Rockford’s Only A Day Drive From The World’s Largest Front Porch

There's a lot to be said for time spent sitting on the front porch. Fresh air, good conversation, and watching life as it goes by is a perfect way to spend a summer's day or evening.

However, if you've got a relatively small front porch that takes less that 3 minutes to fully sweep (that's me), or perhaps you've got no front porch at all, there's still some time left this summer to take in the full experience of hanging out on the world's largest front porch before it's closed off for winter.

An Easy 7 Hour Drive Takes You To The Grand Hotel

Located 445 miles from Rockford, The Grand Hotel on Michigan's Mackinac Island holds the title of world's largest front porch and has held that title for years. When your front porch is the length of a 65 story building (660 feet), I can't imagine there are a lot of competitors.

It doesn't hurt that the Grand Hotel has been visited by five American presidents (Harry Truman, John F. Kennedy, Gerald Ford, George H.W. Bush and Bill Clinton), and other notables including Mark Twain and Thomas Edison. Apparently, they all enjoyed some front porch sitting time.

There Are More Interesting Things Than Just The Huge Front Porch

For one thing, there's very little chance of you being involved in a auto accident while visiting The Grand Hotel and Mackinac Island because cars and trucks are banned from the island (with the exception being emergency vehicles). If you want to get around to check things out, there are horse-drawn carriages and bicycles available.

If the idea of taking a road trip up to Mackinac Island and sitting on the world's longest front porch appeals to you, you've got a bit less than 90 days to go before they close for the winter season on November 1st.