LAKE MICHIGAN ISLAND FERRIES

NORTH AND SOUTH MANITOU ISLANDS
If you quake at the thought of paying for the gas to drive to the Upper Peninsula and then pay to take a $100 ferry to Isle Royale all for a solid taste of island wilderness, you might consider the Manitou Islands, a part of the Sleeping Bear National Lake Shore. North Manitou, although it has a few remaining buildings from the old town,is turning more and more into a wilderness area. You can camp pretty much anywhere you want. And the likelihood of seeing a six-point buck are pretty good. But no wolves and no moose. No foxes either. The ferry visits there once a day. So if you go to North Manitou, you are there overnight. So bring a tent and some food.
South Manitou, which has some pretty good wilderness of its own, can be visited in a day trip. In fact, a great idea for a picnic is to take the ferry over to the island, visit the old farmhouses, wander the trails, climb up to the top of one of the prettiest lighthouses in the Great Lakes and then take the ferry back to Leland.
You'll get in about 5:30 p.m., just in time to clean up for a fine dinner on the deck of the Riverside Inn in Leland. South Manitou has two official camp sites.
SOUTH MANITOU ISLAND Manitou Island Transit runs round trips aboard the Mishe-Mokwa to the island -- leaving Leland dock at 10 a.m., arriving at South Manitou at 11:30 a.m., then stays four hours to redock in Leland by about 5:30 p.m. Schedule: June 1-15, it runs daily except Tuesdays and Wednesday; June 16 to Labor Day, it runs daily. Round-Trip Fares are $30 for adults, $16 for ages 12 and younger and $30 for a canoe or kayak.
NORTH MANITOU ISLAND The ferry leaves at 10 a.m., arrives at North Manitou at about 11 a.m. and leaves as soon as the passengers who are already on the island can get on board. The ferry does not return to the island that day. Rather it is held until the next scheduled trip.
Schedule: June 1-15, it runs on Wednesday, Friday and Saturday; June 16 to Labor Day, it goes daily except Tuesday and Thursday. Fares are the same as for South Manitou Island.
Shameless commercial announcement the Manitou Islands are an important part of the legend of Sleeping Bear. That story and other details about the islands can be found in Islands: Great Lakes Stories.

BEAVER ISLAND has a fascinating history and is a terrific place to visit. It has a year-round population of islanders with a long Irish history. It's St. Patrick's Day celebration is one of the best in the country. In summer, the island is laid back with none of the frenetic feel of Mackinaw Island. It offers a choice of lodging, fine roads for cycling, good paths for hiking, kayaking right from downtown, plays, a fascinating history involving America's only king, James Jesse Strang and some first-rate places to eat. Try Nina's at Beaver Island Lodge for not only a first-rate meal but a fine view out over the water.
Also -- and this is relatively new -- you can go skydiving on the island.
Beaver Island Boat Company makes the two-hour trip from Charlevoix to the Island and the two hours back twice a day for the most part, except on Saturdays when it may make as many as four round trips.
One-Way Fares until June 5 are $21 for adults, $11 for ages 5-12, $75 for a car, $9 for a bike and $22 to $30 for a canoe or kayak depending on whether it is loaded or not.
Now two air services with twin-engine aircraft are making trips back and forth to the island.
Island Airways One-Way Fares are $42 adults, $28 for ages 9 and younger, $39 for seniors 65 and older and $10 for a bike.
Fresh Air Aviation One-Way Fares are $42.50 for adults and $27.50 for children.

WASHINGTON ISLAND stands as a place with wondrous surprises -- You can ride an Icelandic pony, join a long history and drink Angostura bitters in a local bar, feed an ostrich, roam through an old time farm, eat a fresh lawyer (fish), visit the cabin of Thorstein Veblen who wrote "The Theory of the Leisure Class" and coined the term "conspicuous consumption."
To get there, drive north up through the New Englandy villages on Wisconsin's Door Peninsula until you reach the very end of Highway 42 at Northport.
Here you catch the Washington Island Ferry. It can carry you, your car, your bike or whatever.
June through July 2 and then August 18 to October 26, the ferry runs every hour on the hour going to and from the island.
On the summer schedule, ferries rum every half hour between Northport and the island. From Northport, ferries leave at a quarter 'til and a quarter past the hour. From the island, they shove off from the dock on the hour and half hour.
Fare: $11 for adults, $24 for a car, $5.50 for ages 6-11, $14 for a motorcycle and $4 for a bike.