Tuesday, June 23, 2009

Western Michigan

After the family reunion on Saturday we left Sunday morning for Holland, Mi.  We have not been along the western part of Michigan and felt this would be a good time to see it.

We are staying in the Dutch Treat Campground between Zeeland and Holland, Mi.  There was a sign at the office to go find a campsite and register with them in the morning, so we entered the campground to find a site.  They must have forgotten to take down the sign as someone on a bike had us drive back to the office to register.  They had been busy dealing with some flooding issues caused by runoff from the property next to the campground.

Friday night this area of Michigan was hit with heavy rains and winds.  One report said that Holland received four inches of rain in one hour.  The after effects could be seen in various areas when we drove around.

On Monday morning we drove into Holland and stopped in the visitor's center to get information about the area and points of interest to see.  The downtown area was very clean and neat with most of the stores occupied with businesses.

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The street lamp posts have banners that depict Dutch works of art and there are sculptures at various locations around the town.

We drove out to Lake Mactawa and Holland State Park. 

After spending sometime looking around at Holland State Park, we went to the Dutch Village.

 

Calling this place a tourist trap would be right on.  There is also a second place called Windmill Village which falls into the same category. 

After hearing so much about Holland Michigan, the Tulips and so forth we thought we would see more of Dutch influence in the area.  Holland is a nice enough looking place, but it was a disappointment overall and not worth recommending unless your here for the Tulip Festival in early May.