When I first moved home, I was pretty excited for fall. California really does have weather, but I hadn't been home in the fall for a very long time, and I had been dealing with FOMO over people Instagramming pictures of pumpkin carvings and leaves changing colors. And since at the time of planning Michigan was the only Midwest state I'd never been to (I cheated by going on an overnight trip to Detroit, oops), my friends and I decided to take a day trip up to Holland, MI.
Holland is about three, three and a half hours up north around the lake from Chicago. We packed up snacks and drove up, stopping on the way at Crane's Orchards, where we got to go apple-picking. It's the most Midwestern thing I've ever done. It was pretty crowded when we got there, and we had to stop and get a demonstration first. A woman there sold us bags to carry apples in- you can bring your own- and made sure we knew what was off limits and what wasn't. A lot of the apples were out of season and weren't being sold, so we had to avoid those areas. We also got to try a lot of different types of apples to find out what we liked and wanted to get, which was cool, because I knew about Macintosh and Granny Smith and that's about it. We got to wander around as much as we wanted within certain areas, and pick whatever we wanted. They charge by the pound, so if you feel like paying for five pounds of apples, get five pounds of apples. And there were people there who had brought wagons and carts, so hey.
If Holland makes you think of... well, Holland, it should. There are tulip and windmill gardens, which was actually a plus for me because everyone's really made me want to go to the Netherlands and this is all I've got right now. So we stopped in at Veldheer Tulip Gardens/De Klomp, because we were hoping to see the windmills and one of us needed to get souvenirs for her family. Unfortunately because the tulips weren't in season (end of April to middle of May) the gardens were closed, which meant we couldn't get out to see the windmills like I wanted. We did get to go inside and buy tulip bulbs, though, and then went over to De Klomp, where they have wooden shoes that you can get things carved/burned into. There was a surprising selection considering it's wooden shoes, by the way. They also had knick knacks and things, if you're into that sort of thing. I bought a shot glass.
We walked around downtown Holland for a while and grabbed lunch, and unfortunately not a lot was open on Sundays. Not just that they closed early, they just weren't open. So that didn't take nearly as long as we thought it would, which was just as well since the highlight of our tour (IMO) was Windmill Island Gardens. Apparently not open in the winter, admission is $9 to walk around gardens, and to yes, see some damn windmills. They have the only Dutch windmill in the US, and you can actually go up into it. We accidentally ended up on a tour, because I personally just wanted to see how high we could go up and thought we could kind of bypass the tour. Nope! We were kind of stranded on it because it was a small enough group that it was rude to leave, and the space gets smaller the higher you go so you couldn't really sneak anywhere. Though at one part they showed us the blades, and we got to step outside from the deck and have our friend who stayed below get pictures of us veeeery high up. It was all I really wanted.
I think it's a cute stop. It doesn't take a ton of time, but the windmill was neat, and they had something where... there are giant skis, with wooden shoes for you to put your feet in, and up to four people can try to walk across the lawn in it. We tried it, and it's harder than it looks, but it's something I'm pretty confident in saying I will never do again so it was worth it. There are shops, too, where you can buy Dutch foods, though let's be real, all you want is Stroopwaffles and you know it.
Our last stop was the Big Red Lighthouse, which is something one certain friend will not live down for a very long time. I'm a fan of lighthouses, so I was all on board with this, but when we got there and parked, we started heading away from the water. She insisted she knew where we were going, and so we walked through the woods? Such as you do to get to a lighthouse? Traditionally? At the end of the trail were stairs. Stairs that went very far up. I was not feeling it; in my early 20's I rolled my ankle while going down the steps to leave a movie theater and I fell downwards onto the next step on both knees, and now I have the knees of a 70-year-old. Stairs are my mortal enemy, especially if I didn't know I'd be facing them and wore the wrong shoes. I got about halfway up and decided that I was done, and let everyone go ahead. But I got bored in a few minutes and got lousy cell reception, so I kept going because eh, whatever. Aaaand for the second time in less than a year I climbed myself into a mild asthma attack. I have decided to stay away from mountains for a bit.
It turns out we had climbed Mt. Pisgah... which overlooks the Big Red Lighthouse.
I want you to look at that picture. I even made it extra large. Look right in the center. There's a black blob right there, coming from what looks like it might be a pier in the distance on the right, and it's just above the treeline on the left.
That's the Big Red Lighthouse. It was so not worth that climb that now meant going back down on knees that are- to put it kindly- old souls.
That was my last experience in Michigan. Good times with good friends, and when I head to a different part this weekend, you best be aware that any lighthouses I see will be from the damn ground.
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