Holland, Michigan - July 29th, 2021

Sometimes plans need to change. We can either focus on what we are missing, or go with the flow and make the most of the time we have. We’re not going to take the time to tell you what we were planning to do, but tell you the things we were able to do.

Thursday, we moved from Sleeping Bear Dunes to P. J. Hoffmaster State Park. Due to some family obligations, we had to cut our stay at Hoffmaster from two nights to one. It was a three hour drive, so we decided to explore Holland, Michigan in the afternoon before heading to the state park.

We went on a walking tour of Holland, starting at Centennial Park. The park was nicely landscaped, with a gazebo and water fountain. In the southwest corner of the park was a Wizard of Oz exhibit that continued across the street in front of the Library. It is believed that L. Frank Baum was inspired to write the book “The Wonderful Wizard of Oz” while vacationing at Macatawa Park in Holland.

From there we headed up River Avenue towards 8th street, the historic downtown area. Along River Avenue, we passed Whit’s Frozen Custard. That was a familiar name for us. The original store is in Granville Ohio, which we have visited many times while visiting our relatives in that area. We made a note to stop at Whit’s on our way back to the van.

The architecture along 8th Avenue is very interesting. We could tell that many of the buildings were inspired by the old buildings of the Netherlands. A nice assortment of shops, restaurants, and brew pubs lined 8th Avenue. There was even a Cherry Republic. We also noticed a Cherry Republic in Traverse City when we were there. However, neither of those two locations had the same atmosphere as the original Cherry Republic in Glen Arbor back by Sleeping Bear Dunes.

Next we walked through the Window on the Waterfront over to Windmill Island Gardens. A $10 per person fee is charged to enter the Windmill Island, but it is well worth the fee. Windmill Island Gardens consists of Dutch style buildings, beautiful gardens, a carousel, a greenhouse, and a street organ. 

The organ was donated to the city of Holland Michigan by the city of Amsterdam in 1947. They play the organ every half an hour. 

However, the main attraction is the windmill, De Zwaan. The windmill was purchased and brought over to the city of Holland from the Netherlands in 1964. It was originally built in 1884 using pieces of even older windmills. The windmill was damaged during World War II. Part of the agreement of the purchase was bringing a Dutch millwright over to supervise the move and restoration of the windmill. It is still operating today as a flour mill. 

When we arrived at Windmill Island Gardens, we were a little hungry and thirsty. We had not planned to walk that far. So we headed into one of the shops for a couple of Cokes and came out with Dutch Stroopwafels for a snack. LB recognized the package because someone he worked with brought them into the office a few years ago. They definitely hit the spot. 

We spent a couple of hours walking around Windmill Island Gardens. After touring the windmill and listening to the street organ play, we went inside the visitor center and watched a short video about the windmill. They offered the video as a virtual tour since the full tour of the windmill was not available due to the pandemic. The history and the workings of the windmill were fascinating.

On the way back to the van, we stopped at Whit’s Frozen Custard. They don’t have milkshakes, so LB had a root beer float. RB had a grasshopper - vanilla custard with mint and chocolate flakes. Whit’s was just as tasty as we remembered.

After the walking tour, we drove over to Holland State Park. RB read that the view of the Holland Harbor Lighthouse is better from the state park on the other side of Macatawa Bay. The beach in the state park on Lake Michigan looked great. It was a very large and wide sandy beach. 

No swimming was allowed that day. It was a red flag day, because the water was pretty rough. The waves were crashing on the pier. A closed gate across the pier prevented us from walking out to the end of the pier. We’re assuming they open the gate in better weather. A few people were in the water despite the red flag. Several people were out in the rough water kitesurfing. 

We made it to Hoffmaster State Park in time to make dinner. The campsites in Hoffmaster were much nicer than the ones in Holland State Park. The sites are all in the woods. After dinner, we walked down to the beach. From the campground, there is a quarter mile trail through the woods to reach the beach. The beach at Hoffmaster is much narrower, but longer than the beach at Holland State Park. However, there are fewer people at the beach in Hoffmaster so there was plenty of beach for everyone to enjoy. We sat down on the beach and watched the light dance on the waves as the sun set.

Our Holland visit was short, but we enjoyed it. Even though we both grew up in Toledo, Ohio, just across the southern border of Michigan, there are still so many nice places in Michigan we have yet to explore. At least we can add Holland to the list of the places we have seen.

Check out our related video: Holland, Michigan

(RB)