Good Taste is the Worst Vice

Mackinac Island MI: Biking and fudge!

I’ve been wanting to go on a road trip with D for a while now, and this weekend I finally got my chance!  We drove about 7 hours to Mackinac Island, way up in the northern part of Michigan where Lakes Michigan and Huron meet, for my company’s retreat.

Some facts about Mackinac Island:

  • It’s pronounced “Mack-in-awe”
  • No cars allowed!  You can only access the island by ferry, and once there, you have to rely on horses, bikes, and your trusty feet to get around.
  • The island is just under 4 square miles, and there’s an 8 mile path around its circumference
  • The British captured Fort Mackinac almost without a fight at the beginning of the War of 1812, since the Americans on the island hadn’t yet heard that war had been declared (oops)
  • Mackinac Island is known for its fudge; apparently nineteenth century tourists wanted a local treat to take home with them, so an enterprising candy maker started making fudge… and the rest is history!
Since we knew there would be fudge in our future, D and I started our day with a bike ride around the island.  

Starting from the main downtown street, we headed out past big old houses, a couple of picturesque churches, and Fort Mackinac up on its hill.  After about a mile, we were into the state park, with Lake Huron on one side.

It’s really beautiful scenery!

We stopped back downtown for lunch, then biked a little more.  Finally, when it seemed too hot to continue, it was time for fudge.


Venturing back into downtown (which was by now teeming with horse-drawn wagons, pedestrians, and bicycles everywhere!), we found a spot to park our trusty bikes and set off on foot.

There are fudge shops basically wherever you look, with multiple outposts of the same establishment on opposite sides of the street: Ryba’s, Marshall’s, Murdick’s, May’s, and Joann’s.  We visited the last three.

Murdick’s is the original Mackinac candy shop, with a proud history, but alas the woman working the counter could have benefitted from some customer service training – she kept repeating the rules on samples (“no samples of the chocolate peanut butter fudge!”) and on the minimum order (“no half slices of the turtle!”) in a strident tone.

May’s had the prettiest storefronts in my opinion, with blue and white striped awnings, but the cases inside were oddly sparse, and the sample fudge offered was disappointingly dry.

Fortunately, Joann’s Fudge saved the day!

We arrived just in time to watch a batch of fudge being cooled on one of the huge marble slab tables, by a friendly and funny guy who showed off some impressive aerial skills.

Joann’s makes fudge fresh daily, and it shows – the fudge is soft and velvety.  There are 29 flavors, everything from the basics like chocolate or Rocky Road to more out-there creations like pumpkin pie, orange truffle, or Kahlua.

D and I stuck to the classics – he went with chocolate toffee and I picked double dark chocolate pecan.

As so often happens, I ended up preferring D’s choice.  The generous bits of toffee add just enough caramelized flavor, crunch, and the faintest hint of salt to balance out the sweet, smooth fudge.  Not that the dark pecan fudge isn’t good; after all, how can you go wrong with something made of cream, butter, sugar, and chocolate?  The darker chocolate and the richness of pecans make a nice match.

You can order Joann’s fudge online!  Tempted?


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