Holland, Michigan

Quite a storm blew through last night. It rained hard and the wind blew. This morning, I'm seeing some blue sky, although it's too early to tell for sure. I'm hopeful the rain has stopped. (Proofreading my finished post...I'm happy to say the storm has passed.) Poor Mike was hitching up in pouring rain when we left Bayfield, Wisconsin. By the time we were on our way, he was soaked to the skin. We stopped a distance down the road so he could put on some dry clothes. I'm hoping this morning's process will be easier on him. 

Our plan for yesterday was to drive south about 20 miles to Holland, Michigan. What a lovely little town! We enjoyed our time there. As we were leaving, a large ship was making it's way down the Grand River channel and out to Lake Michigan. It was hard to believe such a huge ship could navigate the river channel, but there it is.

Of course, I had to inquire of The Google who Herbert C. Jackson was/is. There was plenty about the ship itself, but it took some looking to find anything about the ship's namesake. As it turns out, Herbert Cooper Jackson, was born in Cleveland on March 27, 1894 and joined Pickands Mather & Company in 1916. He became a partner of the firm in 1942 and a managing partner from 1955 through 1960. Mr. Cooper was then elected executive vice-president of the firm in 1960, retaining that position until he retired in December of 1962 after having been with Pickands Mather for 46 years. He remained a director of the firm until 1965 and died in Cleveland on December 1, 1981. If you want to know more, you can click on those links I've given you.

Of course, we had to run over to the river to see it as it was leaving. On our way back, we were amused to notice a pair of child's slip-ons at the playground, but no children in sight. Somebody forgot their shoes.

Okay, so we had breakfast, and then headed south to Holland. As you might guess, Holland was settled in 1847 by Dutch Calvinist separatists. Dire economic conditions in the Netherlands compelled them to emigrate, while their desire for religious freedom led them to unite and settle together as a group. The city is perhaps best known for its Dutch heritage, which serves not only as a part of the city's cultural identity, but the local economy as well. The Tulip Time Festival in May and various Dutch-themed attractions augment the nearby Lake Michigan shoreline, attracting thousands of tourists annually. Over 28% of the population identifies as being of Dutch descent.

We headed down just to see it, but there were a few items of interest I wanted to see while we were there...two quilt shops, if you must know. The quilt shops were only part of the draw, however. Also, I wanted to see the windmill at Windmill Island Gardens. It was $12 each to see the gardens, but we were really only interested in seeing the windmill. As it turns out, Eagle scout Michael LaBelle was kind enough to build a platform as his Eagle scout project in 2004, and so we could see the windmill from there.

The windmill is the only authentic Dutch windmill operating in the United States – still turning and grinding wheat into flour.  DeZwaan (The Swan) Windmill was brought to Holland, Michigan, from the Netherlands in 1964. It opened to the public in 1965. It was the last windmill to leave the Netherlands.

The windmill was only part of what I could see from the platform. I had the feeling this was a wildlife refuge, although it wasn't marked as such. At the right time of the year, I'm guessing that migrating birds frequent this area.

The other thing I wanted to see in Holland (aside from quilt shops) was the Big Red Lighthouse. It could be found here at this day use area at Holland State Park.

After parking and getting out, we could see it just across the channel that leads from Macatawa Lake to Lake Michigan.

Here's some information about it.

Here's another zoomed-in view of it.

Turning around 180°, we could see kite-boarders on Lake Michigan. It's always a thrill watching them.

And looking east from there, we could see the harbor on Lake Macatawa.

You can see it way back in there. It was a very picturesque area with lots of beautiful old homes.

We visited two quilt shops. I'll tell you about those in separate posts. We also had some lunch, and then we headed back to Grand Haven. Ahead of us was this car/boat contraption. Ordinarily, I'd pixelate the license plate, but this one has to be seen.

Can you see the propellers on the back, and the life jacket on top? So funny.

Arriving back at the RV, we found Miss Sadie lying on her window hammock. She usually leaves the hammocks for Smitty's use, but they shared them for a time yesterday afternoon.

It's our last morning here in Grand Haven State Park. We'll be moving on to a place near Midland, Michigan, today. I'm looking forward to meeting a long-time blogging friend. Although we've never met in person, I feel as if I've known her all my life. It will be good to get together after so many years of hoping we'd meet in person one day. For now, I'll tell you about one of the quilt shops, and then it will be time to get on our way.