Giant Chess

If you’re staying at the Grand Hotel or just exploring the island, the giant chess set on the lawn is genuinely one of those stops worth making. The pieces are big enough that moving them actually feels like something — not just pushing plastic around a kitchen table. It draws everyone from serious players mapping out their next three moves to kids who mostly just want to drag the king across the board. Mackinac Island doesn’t have cars, so the pace is already slow enough that you might find yourself spending more time here than you expected.