Mackinac Island.<\/p>\n

Hoekstra, just down the bluff inside the Grand Hotel during a forum of gubernatorial candidates staged at the Mackinac Policy Conference, was asked by veteran Capital reporter Tim Skubik, whether, due to the economic malaise, the State of Michigan should consider selling off the Governor\u2019s Summer Residence.<\/p>\n

\u201cI answered that everything should be on the table. Nothing should be off-limits,\u201d Hoekstra explained to me the following morning in the hotel lobby.<\/p>\n

Moments later, Governor Granholm described the idea as a political gimmick. \u201cThe reality is that is not going to solve our problem. The residence on Mackinac is open for tours for people to come and enjoy when they are on Mackinac Island,\u201d Granholm told me via telephone.<\/p>\n

Later in the lobby, Lieutenant Governor John Cherry, who is also running for Governor, insisted it was too presumptuous for him to be picking out drapery patterns just yet, but nevertheless defended the Governor\u2019s Summer Residence.<\/p>\n

\u201cMackinac Island is a State Park. (The residence) is part of Michigan\u2019s heritage. The citizens own it. I don\u2019t think they want to sell what\u2019s great about Michigan. The idea was around a couple of years ago and the public rejected the idea,\u201d Cherry said.<\/p>\n

Mackinac Historian Carl Nold, on the island\u2019s website, confirms that the residence was built as a private residence in 1902. In 1944, with the support of the Michigan Legislature, the Mackinac Island State Park Commission was authorized to purchase the home for $15,000, renovate it and convert it to what was, at the time, the only State-owned Governor\u2019s Residence. In 1997 the home was named to the National Register of Historic Places. Donors and the State Park Commission maintain the white pine structure.<\/p>\n

During weekly tours, visitors and tourists are shown a portion of the residence, which has three stories, 11 bedrooms, nine-and-half baths, a basement, a garden and a large porch.<\/p>\n

Dignitaries, including U.S. Presidents, have been guests in the residence, but actually staying in the home is a rare and priceless occurrence. From the porch, residents enjoy sweeping views of Grand Hotel to the far right, and, in the distance, the Mackinac Bridge dividing Lake Huron from Lake Michigan. It is easy to spend the day mesmerized by the scene, gazing at the ferryboats taking tourists back and forth from the harbor below across the strait to Mackinaw City or St. Ignace. Yes, you can, in fact, catch a whiff of the fudge from the shops below when the wind is just right. And when the wind is strong, the wooden-framed windows throughout the delicate, old home sound a startling cacophony of rattling and banging.<\/p>\n\"\"<\/a>\n

The various bedrooms, connected with narrow, dark hallways and sometimes creaky staircases, are individual and quaint in their d\u00e9cor \u2013 and it is fun to ask in which bedrooms various notables chose to bunk. Similar to what I imagine a White House stay to be like, the house\u2019s staff of two, a caretaker and a chef hand-picked by Michigan\u2019s first family, will prepare any meal desired.<\/p>\n

The basement houses bicycles \u2013 a necessity on the island \u2013 and there are various circuitous downhill routes which make for a wandering, zippy ride all the way into town without even pedaling. Getting back up to the Residence therefore is obviously a cardio experience, but the excitement, honor, and novelty of being there is enough to have your heart beating, anyway.<\/p>\n

Former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney visited Mackinac Island to attend a Republican leadership conference two summers ago while he was running for President. During his speech he spoke fondly of the number of youthful summers in the Residence when his father George was Michigan\u2019s Governor and admitted how much he would love to have taken a nostalgic walk through the old house \u2013 had its occupant at the time been a Republican.<\/p>\n

The Governor\u2019s Official Summer Residence has factored into more than one potential candidate\u2019s decisions to give in to the temptation to run for the office.<\/p>\n

\u201cI would love to go up there for the month of July with a big pile of books and just let everyone come to me,\u201d one legislator confided to me in a private conversation. Still another, seated next to me atop a ferryboat, looked longingly up at the bluff before saying, \u201cI\u2019d like to imagine myself someday in that big white house. But there are a lot of people waiting in line in front of me.\u201d<\/p>\n

In case you don\u2019t aspire to be Governor, free tours of the residence are offered Wednesdays from 9:30 \u2013 11:30 in June, July and August. Visit www.MackinacParks.com<\/a><\/p>\n

“Take a Tour of the Governor’s Summer Mansion”
\nOriginally printed in the Lansing State Journal<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

MACKINAC ISLAND, MI \u2013 Mackinac Island recently played host once again to the annual Detroit Regional Chamber Policy Conference, a… Read more »<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":43,"featured_media":173,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3665],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-172","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-library"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/theaposition.com\/traveltattler\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/34\/2010\/07\/Governors_Summer_Retreat.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/theaposition.com\/traveltattler\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/172","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/theaposition.com\/traveltattler\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/theaposition.com\/traveltattler\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theaposition.com\/traveltattler\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/43"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theaposition.com\/traveltattler\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=172"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/theaposition.com\/traveltattler\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/172\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":429,"href":"https:\/\/theaposition.com\/traveltattler\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/172\/revisions\/429"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theaposition.com\/traveltattler\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/173"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/theaposition.com\/traveltattler\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=172"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theaposition.com\/traveltattler\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=172"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theaposition.com\/traveltattler\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=172"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}