South Haven, MI

By far my favorite western Michigan city! It has a beautiful boardwalk with shops, an Inn, restaurants, a my favorite coffee shop. We ate at Southaven brew pub. They had a menu labeled with gluten free options, which always makes my life a little easier!

After lunch and exploring the boardwalk, we headed towards the water. The marina is absolutely gorgeous. The park area was filled with people enjoying sunshine and many were having picnics. The entire vibe was so relaxing! At the end of the river they had a splash pad for kids and a shop with tourist shirts and accessories.

We walked up and down the streets and explored every shop. They had several antique stores and we really enjoyed walking through those. It brought up so many fun memories of our childhoods. This city had so much to offer!

That evening we watched the sunset at the lighthouse. Wow i honestly don’t know if i have ever seen a sunset so gorgeous. The beach and pier were packed with families, friends and photographers. I sure am glad i get to explore life with my wonderful husband!

Holland, MI

Ok full disclosure this city was way bigger than i expected. Our hotel was located in an area of the city surrounded by many stores and restaurants. We were about 10 minutes from the lake. Our first evening there we went out to eat, at Boatwerks, and then headed to the lighthouse. This is one of the top attractions. The lighthouse is referred to as Big Red and sits at the entrance of the channel connecting Lake Michigan with Lake Macatawa. The beach area is the largest beach we have ever seen. It is surrounded by bike paths, marinas, fishing piers, a playground and many areas to have a picnic. The area is absolutely beautiful!

Boatwerks where we ate dinner

Lake Girl Forever

That truly does describe me. Today i was so happy to spend the day on the lake and in my favorite town. My husband and dad went fishing for the day. They set out for perch but ended up catching sheephead, catfish and walley!

Mom and i walked around downtown Vermilion. We stopped at my favorite coffee shop and ran into Allie LaForce. She is from town but she was also miss teen USA, a sports anchor and a sports journalist the NBA and college basketball. She was there with her husband Joe Smith who is a pitcher for the MLB. We talked to both of them for awhile about her pregnancy and their fight to find a cure for Huntington’s disease. They were so sweet and we enjoyed talking to them!

After our breakfast stop we walked around town. We walked through the farmers market, shopped at a local boutique and checked out the chalk walk.

This evening i spent some quality time with the most needy sister ever 🤣. Luckily she is super cute!!!

After a long, but fun day, we all decided salads, pizza and subs sounded like a good idea for dinner. I was so happy to be at the lake for a million dollar sunset. As we were walking back to the house i also noticed the vibrant first quarter moon!!! It’s very rare that i catch a gorgeous sunset and a gorgeous moonrise! It truly was a wonderful day!