Featured Image Credit: mackinacisland.org
If you've ever wanted to experience life like in Red Dead Redemption 2, there's a place in the US where you can do exactly that.
While most American cities are preparing for self-driving vehicles and massive Cybertrucks, one island off the coast of Michigan has taken the complete opposite approach.
Last year, Donald Trump promised to make Michigan the ‘car capital of the world again.’ But ironically, one island off Michigan's northern coast has gone in the exact opposite direction.
Mackinac Island in Lake Huron a serene, picturesque destination that's been attracting travellers for hundreds of years. But perhaps it’s most famously recognised for banning motor vehicles entirely and relying exclusively on horse-drawn carriages, just like in the early 1900s.
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On Reddit, a user posted a clip of what to expect when visiting the island, sharing: “In Mackinac Island, Michigan, use of any motor vehicle is prohibited. Most of the transportation is done using horse carriages.”
But before you assume the island is completely stuck in a Westworld past, the horse-drawn carriages deliver Amazon Prime packages to people around the island, though ‘speedy delivery’ may have a different definition. The island is located in Lake Huron, at the eastern end of the Straits of Mackinac, positioned between Michigan's Upper and Lower Peninsulas.
The attached video claims that visitors must take a thirty minute ferry to reach the island, costing just under $40.
According to the Mackinac Parks website: “There are numerous accounts of early automobiles causing problems with horses and carriages. The ban was incorporated into state law in 1960.
“There are few exceptions to the use of motor vehicles regulation, the biggest of which is emergency vehicles. There is one police car, two fire trucks, and an ambulance available on the island.”
The website explained the reasoning: “The lack of motor vehicles in Mackinac Island State Park is extremely important to keeping the historic character of this National Landmark alive, and one of the most enduring memories of your visit here.”
Social media users are in disbelief that such a place exists in a modern, westernised country like the US.
“Can’t believe there’s a place like this in the US,” one user commented.
“There’s only like 500 permanent residents. It’s basically a resort for tourists,” another pointed out.
“Your ye olde Prime delivery has arrived,” someone else joked.
“A modern Red Dead Redemption sounds cool actually,” a fourth user replied.
The island's unique character has deep historical roots. By the late 19th century, Mackinac Island had become a summer retreat for wealthy industrialist families from Chicago, Detroit, and other thriving Midwest cities, as per the BBC.
These affluent visitors would flock to the island during warmer months to relax and escape the pollution and noise of the industrialising cities.
