When we decided to take the road closest to the Lake Michigan beach going south one recent Sunday, our destination was Saugatuck. We left our house at 8:30 a.m. and 5 1/2 hours later we were about half way there, in Grand Haven. No, we didn't have a flat tire and we didn't run into a traffic jam. It just took my husband Hack and me that long to meander.
Our first beach stop was at Cobmoosa Shores where many years ago we owned a lot. The area has many more houses than when we bought property there in 1970. We really had no business buying a lot because we had no extra money, but when we sold it in 1984 to put in a pool, we had made a profit. The beach is lovely no matter how many houses crowd up to it.
A short drive down the road took us to the Stony Lake Channel, which is a popular place for parents to bring their children as the channel is always warmer than Lake Michigan. I hadn't been there in quite a few years.
The memories really came flooding back when we drove around Stony Lake and I saw the place where I learned to swim. My first experience as a five year old was taking a school bus from Shelby to the lake. I was dropped off in front of the Fox cottage and Mrs. Fox came out and taught all the little ones. Two weeks of swimming lessons when I was five taught me very little. I simply refused to put my face in the water for the poor lady.
My first swimming experience at the age of five was here in front of the Fox cottage.
We took swimming lessons every summer and I remember the bus rides to the lake. Hearing 100 Bottles of Beer on the Wall sung every trip out was more than I could take. Getting into that chilly lake water in the morning could also be a challenge. On the way back in my wet swimming suit I shivered and always had to go to the bathroom.
However by the time I was twelve I could dive off the raft, that no longer is there, and swim a decent side stroke. Never did like sticking my face in the water too much and doing the crawl and breast stroke weren't my favorites. However I passed all my tests.
The docks surround the place at Stony Lake where I went every summer of my childhood for swimming lessons except for my first year.
Heading toward Montague on Scenic Drive I yelled, "Stop, I need to take a picture" as we passed a petite pink house that once belonged to a friend's grandparents and now is owned by her mother. The house is back from the road a bit and settled in beside a pond. It seems the quintessential place of solitude. A flower blooming beside a trail that led into the woods caught my husband's eye and I clicked a picture. It looked similar to a foxglove, but when we later looked it up we discovered it could be a flower called a penstemons. I have never heard nor seen such a flower before this stop.
We drove out to Meinert park where my family once held family reunions. It is a county park that sits on Lake Michigan. From there we drove down roads where August fields were lit with sunlight, hay bales were strewn through golden meadows, white well kept farmhouses dotted the landscape and country gardens were at their prime.
We wandered to the White Lake Channel after driving along the Lake Michigan shore. I had never seen the White River Lighthouse and I photographed it from across the channel. That is where the camera battery died. Everything else we saw I will have to describe like the sailboats floating on White Lake in a regatta.
Between my freshman and sophomore years of college I worked at Lake Side Inn, a summer resort on the south side of White Lake. The girls who worked there the summer of 1965 lived in a building we called "The Shack." It was filled with bunk beds and had one bathroom. It was the first summer in my life I didn't live at home
I had a job there that reminded me of why I was going to college. I cleaned rooms and scrubbed toilets. There was a woman we reported to by the name of Mildred. When I first started we scrubbed toilets with our bare hands until someone had the guts to tell Mildred we needed toilet brushes. I think she thought we were wimps, but she got them for us. The prime job was being a waitress because that's where the bigger tips were. Families from Chicago and other points south came to the resort and would usually stay at least a week. Most people left tips for the chamber maids, but it was never much. I do have fond memories of my brother coming some evenings and playing his guitar on the beach while a few of us sang with the guests.
We were able to find a road close to Lake Side Inn which wandered back to what is a summer colony called Sylvan Beach. A road further back took us to the lighthouse where there is a house attached and the caretaker lives. I loved the shape of the lighthouse and texture the brick brought to its overall appearance. I had been so close to it the summer I worked at the Inn, but I had never seen it before.
As we drove toward Muskegon on Scenic Drive, we passed Pioneer Park, another county park where we had also had family reunions. My mother's side of the family got together every summer and the big treat for me was that one of the relatives always picked up ice cream that was kept in some kind of cooling bag. I can still remember the taste of the vanilla in that ice cream. There was always a business meeting and a ball game and the aunts fixed their best picnic dishes. And of course there were my cousins and other relatives who came from places unknown and I was never quite sure how they were connected.
We passed Duck Lake and then we were again driving along the big lake. I knew I had been by the block house many years ago, but I did not remember the expansive beach. Muskegon State Park took my breath away. Except for a pavillion, there are no structures and the beach is wide and perhaps the most beautiful beach I've ever seen in Michigan. The water was cold for an August day, but there were kite boarders skimming along the lake and it was a "glad to be alive" day.
We ate lunch at the Bear Lake Tavern on our way around Muskegon Lake and then it was back to the beach road again. Neighborhoods like Lakeside and Bluffton meet the water. My father lived in the Lakeside neighborhood for a few years when he was a boy and went to school there. Pere Marquette Park is again a big beach, but the surroundings are not as pure as Muskegon State Park.
We passed Hoffmaster State Park, but could not see Lake Michigan from the beach road. Hoffmaster is a nature park and one has to go in a bit to get to the water. From there we wandered a few back roads to again get as close to the lake as possible and we found ourselves at the Grand Haven Channel. A huge marina with a swimming pool showed the wealth of those who own the big pleasure boats.
Grand Haven State Park was our final destination before we turned around and started home. There were many boats going up and down the Grand Haven Channel and the town was still busy with tourists the day after the end of the Coast Guard Festival.
It had been a picture perfect day to take our little adventure and it showed us that we don't have to wander too far from home to discover what is unfamiliar in the familiar. It is impossible to take all the roads in one lifetime, but the beach road filled us with an unexpected delight and a feeling of belonging to the land and the water. What could be better?
Our first beach stop was at Cobmoosa Shores where many years ago we owned a lot. The area has many more houses than when we bought property there in 1970. We really had no business buying a lot because we had no extra money, but when we sold it in 1984 to put in a pool, we had made a profit. The beach is lovely no matter how many houses crowd up to it.
 |
| The beach at Cobmoosa Shores....Oceana County. |
 |
| Judging from the number of kayaks, there must be much sporting activity in this area of Cobmoosa Shores. |
A short drive down the road took us to the Stony Lake Channel, which is a popular place for parents to bring their children as the channel is always warmer than Lake Michigan. I hadn't been there in quite a few years.
The memories really came flooding back when we drove around Stony Lake and I saw the place where I learned to swim. My first experience as a five year old was taking a school bus from Shelby to the lake. I was dropped off in front of the Fox cottage and Mrs. Fox came out and taught all the little ones. Two weeks of swimming lessons when I was five taught me very little. I simply refused to put my face in the water for the poor lady.
We took swimming lessons every summer and I remember the bus rides to the lake. Hearing 100 Bottles of Beer on the Wall sung every trip out was more than I could take. Getting into that chilly lake water in the morning could also be a challenge. On the way back in my wet swimming suit I shivered and always had to go to the bathroom.
However by the time I was twelve I could dive off the raft, that no longer is there, and swim a decent side stroke. Never did like sticking my face in the water too much and doing the crawl and breast stroke weren't my favorites. However I passed all my tests.
Heading toward Montague on Scenic Drive I yelled, "Stop, I need to take a picture" as we passed a petite pink house that once belonged to a friend's grandparents and now is owned by her mother. The house is back from the road a bit and settled in beside a pond. It seems the quintessential place of solitude. A flower blooming beside a trail that led into the woods caught my husband's eye and I clicked a picture. It looked similar to a foxglove, but when we later looked it up we discovered it could be a flower called a penstemons. I have never heard nor seen such a flower before this stop. 
We drove out to Meinert park where my family once held family reunions. It is a county park that sits on Lake Michigan. From there we drove down roads where August fields were lit with sunlight, hay bales were strewn through golden meadows, white well kept farmhouses dotted the landscape and country gardens were at their prime.
We wandered to the White Lake Channel after driving along the Lake Michigan shore. I had never seen the White River Lighthouse and I photographed it from across the channel. That is where the camera battery died. Everything else we saw I will have to describe like the sailboats floating on White Lake in a regatta.
Between my freshman and sophomore years of college I worked at Lake Side Inn, a summer resort on the south side of White Lake. The girls who worked there the summer of 1965 lived in a building we called "The Shack." It was filled with bunk beds and had one bathroom. It was the first summer in my life I didn't live at home
I had a job there that reminded me of why I was going to college. I cleaned rooms and scrubbed toilets. There was a woman we reported to by the name of Mildred. When I first started we scrubbed toilets with our bare hands until someone had the guts to tell Mildred we needed toilet brushes. I think she thought we were wimps, but she got them for us. The prime job was being a waitress because that's where the bigger tips were. Families from Chicago and other points south came to the resort and would usually stay at least a week. Most people left tips for the chamber maids, but it was never much. I do have fond memories of my brother coming some evenings and playing his guitar on the beach while a few of us sang with the guests.
We were able to find a road close to Lake Side Inn which wandered back to what is a summer colony called Sylvan Beach. A road further back took us to the lighthouse where there is a house attached and the caretaker lives. I loved the shape of the lighthouse and texture the brick brought to its overall appearance. I had been so close to it the summer I worked at the Inn, but I had never seen it before.
As we drove toward Muskegon on Scenic Drive, we passed Pioneer Park, another county park where we had also had family reunions. My mother's side of the family got together every summer and the big treat for me was that one of the relatives always picked up ice cream that was kept in some kind of cooling bag. I can still remember the taste of the vanilla in that ice cream. There was always a business meeting and a ball game and the aunts fixed their best picnic dishes. And of course there were my cousins and other relatives who came from places unknown and I was never quite sure how they were connected.
We passed Duck Lake and then we were again driving along the big lake. I knew I had been by the block house many years ago, but I did not remember the expansive beach. Muskegon State Park took my breath away. Except for a pavillion, there are no structures and the beach is wide and perhaps the most beautiful beach I've ever seen in Michigan. The water was cold for an August day, but there were kite boarders skimming along the lake and it was a "glad to be alive" day.
We ate lunch at the Bear Lake Tavern on our way around Muskegon Lake and then it was back to the beach road again. Neighborhoods like Lakeside and Bluffton meet the water. My father lived in the Lakeside neighborhood for a few years when he was a boy and went to school there. Pere Marquette Park is again a big beach, but the surroundings are not as pure as Muskegon State Park.
We passed Hoffmaster State Park, but could not see Lake Michigan from the beach road. Hoffmaster is a nature park and one has to go in a bit to get to the water. From there we wandered a few back roads to again get as close to the lake as possible and we found ourselves at the Grand Haven Channel. A huge marina with a swimming pool showed the wealth of those who own the big pleasure boats.
Grand Haven State Park was our final destination before we turned around and started home. There were many boats going up and down the Grand Haven Channel and the town was still busy with tourists the day after the end of the Coast Guard Festival.
It had been a picture perfect day to take our little adventure and it showed us that we don't have to wander too far from home to discover what is unfamiliar in the familiar. It is impossible to take all the roads in one lifetime, but the beach road filled us with an unexpected delight and a feeling of belonging to the land and the water. What could be better?
Click on pictures to enlarge.
No comments:
Post a Comment