Looking into next year’s summer vacation and debating taking the kids to the shores of lake michigan in the holland/saugatuck area. anyone have any recommendations, places to avoid when searching for a home to stay in, things you find fun there during the summer, etc? i’m familiar enough with grand rapids to know there are some fun things for us to do there.
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Great choice. You won’t be disappointed. It’s beautiful. Don’t have specific recs but love the are. All the small lake towns are cool in their own way.
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Saugatuck is more artsy/tourist trap. Holland is more small town. Both have decent little walking main streets with shops to entertain. Several state parks and dunes between the two for nice days relaxing at the waterfront. Holland State park definitely fills up during the peak periods. Dune rides, orchards, small ice cream shops, and plenty of decent food options between the two towns.
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thanks. i’m going back and forth on if a house within walking distance is worth it over getting a hotel just outside of Holland. do you have any experience with parking in the area, how much driving we may/may not do throughout the week pending activities, etc?
Holland has plenty of garages and street parking. Other than the busiest of times, finding somewhere to ditch a car is not a problem whatsoever. Two or three solid breweries, and lots of great dining - would recommend eating there at least one or two nights regardless of where you stay. You’ll want to take at least one or two mini-trips to get a variety of activity in, but you won’t need to drive meaningful distance most days.
I’d probably recommend a house for better vibes and vacation, but not at 2x the cost of a hotel. That’s also my preferred style of vacation speaking - I’d rather have a home base to kick up my feet and let my kids sprawl than just a little hotel room. Plus then you can come and go to the local activity as your mood dictates, as opposed to being done-done each day when the car packs up
@MidwestHack might have some good feedback here too, but (not factoring cost) I’d probably rank it as
- House on the north side of lake macatawa near holland state park - walking or biking distance to a few restaurants and the beach. Short drive to downtown for dinners and main street activities.
- House within walking distance of Saugatuck downtown - you’ll have to drive to the beach, but plenty of eating and window shopping opportunities.
- Hotel within walking of Holland downtown - bigger version of (2) but probably less spacious digs
- Hotel outside of town - driving to get to anything, but probably most cost conscious
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really helpful insight and the rankings definitely make a difference in my search. our kids will be 4 and 18 months for this trip, so space where they can just run around like a yard of a rental house feels like the right call. like you mentioned, seems like plenty to do.
I’ve been to New Holland’s Knickerbocker in Grand Rapids and loved it, presuming they have something similar in Holland. I’m sure we’ll hit the beach/state parks, walk around the various downtowns, etc. Coming from Nashville in the middle of the summer, the reprieve that I presume the weather will be is what we’re seeking.
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Agree with @Manhattan ’s assessments above, though I’d put north side of Holland first by a pretty wide margin over Saugatuck. The complicating factor will be that they recently passed a short term rental ban that affects many of the properties in the area. Homeowners have since sued, so I’m not sure where things stand, but that may limit the number of options available. That said, I live in the area that Matt is describing on the north side near the state park and can’t recommend it strongly enough. If you do end up in this area, shoot me a note and I can give you some very specific recommendations based on the ages of your kids and what you and your family like to do. Also make sure to pack your golf clubs as there a number of us who would be happy to get out for a round.
PS - we have the original New Holland and their brewing facility if tours are your sort of thing.
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I grew up in Grand Haven so I’m biased to there over Holland. To be honest though Saugautuck to Traverse City, they are all pretty much the same. It’s all about finding a cool place to stay that is the most important thing.
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South Haven is pretty nice place to go spend time too, not as near the area youre looking but weve taken a couple summer trips out there and really enjoy it. Same goes for Ludington but thats further north of course.
Hey everyone, Brandon in Clarkston here. Long time listener, first time caller. Just joined The Nest and excited to #getinvolved!
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Welcome! @Manhattan is our newly minted captain if you have any questions. There will also be a bunch of us trying to convert you to the life of the blade so just a heads up
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*cult
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Sounds provocative!
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Have a group of 12 leaving heading from Minneapolis to Michigan in mid-July.
We’ll be taking the SS Badger from Manitowoc to Luddington which arrives at 7PM in MI. Need a plan for that evening as we don’t play at Arcadia Bluffs until 2PM the next day.
Does Manistee offer enough breweries/restos/lodging for one night or should we look elsewhere? King of no mans land from the ferry drop off to Arcadia.
Link to the slack in your DMs! Welcome aboard, feel free to read or toss those YOTB pamphlets in the trash, so long as you stick to the TC way!
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Not much for nightlife in manistee, but definitely a few pubs and places to eat. More than big enough for one night’s entertainment, especially given you’ll be leaving town mid morning to start your day at the bluffs after the one night.
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Message to the people!
If anyone is not in the slack and needs the link to join HMU. We do most of our week to week finding pairings and miscellaneous smack talking there
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My long awaited return home from the east coast is going to occur a year earlier than I expected. Will most likely be landing in metro it detroit area February or March. Would love to get involved with the group once we get settled!
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Welcome back! I’ll get ya added, look for a link to the slack in your DMs
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