People sometimes ask whether the name of the island could be changed to something else–you know, anything.  We’re not really sure of the answer.  There is probably a state office that could be called upon but it hasn’t been sought after by any means.  As a matter of state record on road maps and historical nautical charts the island is named Traverse Island. We call it Rabbit Island, however, because this is what many of the locals we know call it, including Rob’s 100 year old grandfather. Plus we think it has a nice ring. Over the years there has been a bit of back and forth on the issue depending on with whom one speaks. On one hand there is a community of people who live on Little Traverse Bay and look out at the island from a sandy shore a bit to the northwest on the mainland. To them the island is clearly Traverse Island. The people of Rabbit Bay, located due west of the island, however, look out on the same horizon from a slightly different perspective and consider the same piece of land Rabbit Island. For the most part it seems that the Traverse Bay camps had been given the upper hand in nomenclature considering the precedents on historical paper maps. Until today that is, when we noticed that the island’s name had been officially changed to Rabbit Island on Google Maps.  Have a look for yourself. As for future debate, it would seem the matter is now settled. (Meanwhile, as a satellite snapped the above photo from space and as google engineers changed the name of the island in their algorithms, sitting at their desks in either Silicon Valley or on 8th Avenue, and as word spread a bit over the internet, nothing at all changed on the island. This is the best part).