Calling for a taxi can be a gamble. You never know who will show up. Yet for all the strange taxi rides in my past, nothing can top the cabs on Mackinac Island, Michigan. When you call for a taxi on this tiny slip of land in the Mackinac Straits between Lake Huron and Lake Michigan, a horse-drawn carriage shows up at your door.

Call me crazy, but this is not the type of cab I’m used to. Still, I’m intrigued as my family and I gingerly crawl up onto the wooden seats behind the driver. She moves the reins slightly, and a pair of 1,800-pound Belgians responds, bringing new meaning to the term “horse power.” Their hoofbeats are strangely soothing as we leave the ferry terminal and float through the island streets at a rapid pace.

Within seconds I begin to relax, soaking in the slow-paced nature of Mackinac Island. Sure, the modes of transport are unusual here, but then again, there is nothing usual about Mackinac Island.

Accessible only by boat or plane, the island lives by its own rules. Automobiles have been banned on the island since 1898, so folks get around by bike, horse and buggy or on foot. The result is that no one rushes anywhere, and the island moves on its own time.

Taxi drivers on Mackinac Island take a break.

Only 600 hearty souls live here year round; the winter months can be cold and cruel. Freezing winds whip across the Great Lakes. When the water freezes, supplies can be brought in only by air.

But each May, the island transforms into a lush, green world. Mackinac is covered in tree-sized lilacs, many of them more than a century old. The sweet scent of their hearty blooms mingles with the earthy smell of horses and the ever-present aroma of fudge.

Fudge is the island’s only export. The tradition started with one shop back in the 1920s. Now some 17 candy shops (and counting) create these sugary treats.

With such an idyllic nature, one could easily forget the island’s war-ridden past. Once home to the Great Lakes American Indians, Mackinac Island has seen its share of soldiers. During the American Revolution, the British moved their garrison to Mackinac Island. With its steep limestone hills, the island offered a perfect location for their fort.

But their strategy was short lived, and Mackinac Island became the territory of the new American nation. When war broke out again in 1812, the British recaptured Fort Mackinac and more struggle ensued. American peace negotiators finally secured the island’s return after the war.

Today, historic Fort Mackinac is all that remains of those bloody times. Reenactors demonstrate bygone days for visitors, and the fort’s high location provides a beautiful view of the bay and town below.

While history is re-created at Fort Mackinac, it is a living, breathing thing at the island’s famous Grand Hotel. Built in 1887 during the post-Civil War’s Gilded Age, the Grand Hotel was a popular destination for that era’s rich and famous.

They arrived by lake steamer from Detroit, Montreal and Chicago, and dined on the finest cuisine, danced to top musicians and played croquet in fashionable hats on the lawn.