Holland, St. Joseph

Wednesday, August 16th, we left Muskegon and headed for Macatawa Lake. Holland, Michigan is on the other side of the lake.  I really wanted to see it since I grew up in Pella, Iowa, another Dutch immigrant community. Holland is much larger than Pella, and the Dutch attractions are very spread out.

This is at Windmill Island Gardens, there is a charge to enter the park.
This windmill was brought here from The Netherlands and reassembled.

 More photos from Windmill Island Gardens

This is a Frisian horse. My grandmother came from Friesland in the Netherlands.

The downtown is nice, a lot of specialty shops and breweries, but this is about the only Dutch restaurant. 

 There was also a Delft and wooden shoe factory, and another Dutch village that we didn't visit. We did go to a bakery, but it was mostly a restaurant. Very few baked goods. Conclusion: Pella's sites are much more accessible, we have much better bakeries, and Pella is just waaaaay more charming!

We stayed at Eldean Shipyard. They had a pool and the facilities were very nice. Then we started to notice that the boat was really moving around, even though there was no wind. By Thursday night, when a big storm arrived, we were bouncing like a toy boat in a washing machine. We had rented a car to see Holland, thank goodness, because that is where I slept Thursday night. We had a big storm, and Robbie had to add more lines to the boat, in the rain, at about 2 in the morning. Friday, we went to Saugatuck and spent the day, cute little place, so we didn't have to endure the motion. The other boaters told us that there is a surge caused by a river current that collides with the lake, and squirts right into the marina. We have never experienced anything like it.

Saturday, August 19, we were finally able to leave. We went South to St. Joseph. Within a few minutes of arriving, we met John and Sandy from Missouri, who are just finishing the Loop. We went to dinner with them and watched the sun set over the lake. It's always fun to swap stories with other Loopers.

St. Joseph was alive on Saturday night. Every restaurant had at least a 2 hour wait, and many had live music, and a roof top area to view the lake. 

We plan to cross the lake into Chicago tomorrow. Goodbye Michigan!