We left Grand Haven around 7am with the temperature at 54 degrees. It was a cold morning. The oil pan fix was looking good, and we were optimistic about today’s trip. We departed with hardly any wind, and turned south, following the coast along Lake Michigan. There was a few fishing boats about, but not much traffic otherwise. We were only going about 25 miles, so our arrival in Holland was about 11:30 am.
On arrival we had to turn into Lake Macatawa and continue inland a bit to reach Holland. The city is 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 in attracting thousands of tourists annually. It is also the largest city in the county, which makes for a large downtown area with plenty of shops and restaurants, including several breweries and a farmers market. You may have heard of New Holland Brewing, which is located here as well.
We found a spot to anchor (gasp!) as far back as we could go into the lake. Our spot was close to a pier where there were some people fishing, and it was connected to a park with a nice bike/walking path. The weather looked good, except for some wind, but we felt secure where we were. After sitting on the boat for a couple of hours, eating lunch and making sure all was secure, I took the bikes to the pier, and returned for Lauren. We then rode see the windmills and a small dutch town: Windmill Island. The flowers on display were beautiful, and the windmills made you feel like you were in the Netherlands. We continued to the downtown area, and explored the farmers market which was just wrapping up, then on to some breweries.
We returned to the boat, and were relieved that it was still in the same place we left it. I have not been very confident in our anchor in the last week or so, and this felt good. We took Frank for another walk and returned the bikes to the boat. After dinner, we decided our next stop will be Saugatuck, Michigan, which is a short trip, so no need to get a super early start.