Picture perfect!
This is the week of the Coast Guard Festival, celebrated each year in Grand Haven. I have lived in West Michigan since about 1971 and have never gone out to see it. I've heard stories of the crowds and traffic congestion, and since I don't typically like that, I have stayed away. 
But since it was Wednesday yesterday, and that's the day Mr. Jones spends working on his friend's train layout and is gone all day, and the weather was SO beautiful, and Grand Haven is only 40 miles from my doorstep ... I decided to spend a few hours with my Lake Michigan. I arrived at 11:30 in the morning and everything was really bustling with folk crowding around trying to find some lunch. The coast guard boats that were on display were not yet open for tours ... so I walked the boardwalk, sat for awhile, and watched the boats come and go.
And I never ever go to Grand Haven without walking the pier all the way to the end and making sure the lighthouse is okay. I found something interesting yesterday at my lighthouse ... something I haven't seen for a long long time! The stairs leading to the outer lighthouse were not blocked off at the bottom ... they were at the top, but not at the bottom. People were having their kids climb the stairs and then lining them all up for a photo opportunity. When the crowd cleared, I took my turn climbing to the top and then I took a couple of pictures from up there because it had been SO long since I had been able to do that. I really badly wanted to climb over that barrier, but figured against it!
When we were here a few weeks ago with Sabrina's family, I'm sure these stairs were still blocked off ~ otherwise, Jackson (for sure) would have been right to the tippy top ... and Karis too!
I watched the gulls for a long time yesterday. They were very animated. I love them. Some people find them annoying, but I really can't figure out why. I never get tired of watching them chatter at each other, soar through the sky, glide and then dive into the water, hover in the wind flapping their wings and going nowhere ... I love them.
The beach was really crowded and I wanted to go as far south as I could and find a nice quiet spot to read for awhile ... but I decided to get a burrito at the place where the boys and I used to eat when they were young ...
We always ate at Butch's because the boys liked Mexican food, Butch's burritos were sufficiently large, and the price was right! The four of us used to eat here for just over $8 (we brought our own drinks) ... but that was back in the 80's.
I did finally find a spot on the beach that wasn't so terribly crowded, almost finished reading The Princess and Curdie (George MacDonald), and even attempted to build a little sand castle. Since I had no little ones to help me, it didn't get very big ~ but I did finally figure out what kind of wetness the sand needed to actually stay molded. I think when my sister and I go to Ludington in a few weeks, I'll bring my sand castle molds along and see what the two of us can build together!
I love walking the north pier. It's never very crowded, and the view of the lighthouse is so much prettier from there.
The Wind Dancer was just sailing into the channel as I arrived. This is the schooner I hope to sail on before summer is over.
It was such a picture perfect day out on the coast yesterday! Aren't the colors amazing? "Light is sweet; it is wonderful to see the sun!" Ecclesiastes 11.7 I totally agree! I love to see the sun sparkle on the water.
For a little while I was the only person on the north pier! I sat and watched the boats and birds for a very long time ...
And then it was time to go!
This is the week of the Coast Guard Festival, celebrated each year in Grand Haven. I have lived in West Michigan since about 1971 and have never gone out to see it. I've heard stories of the crowds and traffic congestion, and since I don't typically like that, I have stayed away. 
But since it was Wednesday yesterday, and that's the day Mr. Jones spends working on his friend's train layout and is gone all day, and the weather was SO beautiful, and Grand Haven is only 40 miles from my doorstep ... I decided to spend a few hours with my Lake Michigan. I arrived at 11:30 in the morning and everything was really bustling with folk crowding around trying to find some lunch. The coast guard boats that were on display were not yet open for tours ... so I walked the boardwalk, sat for awhile, and watched the boats come and go.
And I never ever go to Grand Haven without walking the pier all the way to the end and making sure the lighthouse is okay. I found something interesting yesterday at my lighthouse ... something I haven't seen for a long long time! The stairs leading to the outer lighthouse were not blocked off at the bottom ... they were at the top, but not at the bottom. People were having their kids climb the stairs and then lining them all up for a photo opportunity. When the crowd cleared, I took my turn climbing to the top and then I took a couple of pictures from up there because it had been SO long since I had been able to do that. I really badly wanted to climb over that barrier, but figured against it!
When we were here a few weeks ago with Sabrina's family, I'm sure these stairs were still blocked off ~ otherwise, Jackson (for sure) would have been right to the tippy top ... and Karis too!
I watched the gulls for a long time yesterday. They were very animated. I love them. Some people find them annoying, but I really can't figure out why. I never get tired of watching them chatter at each other, soar through the sky, glide and then dive into the water, hover in the wind flapping their wings and going nowhere ... I love them.
The beach was really crowded and I wanted to go as far south as I could and find a nice quiet spot to read for awhile ... but I decided to get a burrito at the place where the boys and I used to eat when they were young ...
We always ate at Butch's because the boys liked Mexican food, Butch's burritos were sufficiently large, and the price was right! The four of us used to eat here for just over $8 (we brought our own drinks) ... but that was back in the 80's.
I did finally find a spot on the beach that wasn't so terribly crowded, almost finished reading The Princess and Curdie (George MacDonald), and even attempted to build a little sand castle. Since I had no little ones to help me, it didn't get very big ~ but I did finally figure out what kind of wetness the sand needed to actually stay molded. I think when my sister and I go to Ludington in a few weeks, I'll bring my sand castle molds along and see what the two of us can build together!
I love walking the north pier. It's never very crowded, and the view of the lighthouse is so much prettier from there.
The Wind Dancer was just sailing into the channel as I arrived. This is the schooner I hope to sail on before summer is over.
It was such a picture perfect day out on the coast yesterday! Aren't the colors amazing? "Light is sweet; it is wonderful to see the sun!" Ecclesiastes 11.7 I totally agree! I love to see the sun sparkle on the water.
For a little while I was the only person on the north pier! I sat and watched the boats and birds for a very long time ...
And then it was time to go!
2 comments:
those stairs were definitely blocked still when we were there or I would have been up there with my kids! Maybe just for Coast Guard week they undo them. Did they show off the boats or the rescue jumpers jumping out of the helicopter?
Hi Sabrina! I was only in Grand Haven until 5:00 Wednesday. I had to get back to church to be with the children. The boats were open for tours after 6 p.m. I would have loved to see rescue jumpers bailing out of helicopters! I'd love to go back tonight and take a nice long stroll ... but it's Friday and the crowds will be impossible out there ...
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