Holland, Michigan

Recently Charles and I traveled to Michigan for a couple family events. The major reason was for my paternal grandfather's memorial service. He passed away in late August. We took the opportunity of going to Michigan and spent a couple days doing some sightseeing. Our first day was spent in Holland. Holland was settled by Dutch immigrants and they have kept their Dutch culture intact through various tourist spots and such. I remember visiting once as a teenager with my mom and sisters. I thought it would be fun to show Charles the area.

Our first stop in Holland was a late breakfast at deBoer Bakkerij. I had the Blue Raspberry Bliss Cakes and they were so yummy!

Then we went to Nelis' Dutch Village. Most of the park was closed since it was a weekday, but we walked around outside and went into the gift shop. Part of the gift shop is a candle carving area. The candles are amazing! We watched a video in the shop of how they create the candles and it was very interesting to see the whole process.

Then we headed over to the Windmill Island Gardens Park. This was our favorite part of our Holland visit. It's a beautiful park with a windmill that was shipped over from the Netherlands in the 50's. The windmill tour was fascinating and offered great views of the whole park. It would be neat to visit during tulip season.

After that we visited "Big Red" which is the Holland lighthouse. There is a state park beach there, as well. We enjoyed walking around and then sitting on a bench overlooking the water. Holland is really a lovely town!

Our last stop before heading back to the hotel was Bowerman's Blueberries Farm Market. You can pick your own blueberries there, but we just perused the market. We left with some blueberry lemonade, blueberry cinnamon bread and the best fudge I've ever had.