world Sauntering Day takes place annually on June 19. Sauntering is a verb to describe a style of walking, slowly, preferably with a joyful disposition. World Sauntering Day was proposed order to encourage people to slow down once in a while and take it easy, occasionally, smell the roses, enjoy life and appreciate the world around them instead of rushing through life. The exact year of its origin is unclear, but it is credited to have begun at the Grand Hotel (Mackinac Island) in Michigan during the 1970s.
The Grand Hotel on Macinack Island is a historic hotel and coastal resort on Mackinac Island, Michigan, a small island located at the eastern end of the Straits of Mackinac within Lake Huron between the state’s Upper and Lower peninsulas. It was Constructed in the late 19th century, and The Grand Hotel has been visited by a number of famous visitors, including five U.S. presidents, Russian presidents Vladimir Putin and Dmitri Medvedev, inventor Thomas Edison, and author Mark Twain. The Grand Hotel is a member of Historic Hotels of America, the official program of the National Trust for Historic Preservation.
The idea of building the The Grand Hotel began In 1886, after the Michigan Central Railroad, Grand Rapids and Indiana Railroad, and Detroit and Cleveland Steamship Navigation Company formed the Mackinac Island Hotel Company. The group purchased the land on which the hotel was built and construction began, based upon the design by Detroit architects Mason and Rice. When it opened the following year, the hotel was advertised to Chicago, Erie, Montreal and Detroit residents as a summer retreat for vacationers who arrived by lake steamer and by rail from across the continent. The hotel opened on July 10, 1887 and took a mere 93 days to complete. At its opening, nightly rates at the hotel ranged from $3 to $5 a night. In 1957, the Grand Hotel was designated a State Historic Building. In 1972, the hotel was named to the National Register of Historic Places, and on June 29, 1989, the hotel was made a National Historic Landmark. The Grand Hotel has the distinction of having the worlds’ longest porch at 660′ in length, this was built by W.T. Rabe as a response towards the growing movement of recreational jogging. Sauntering has been spoken of most notably by many of the naturalist writers in history including Henry David Thoreau and John Burroughs who wrote:
“To find the universal elements enough; to find the air and the water exhilarating; to be refreshed by a morning walk or an evening saunter… to be thrilled by the stars at night; to be elated over a bird’s nest or a wildflower in spring — these are some of the rewards of the simple life.”
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