I didn't catch the Mackinaw Bridge story - but with the A&E channels, you only have to wait and they WILL repeat.

I remember the day the Big Mac opened up. I was there with my parents for the dedication and we were among the first non-official cars to cross the bridge on opening day. I believe it was in 1958.

Before the bridge, getting to the UP could entail a long wait especially in hunting season. Cars would line up along the streets in Mackinaw City waiting their turn to drive onto the car ferries. Gas stations along the streets had 100 foot+ gas hoses so they could fill the tanks without people getting out of line.

G. Mennen 'Soapy' Williams was governor then. Now there was a man who could remember names!

Each 4th of July, 'Soapy' attended a breakfast at my Dad's Masonic lodge and every year when he came back, he could rattle off the guy's names like they were long-lost friends.

I walked across Big Mac on Labor Day, 1970 with Governor Bill Milliken (and several thousand other people.) I was working on Milliken's campaign staff at the time.