Grand Haven, Michigan

Leaving Holland, Michigan we traveled north about 25 miles to Grand Haven. Tom had reserved campsites at the state park for 2 nights. This reservation system is one of the worst. Tom called and spoke with someone about reserving a site for 2 nights and was informed that they only could accommodate us for Wednesday night so he said okay we'd stay that night. Tom later checked the website and found that there were indeed sites available for Thursday night so he arranged for that site. Since sites are assigned when making reservations we had to change sites on Thursday which is a pain. The state park/campground is located on Lake Michigan at the Grand River. The campsites are electric hook-ups only, no water or sewer. The sites are extremely close together and small. In order for us to have the motorhome and car within the boundries of our site we had to keep our steps retracted when not used and carefully open the doors of the motorhome and the car so we wouldn't hit the other vehicle. The cost of the sites were $27.00 plus an $8.00 reservation fee so we paid $35.00 a night for these terrible sites.

From Grand Haven, Mi

Grand Haven is a clean and pretty town referred to as "Coast Guard City". There is a 2.5 mile walkway from the state park along the Grand River with shops and restaurants. Every night throughout the summer a musical fountain displays dancing water to a variety of music for about a half hour. On Wednesday evening we walked the walkway to the area of the musical fountain and sat watching the parade of people on the walkway and the parade of boats on the water returning from the day on the lake. A little after 10pm the sun had finally set and the fountain show started. It was an enjoyable evening.

From Grand Haven, Mi

From Grand Haven, Mi

Thursday we drove around the area and stopped at a Culver's for lunch- yum-butterburgers and frozen custard! We went to the harbor and walked around the shops that were there. One little shop sold soft pretzels and Tom and I decided to get one to share. After getting the pretzel I asked if they had mustard and was told that mustard would be an additional $.63 after we had paid $3.00 for the pretzel. We enjoyed the pretzel without mustard! After stopping at a Meijer's (a Super Wal-Mart type store) for a few groceries we returned to the campground. We again walked the walkway along the river but did not stay for the fountain show.

This morning we left Grand Haven for Pentwater, Michigan about 60 miles further north. We are staying at Whispering Surf campground with full hook-ups and more room for our car and motorhome. This campground was established in 1913 as a choir boys camp and then as an American plan family resort. This is the oldest campground in Michigan. It is a little rustic but we feel we have a little more breathing room than the previous state park campground.