The West Side of the State

So where have I been? Well, we were out of town once again this weekend. We had a wedding in Holland, MI on Saturday, and stayed over until Sunday. It was a short but nice trip, especially since I've never been to Holland before.

We left early Saturday morning to make it to the wedding at 10:30 am. The wedding was followed by brunch at a restaurant on a lake. Like most of the Midwest this past weekend, the weather was gorgeous. Sunny, in the 80's, and most importantly, no humidity. So having the brunch on this lake was fabulous. The groom sells boats, so of course the bride and groom and bridal party arrived at the party aboard a gorgeous boat. Quite an entrance they made!

There was a cocktail/dessert/dancing reception that night (yes, there was a 6 hour break in between - ugh) which was held at an historic mansion. So during our 'break', Stein and I walked around downtown Holland. It is a great place, with all kinds of shops and restaurants on the main drag. We were able to find a restaurant with an outdoor deck to enjoy the weather a little more. The reception that night was lovely, but as my sister-n-law put it, "It lost the oomph when we had the break." I have to agree. I felt like we were just at another party with the same people we saw that morning. It seemed separate from the wedding.

Sunday morning we had breakfast in Holland, and then headed to Saugatuck on our way back home. We walked around there, went into a few stores, and enjoyed the weather for another day. How lucky were the bride and groom to have such beautiful weather? And then also to be getting on a plane to go to Hawaii? Hmmm.

I do have to say that I enjoy the west side of the state a lot. You have Lake Michigan, which I'm familiar with, but it's almost like another lake on this side. The beaches are less crowded, cleaner, and you can watch sunset over it. Don't get me wrong, I am still biased toward the lakefront path and beaches in Chicago, but it's just different over here. The towns that dot the lake in Michigan all feel the same: laid-back, friendly, comfy, and quaint. And with most of these western Michigan towns only 2 hours away, we can visit them whenever the spirit moves us.