Today we spent the morning in charming Mackinaw City! The city (actually a village) is positioned at the northern end of the Lower Peninsula of Michigan just south of its famous bridge.

The name comes from a Native American word for turtle — Mackinac Island (just northeast of Mackinaw City in the Straits of Mackinac) is turtle-shaped. Nice!

In addition to the bridge, Mackinaw City is also famous for its fudge. Fudge seems to be a big deal in every beachy resort town, but this is what I learned about Mackinaw City’s traditional method that makes it special:

1. It’s made with cream instead of milk.
2. The fudge is formed on a marble slab and worked by hand into a loaf shape (rather than being shaped in a pan).
3. It is always hand made from an original, top secret recipe.

We went to Marshall’s Fudge (run by a dude who learned the top-secret info from descendants of the original Mackinac Island fudge dude, one Mr. Murdick, who started making fudge at Murdick’s Candy Kitchen in 1889) and were able to see the fudge being made, which was awesome.

First it is stirred by hand in a giant pot:

Then it is poured out onto a marble slab until it’s the right temperature (a steel frame keeps it from running off the slab):

Then it is hand shaped:

Then it is cooled and cut!

It really is exceptional. Way to go, Marshall’s Fudge.