As you can tell, there were lots and lots of clouds and because Michigan is north of DC it's also a bit colder. Still it wasn't too bad when we first walked outside after landing at Grand Rapids International Airport. Even though it's only an hour and 45 minutes we managed to get in 20 minutes early.
We weren't supposed to pick up our rental car until 1pm, but luckily the people at Enterprise had a car waiting for us ... a nice Chrystler Sebring with satelite radio.
Our first stop is a visit to Nelis' Dutch Village:
The Dutch Village is tourist attraction that showcases live in the Netherlands during the 19th century. Perhaps a little over the top for Dutchies, but an absolute joy for this ex-pat! We start our visit by exploring the stores outside the village (note: you don't need to pay admission to visit the shops).
My new hat ... just kidding! Couldn't find a matching dress so I left it for someone else ;)
'Vanity' wooden shoes. I was surprised to see the "black Peters"/zwarte Pieten were actually black! I'd read that although Sinterklaas is celebrated in some parts of Michigan, the Peters are white.
The stores also sell wooden shoes and allow you to try them on for size. I broke my last pair many years ago, but couldn't find one that fit right ... too bad, because they're quite nice for gardening.
After buying a few small souvenirs and a pack of stroopwafels (amazing Dutch cookies), we headed over to the Hungry Dutchman Cafe where we ordered kroketten for lunch. Admittedly I've had better kroketten in my life, but it definitely hit the spot. Yum!
I also made a new friend:
Unfortunately, he turned to pickpocketing when I ran out of bread ... apparently a brown wallet sticking out of a pants pocket looks just like a piece of bread! Haha. Fortunately he didn't manage to pull it all the way out.
Dutch bridge near the terrace:
We entered the Village just in time for a Dutch dancing demonstration by local high school and college students.
They warned everyone at the start of the performance to watch out for flying clogs. Despite the 6-10 pairs of socks the dancers wear they can become dislodged during the high kicks.
Sure enough, some poor girl ended up having to fish for her clog. Kind of scary how she managed to kick it all the way into the water! They're not kidding when they tell you to watch for flying clogs!
They had the most adorable goats and they allow you to take them for walks in the park. I love goats, so it wasn't long before I made my way over to the goat pen.
Unfortunately, the cute (and obedient) goats in the previous picture were already taken so I ended up with Pigsley, an immensely stubborn goat with little frumpled ears. With a handful of goat treats we did manage to slooowly make our way through the village, with many detours for leaf nibbling.
On my lap?! I must say Pigsley was very well trained and handled bridges, benches and everything else in his path like a true professional. And although he was beyond stubborn and funny looking we really bonded and taking him for a walk was one of my favorite things about the village.
Here I am getting weighed to determine if I am a witch. And to all you non-believers I'd like to say I am now in possession of a certificate of innocense!
Did I mention that Pigsley and the other goats have a pen-mate? We were getting ready to leave when I realized I could not leave without taking him for a walk also:
Meet Mr. T.! Where else do you get to take a llama for a walk?
Somehow our quick visit to the Dutch Village turned into a 4 hour visit, so had to rearrange our plans a little bit. Our next stop was the Grand Haven Pier.
As you can tell by the picture, the clouds had really rolled in at this point and there was a fierce wind blowing from across Lake Michigan. I put on my polartec, but still it was too cold to stay out for long ... if this keeps up I'll have to buy a windbreaker or something.
Despite the wind we walked all the way to the end of the pier. I don't know if you can tell from the picture, but on the left side of the pier the lake was almost flat, yet on the right the wind was whipping the water into a frenzy, even splashing onto the pier at times!
Walking back to shore. It's the same lighthouse, just better lighting from this direction.
By the way, I did walk in the lake for a few minutes to feel the temperature of the water and it was cold, cold, cold! My goal is to be in all the Great Lakes, but I hope Lake Huron and Lake Superior will be a little bit warmer. I guess we'll soon see ...
The weather was already changing on the way to our next destination. We had no idea what time the sun set, so we were just hoping to get there with daylight to spare. Lucky for us the sun was just starting to go down.
But first we managed to find a packed sand/dirt road. Thanks TomTom, it wouldn't have been a true vacation without you directing us onto at least one dirt road without telling us!
Thankfully it was only a short stretch in top notch condition and the rest of the drive took us through beautiful orchards and lush wooded areas where the trees were just starting to turn colors.
We'd planned to visist Big Sable Point Light, but I must've made a mistake copying down the address because we found ourselves at Little Sable Point Light near Silver Lake State Park. Can't say either of us was disappointed with what we found ... what a gorgeous lighthouse!
The scenery wasn't too shabby either! Beautiful views in either direction, especially where the bay curves gently.
Less wind here so I decided to get back in the water and play in the waves. I think it's physically impossible for me to be near water without at least having to touch it. :-p
Just in time for the sunset:
It looked to be setting to the left of where the picture ends, but the clouds were blocking the view so we decided to get back on the road and take advantage of what little daylight we had left. We still had a long way to go before getting to the hotel and we were both starting to feel hungry again.
I picked up our guidebook and found a place to eat in Ludlington called Jamesport Brewing Company. We didn't get there until almost 9 o'clock so imagine our surprise when we parked near the harbor and noticed an orange glow from across the lake:
Sunset at last! At least now we know that the sun doesn't set until almost 9!
Anyway, it's late so I am going to cut this short by saying the food was really great and we are now in Traverse City. The sun doesn't rise here until 7:30am so we'll be sleeping in a bit tomorrow, then heading off to Sleeping Bear Dunes.
Total miles for today: 239
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1 comments:
Nelis Dutch Village is really over the top.
I like the part about the goat, llama walking.
Typically Dutch. I even heard once about a Dutch girl that was walking her cat.
I'm a bit disappointed that you are not a witch.
I always thougt there was magic around you girl.
The scenery is a bit Dutch, the sand, the dunes and even the weather.
Thank you both for the lovely pictures,
xxx love Joeve (and Rob)
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