My wife and I had a week's worth of vacation time left on the calendar this year and we definitely wanted to make it count, considering our vacation to the Gulf Coast of Alabama earlier this year turned out to be quite possibly the worst vacation we had ever been on. We kicked around a number of options and decided that we wanted to head to Grand Rapids, MI. There were a couple three reasons why - 1) It has an extensive number of microbreweries and brewpubs in, around and near the city; 2) We've never been to Grand Rapids before; and 3) My wife wanted a place where we could go and walk along the beaches of Lake Michigan, about a half-hour drive from Grand Rapids.
We went just after Labor Day - I had to change my vacation dates because I was supposed to attend a trade show that my company decided to attend just three weeks before the show. I was going to be on vacation that last week of August, but our company made a decision to just go and set up in a meeting room at a hotel near the trade show site. I was able to push my vacation back a week, but my wife had some minor problems getting her company to allow her to change her vacation. But she was able to pull it off.
However, with the rise of COVID-19 Delta variant cases across the nation, a number of manufacturers decided to pull out of the trade show and a week before we were to attend the show, my company decided to pull the plug, as well. So, I guess I didn't have to change my vacation, after all. But, it turned out for the best as the crowds along the Michigan beaches were down dramatically from the week before.
The weather was unseasonably cool for the first couple of days we were in Michigan. The day we were traveling to Grand Rapids, a strong cold front brought severe storms through southwest Michigan. There was some tree damage to parts of the Grand Rapids area, but we were able to get through the rain rather easily. After the storm front had passed, brisk winds out of the northwest brought cooler than normal temperatures. It was refreshing, actually, from the warm humid air we had experienced for days before.
We stayed just east of what is known as the "Medical Mile" in Grand Rapids. The Medical Mile originated in 1996 with the Jay and Betty Van Andel Institute, a medical research facility started by one of the co-founders of the Amway Corporation. From there, a number of other hospitals and research facilities including four different college medical schools sprung up along Michigan Street in Grand Rapids Hillside neighborhood. The DeVos family - the other founders of Amway; and the Meijer family - from the Meijer grocery store chain - have also given millions of dollars toward hospitals and research facilities over the past 25 years. Quite actually, the medical campuses were rather impressive.
Being a Hilton Honors Lifetime Diamond member, we naturally stayed at one of Hilton's properties while in Grand Rapids - the Hampton Inn and Suites. (see map) (There was a very nice Embassy Suites along the Grand River in downtown Grand Rapids that was also very nice, but they wanted too many points for the stay there.) The Hampton Inn featured a parking garage under the hotel, we got a nice upgrade to a junior suite for being a Lifetime Diamond member, and it was clean, quiet and comfortable. We slept great every night we were there. I would absolutely recommend this hotel if you make it to Grand Rapids.
Getting around Grand Rapids proved to be a bit of a challenge. Coming into the city, the eastbound lanes of the Gerald R. Ford Freeway (I-196) were closed at the bridge over the Grand River. Our hotel was on the east side of the river and we had to get off the freeway and then sort of navigate backstreets to get to our destination. All around Grand Rapids we found street closures and construction work going on. Some roads were torn up completely and we wondered how in the world they were going to be able to finish those projects before the snow started to fly. And the one-way streets in Grand Rapids were also sort of confusing. After a couple three days of driving around, however, we were able to figure out what was where and how to get there.
For years, the two cities of Grand Rapids and Asheville, NC have vied for the unofficial title of "Beer City USA". We went to Asheville a little over 4 years ago to experience some of their numerous breweries. (Click here to see some of the places we visited.) We had enjoyed Asheville immensely and had always wondered about Grand Rapids. Well, it turns out that Grand Rapids has over 50 breweries of all sizes in and around the city. And in places like Kalamazoo - an hour to the south - there's another 12 to 15 in that area. In fact, in the 6 counties that encompass southwest Michigan, there are over 100 breweries that you can visit. We tried to focus on the ones in Grand Rapids, but we found ourselves going to brewpubs in Grand Haven, South Haven and Saugatuck.
Unlike Asheville, however, many of the Grand Rapids brewpubs were spread out and you couldn't walk between many of them like you can in Asheville. Ride shares are plentiful in Grand Rapids, so you can park and ride between many of the brewpubs.
We found some pretty interesting places in our quest to discover the brewpubs in the area. One of the more unique ones was Brewery Vivant whose taproom was in an old funeral chapel. (Below left) We just sort of stumbled upon it one night as we were driving by and I couldn't believe the luck of finding the place. Brewery Vivant was styled after European pubs and their Rapid IPA was a fine beer. Someone asked us later on if we had eaten there, but we had already eaten at another brew pub earlier in the evening. "Oh, you should have eaten at Brewery Vivant," we were told by a young woman at another brewpub we visited. "They have excellent food."
We went over to Grand Haven one day, about a 30 minute drive from Grand Rapids and found Odd Side Ales. (Above right) It was part brewery, part coffee house situated in what was a former piano manufacturing facility. Not only were their beers good - the Citra Pale Ale was exceptionally good - but it was a pretty neat and laid-back setting. My wife loved the place tremendously and since we've been back she's told everyone who asked about our trip about our visit to Odd Side Ales.
Also over in Grand Haven was the Grand Armory Brewing Co. (Below left) This small brewery was situated in a 115-year-old historical building that once was the small town's local armory and gathering hall. Grand Armory shared the first floor of the building with a coffee shop and a barbecue joint. The second floor housed an art gallery. The brewpub's tap room was a cozy little place and my wife and I both enjoyed their Crop Duster hazy IPA as well as their Weezin'-the-Juice citra IPA.
Another interesting brewpub we went to in Grand Rapids was the Mitten Brewing Company. (above right) Housed in an old fire station, this brewpub featured a baseball-themed taproom with memorabilia on display, primarily from the Detroit Tigers. My next door neighbor is a huge Tigers fan and I remarked to my wife that he would have been in heaven in the place. We enjoyed a couple of their Fogout New England hazy IPA's on their patio out back before we had to go inside as it got cold once the sun went down. Actually, my wife was dressed for it, but I just had a polo shirt and jeans on and it was getting a little nippy for me.
Some of the other places we stopped by were Greyline Brewing, ELK Brewing, the Grand Rapids location of the Atwater Brewery out of Detroit, City Built Brewing and the resurrected Grand Rapids Brewing Company which first brewed beer in 1883. We also ate at a handful of brewpubs during our trip to Grand Rapids and Western Michigan, so I'll have individual entries on those places in the coming weeks.
One of the things my wife and I like to do do when we go on vacation is to check out parks or arboretums. It turned out that Grand Rapids had a world class arboretum and sculpture garden - the Frederick Meijer Gardens and Sculpture Park. The grounds have a year-round arboretum and over 300 sculptures and works of art on the grounds. Originally opened in 1995, over 700,000 people visit the park annually and we thought it was well worth the $14.50 per person admission fee.
The Lena Meijer Tropical Conservatory featured over 500 plants from 5 continents, the largest display of its kind in the state of Michigan. Waterfalls and streams wandered through the gum trees, palms, and walls of orchids with pathways around the perimeter and into the heart of the exhibit. Tropical birds in cages were also place throughout the floor area of the 5-story building, and in the spring the conservatory has a tropical butterfly display where hundreds of butterflies - imported in their own chrysalis from Asia, Africa and South America - fly freely throughout the conservatory.
Also in the immediate area to the conservatory was a garden featuring cacti, succulents, agave plants and floral displays that survive in the most arid parts of the world. My wife really digs succulents and we took our time going through that room to check things out.
In the sculpture park, we found a number of interesting and sort of confusing works of art that had been gathered by the Meijer family over the years. This sculpture (below left) was near the amphitheater that features concerts from mid-July thru mid-September. (This year, performers such as the Beach Boys, Emmy Lou Harris, Squeeze, Ani DeFranco and Harry Connick, Jr. graced the stage at the Meijer Gardens Amphitheater.) The sculpture - Lying Man by Sean Henry - was realistic looking from afar. However, upon closer inspection, the man would have been 9 feet tall if he was real.
Off the path of the sculpture park was this interesting looking sculpture - Neuron by contemporary artist Roxy Paine. (Above right) Clicking on the picture, you can see the intricate detail of Paine's work. It was strange, yet sort of spellbinding.
Back in an area of the sculpture park called The Grove, there was this cool piece of art by Kenneth Snelson called B-Tree II. (Below left) The sculpture was built on site and is another example of "Tensegrity", a concept that Snelson helped devise with Buckminster Fuller and who both have patented some of the concepts of tensegrity. Tensegrity is explained as a "design principle which applies when a discontinuous set of compression elements is opposed and balanced by a continuous tensile force, thereby creating an internal prestress that stabilizes the entire structure." B-Tree II is based on patterning triangles where carefully calculated tension of the stainless steel cords locks the tubes in place.
As we continued to wander along the pathway that wove through the park, we came across this interesting statue called "Broken Nose Carrying Bottle Number One." The lifelike bronze sculpture by Spanish contemporary artist Juan Muñoz is similar to many works that Muñoz placed in unexpected spots that would somehow cause conflict between the sculpture and the viewer. The Meijer family acquired this work in 1999, two years before Muñoz died of a heart attack due to an aneurysm in his esophagus.
Throughout the sculpture garden were a handful of waterfalls with babbling brooks draining into small ponds. While there weren't any rose gardens or large flower displays that we like to see in gardens when we travel, there was a tranquility in the running water that allowed my wife and I to linger in those spots before we moved on.
Probably the highlight for us was the Richard and Helen DeVos Japanese Garden. This 8-acre garden was designed by Hoichi Kurisu, a world-renowned designer of Japanese gardens, both in Japan and in the U.S. In addition to the Japanese garden at the Meier Sculpture Garden, Kurisu has designed Japanese gardens in Portland, OR, Dubuque, IA (which I never knew until writing this), and in Florida. Kurisu put in traditional elements of a Japanese garden - quiet areas (including a Zen garden), waterfalls, and numerous vistas. The picture above right is from the Viewing Hill which overlooks the Lena Meijer Pond on the grounds.
But the most prominent feature of the Meijer gardens was the two-story tall "The American Horse" created by noted animal sculptor Nina Akamu. Commissioned by Fred Meijer nearly 25 years ago, the sculpture pays homage to the famed Italian artist/architect/engineer/sculptor Leonardo da Vinci.
Information boards at the site of The American Horse told the story of da Vinci's project that he was working on for the Duke of Milan starting in 1482. He made a number of drawings of the anatomy of a horse and started work on a life-sized clay model of the horse in 1491. Over 70 tons of bronze was accumulated for the 26-foot high horse by the time the life-sized clay model was finished in 1494. However, the bronze that was to be used for the project was given to the uncle of the Duke of Milan to forge cannons that would be used to fend off invaders.
In 1499, the French invaded Milan and the clay statue was used primarily for archery practice. The elements further eroded the sculpture and it was destroyed just a few short years later.
In the 1970's, full-time airline pilot and part-time art collector/historian Charles Dent came across an article in the National Geographic magazine featuring da Vinci's horse. Determined to finish what da Vinci started, Dent set up a large studio in his hometown of Allentown, PA and set up a non-profit corporation - Leonardo da Vinci Horse, Inc. (LDVHI) - to help raise money for the project. By 1988, $2.5M had been raised allowing Dent to commission Garth Herrick to begin work on the project. However, Dent later contracted ALS and died in 1994.
In 1997, the LDVHI had contacted a company to cast the horse, but the company wasn't keen on the design. They suggested bringing in Akamu, a well-known animal sculptor who after looking at the original model, determined that it was unsuitable for casting. Fred Meijer then became involved and raised the money for two identical 26-foot high horse statues be cast. Akamu finished the project in 1999 with one horse going to Milan, while the other was placed in the center of the DeVos/Van Andel Piazza. da Vinci, Dent and Akamu are all recognized with small displays and plaques in the piazza.
We were at the Frederik Meijer Gardens for a little over two hours and we didn't even visit the interactive children's garden, nor the farm garden on the far end of the sculpture garden. We figured we walked over two miles during our time there. It was a great day - a bit cool, but we sort of forgot about that while we were walking.
One morning, we took a walk along the river on the Butterworth Trail what is part of the Grand River Edges Trail. We walked along the east side of the river from a parking lot in Canal Park up to Leonard Street and then back down south to below the dam. For a mid-week day, there were a number of bikers, walkers and joggers on the path enjoying the morning. There were a handful of turnout areas where you could look over the Grand River to the west side.
We made it down to the dam and noticed there were a number of anglers in waders just below the dam. My wife asked one of the guys coming up the ramp what they were fishing for. "Coho salmon," he said as he trudged past us, probably calling it a day. We stood there for a few moments watching the dozen or so men fishing in the shallow water below the dam and there were no bites noted while we were hanging out.
The I-196/Gerald R. Ford Freeway bridge over the Grand River was closed to east bound traffic, so there was a large construction presence past the dam. Past the expressway bridge, the trail loops over across the river to the Gerald R. Ford Presidential Library and Museum. However, the library/museum had been closed for sometime due to COVID restrictions. But that was OK with me. Even though I'm a big history buff, I just didn't think the Gerald R. Ford Presidential Library and Museum would be all that interesting. It's sort of like the Herbert Hoover Presidential Library and Museum in West Branch, IA - 45 minutes from where I live. I've even driven past the library/museum a number of times when I would visit a good friend who lived in West Branch, but I've never really wanted to go in to see the museum given Hoover's track record as president.
My wife was adamant that we went to Lake Michigan and walked on the beaches. We drove 30 miles over to Grand Haven one day and walked the beach there at the Grand Haven City Beach. (Below left) It was a brisk day with the winds coming off the lake at about 25 miles an hour. It reminded us of our vacation along the Gulf Shores of Alabama where the wind coming off the ocean was relentless the whole time we were there. We walked for about 25 minutes along the beach before my wife decided that she was getting sort of cold. The water temperature on Lake Michigan had to be in the 60's making it pretty cold on our feet and legs when the waves would wash up on the beach.
One other day, we went down to St. Joseph, MI to Tiscornia Park, a place my wife and a friend of hers had visited earlier in the summer. (Above right) She was adamant that we go there as she found the place to be so peaceful and pleasant. And we picked a great day for it, too. Winds were light, temps were in the upper 70's and we walked along the beach then out to the St. Joseph North Pier lighthouse. I can see why she wanted to go there. It was actually sort of tough to leave.
We made it over to Saugatuck, a small town that we've been to two or three times before. This time, we walked along the boardwalk that meandered through the large marinas lining the harbor at Saugatuck. There was very little activity going on in the marina - we figured that some of the boats probably wouldn't be going back out on the lake since it was after the Labor Day holiday. But we marveled at the size of some of the boats in the slips at Saugatuck - some we're undoubtedly worth more than our house.
Just outside of Saugatuck, we were driving along the back roads and encountered a hops farm. My wife was stymied for a moment as to what the long vines growing up along wires were, then when I said they were hops, she immediately knew. "I guess I've never seen hops vines so long," she said. Come to think of it, I really hadn't either. But it showed that there was a conscious effort by local farmers to help the local breweries out by having locally-grown hops for their beers.
All in all, our trip to Grand Rapids and Western Michigan was clearly one that we needed. It was 180 degrees out of phase from our trip earlier in the year to the Gulf Shores of Alabama. It was peaceful, the weather was nice (except for the day at the beach in Grand Haven), and we were able to catch up on sleep. We visited a number of breweries and had some pretty good food - with the exception of one place that I'll talk about in an upcoming entry. The parks and villages we visited and walked around were both fascinating and laid-back. We avoided the tourist traps and found some places that we wished we could have spent more time. My wife even came home with a big bag of Michigan peaches that we ended up freezing so she can enjoy them in smoothies for the next couple three months. Oh, yeah - we're going back to Western Michigan again at some point. And maybe sooner than later.