"Most people know the Island House Hotel, located next to the Mackinac Island Yacht Club, for its white-tablecloth restaurant, 1852 Grill Room. This grand, glass-walled dining room overlooks Haldimand Bay. But did you know that behind the hotel is one of Mackinac Island’s rarest commodities? Follow the alleyway on the hotel’s west side. You may feel like you’ve made a wrong turn when you get to some maintenance sheds, but keep going down the brick path and you will round a corner to the patio umbrellas and outdoor furniture of Ice House BBQ’s peaceful garden oasis. Order a pizza from the restaurant’s imported, Italian pizza oven, share an 80-ounce beer tower with your group, and try your hand at a round of bean toss or yard Jenga." - Stacey Brugeman