August 17, 2016 – Before we left the boat to get Donna we conducted our usually cleaning and Bob managed once again to fall into the water, this time without phone. Later in the day we stopped at home depot for some supplies and checked into a old Victorian era house in Holland MI which now is a B&B.

Donna flew into Grand Rapids so we drove there and had a nice dinner in the city, close to Michigan State University.    The downtown was clearly set up for the college and younger crowd, and craft brew pubs were numerous.     There was a DJ/dance event going on, with lots of line dancing and general frivolity.   Known worldwide for our line dancing skills, Bob and Mike decided to stay on the sidelines and watch.

With Donna the next morning we explored the framers market (fantastic) then had a great breakfast at Windmill and visited the Holland Museum and Windmill Island. Holland was founded by Dutch immigrants in 1850 and about 1960 they managed to persuade the Dutch government to allow them to purchase a 200 year old Windmill in The Netherlands and then disassemble, ship, and reassemble in Holland. The windmill still operates and grinds locally grown wheat into flour. The docents on Windmill Island all wear traditional Dutch clothing and the gardens and buildings reflect Dutch styles. A wonderful place to visit – Holland, Michigan. On the way back to Michigan City Indiana we stopped for lunch at Saugatuck, MI – very charming village on Lake Michigan and then visited the Martime Museum in South Haven MI.  If you have seen the movie “The Finest Hour”, the Coast Guard boat that was in the movie was located at the museum and it was cool to look around the actual boat used in the move.    It was a restored original, and the best and one of the few examples of it’s kind still able to be used.

Next stop – Windy City