2025-08-17 – Holland, MI
Leaving Silver Lake Sand Dunes we followed the South Scenic Drive down the coast through Whitehall. It was a complete “surprise” when Sandy stated her intention to walk the pier along the harbor channel! Bill spent that time reading in the shade in the park that bordered the pier.
We then toured the White River Light Station that marks the channel. Built in 1875, the channel was dredged to give access to schooners who hauled the lumber produced in the area at the time. The facility is now owned by the Lakeshore Keepers who also own two other lighthouses. They charge a modest fee to offset the cost of maintaining the lighthouses.
Continuing to our next destination, we arrived in Holland, MI, and found our way to the Holland State Park Beach Campground on the north side of the harbor. The park has two campgrounds and we chose the one that is pretty much just a macadam parking lot with campers cheek-by-jowl. But it is directly adjacent to the beach with a short walk to the water and less sand to get tracked into the camper.
We made a taco salad for dinner that was pretty good.
2025-08-18 – Holland, MI
The Big Red Lighthouse at the end of the harbor’s south pier is one of the principal attractions of the area. Direct access to the lighthouse is limited by a gated community but the best view is from the north pier anyway. Sandy walked that pier to get a closer look. What did Bill do while she walked? He read a book!
Holland was settled in 1847 by a band of settlers from, you guessed it, Holland! We explored the city’s downtown area. Best known for its annual tulip festival, that’s a springtime thing. However, they’re heavily invested in flowers, generally, as well as the Dutch heritage of the city’s founders. The main shopping area was crowded when we visited as it was “move in day” for students at Hope College which is located in town.
Overall, the downtown is very nice. We stopped in a couple of shops, one of which featured wooden shoes, like lots of wooden shoes. We tried some. They hurt! We both agreed they were definitely an acquired taste.
And, we just had to stop at “Bauerman’s on 8th” to get one of their celebrated, gluten free blueberry/cherry crisps. The crisp was mainly for Sandy but Bill managed to also find a raspberry twist to satisfy his own cravings.
Then it was on to Centennial Park a few blocks away. The park had a wonderful koi pond, and a riot of beautifully designed and maintained flower gardens. However, the Wizard of Oz flower sculpture was the featured piece of flower art. Impressive!
In honor of its Dutch heritage, there is a park area in the city called Windmill Island Gardens. In that park is the only authentic Dutch windmill operating in the United States. The windmill, named De Zwaan, is the last working windmill allowed to leave the Netherlands. That was in 1964 and it is still turning and grinding wheat into flour! We didn’t take the time to do the paid admission tour but did manage to get a good look from one of the roads through the park.
Heading back towards our campground we made a stop at Mount Pisgah. The “mount” is really a tall sand dune you can climb for an overview of the area. We climbed it but, fortunately, we didn’t have to slog through sand to reach the top. This sand dune was equipped with stairs, 240 of them! We passed a couple of young women descending the stairway as we began our climb. When we took a short break the same two women were climbing back up. Turns out they were using the stairs as a training facility and one of them had once climbed the 240 stairs twelve times in a single session!
Dinner was at the Beech Wood Grill. We both had the blackened mahi-mahi with Mexican corn. It was good but definitely on the spicy side for us.
It rained heavily overnight.
2025-08-19 – Holland, MI
Last night’s heavy rain continued until about noon. Then it was off to tour the Holland Bowl Mill. The factory makes wooden bowls, both utilitarian and decorative, as well as cutting boards and other items. This is truly a fifth generation family business and the owner and his wife were both on the floor as well as a son and a daughter.
As we toured the showcase area we noticed an upside down bowl set up as a hat with a brim. The owner happened by and explained that a long time employee had made it to be used as a hard hat on the production floor.
They offer free tours every hour or so to whoever happens to be there. You start by watching a video that explains the operation and then don helmets and optional ear protection to follow your guide through the plant.
Our tour began watching a lathe operator begin with a slice from the side of a log, mounting its flat side to the lathe. Then he used a special blade to cut away the outside of the log slice to reveal the outside of a large bowl. After he lifted away the bark side of the log, he mounted another, smaller blade and used it to cut away the large bowl. This left the outside of the next smaller bowl on the lathe. The process continued until about four nesting bowls were cut.
Bowls are then placed in a drying rack to dry for a couple of weeks.
After that they are sanded and coated with a blend of beeswax and food safe mineral oil. Next, they are branded, optionally further decorated and presented for sale. They are happy to make custom products, either production runs or one-offs.
Sandy found a happy hour at Lo Lo’s, a casual restaurant on the water at a marina. While there we had fun talking to Sally and Amy, sisters from Texas, who were in training on their recumbent bikes. They were raising money for a 150 mile charity ride, Bike MS: Oklahoma 2025.
Then it was back to Wawa for a dinner of odds and ends leftovers supplemented with fresh corn-on-the-cob.