Road Tips

Grand Rapids and Western Michigan

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.  

Curragh Irish Pub - Holland, MI

One evening when we were in Western Michigan for our little long weekend trip earlier this year, Cindy and I decided that we wanted to keep it low key and eat at one of the more casual establishments in downtown Holland.  (Have I said how nice of town Holland is and how great their downtown shopping and restaurant area is?)  We had our choice between two - the New Holland Brewing Company and Curragh Irish Pub right across the street.  Cindy liked the idea of eating at an Irish Pub, so we decided upon eating at Curragh that evening.  (See map)

Curragh (pronounced CURR-ack with sort of a phlegmy throaty emphasis on the "ack") is named after the home of flatland racing in Ireland, the Curragh Racetrack, a historic race track that hosts all five of the classic Irish horse races - including the Irish Derby - and has been around since the 1700's.  It's documented that chariot races were held on the grounds of the Curragh race track in the third century.  

The original Curragh Irish Pub opened in 1999 in Schaumburg, IL next to the massive Woodfield Mall.  But the roots of the pub go back even further to a Chicago area restaurant called J.J. Finnegan's that was started by Jim Leongas in 1984.  His son, Paul Leongas, was the managing partner for the first Curragh and they later opened a second Curragh location in Skokie.  (The original location in Schaumburg had to move due to development of a strip mall on the spot where the building stood.  They moved the original building, piece by piece, to its present day location on Northwest Highway in the Chicago suburb of Edison Park.)

Jim Leongas opened a J.J. Finnegan's in Holland, MI in 1988 and it was run by his daughter, Sophia.  Sophia and her husband, Dave Jurgensen, opened the third Curragh in Holland around 2006 and closed the J.J. Finnegan's restaurant in Holland in 2009.  They hired an Irish ex-patriot, Glen Behan, to run the day-to-day operations at the Curragh.

My old neighbor, George, is half-Irish and he used to scoff at an establishment that called itself an "Irish pub" when it would put up a couple Irish flags in the place and have Guinness on tap.  George wouldn't have any trouble with Curragh calling themselves an Irish pub - the place is Irish, through and through.  The inside of the bar has an old Irish feeling down to the wooden bars (two of them) in the place.  A number of televisions are interspersed throughout the place and Curragh Irish Pub is the unofficial soccer headquarters for Western Michigan, showing games from Europe on satellite sports channels.  Flags of all the European countries are on display, hanging from the ceiling.  In fact, there was no other sports on television other than soccer that evening.  

There is an seating area at Curragh that features open air seating or seating under an awning.  When we checked in at the outside hostess stand, we were asked if we wanted inside or outside seating.  Clouds were moving in and rain was forecast for later in the evening, so we sort of hemmed and hawed for a moment before we decided on sitting outside at one of the wrought iron tables with similar chairs.  The patio was about a third full that evening - a Sunday night - not a big night in Holland.  They've only had Sunday beer sales available in the town for about four years.

We were given menus and Kelly, our server for the evening, came over to take our drink order.  I ordered a Smithwick's and Cindy got a Bass.  (I later found out that they had Magic Hat 9 on tap, as well.  I was kicking myself because Cindy would have liked that better than she likes Bass.)  

While we were looking through the menu, I began to kind of notice that the clouds to the west were churning up rather quickly.  I got out my smartphone and punched up Weatherbug to see the local radar.  There was a rather large storm that was just off the western coast of Michigan not far from Holland.  When I showed it to Cindy, I said, "I think maybe we'd better move inside."  

She looked over at the seating under the awning, hoping there would be an open table under there.  But there wasn't.   When Kelly came out with our beers I showed her the radar image on my phone.  I said, "You know, this looks like it's coming in sooner than later and I would rather not have to interupt my meal to pick up and go.  Is there a possibility that we could move inside now?"

Kelly said, "Oh my gosh!  Well, yes!  Let's move you inside."  She left our beers and delivered two more to another table before she came back.  She picked up both of our beers, beer coasters and menus and put them back on her tray.  We protested that we could carry all that ourselves, but she wouldn't let us.  We asked if she would be taking care of us inside and she said that she could.  Kelly got a good tip that evening for being overly accommodating.

Most of the food on the menu at Curragh is your typical Irish pub fare - shepherd's pie, fish and chips, Irish stew, cottage pie.  They also had some steaks, seafood, burgers and sandwiches on the menu.  We had eaten a late lunch earlier in the day, but it was after 8 p.m. when we were seated inside the Curragh.   Cindy was on a seafood kick and I was looking for a good hearty dinner.  

The shepherd's pie and the corned beef with cabbage were suddenly at the top of my list, but my eyes wandered down the menu and saw something called "Galway Bay Seafood Fleadh".  (Fleadh is Gaelic for "festival".)  It featured a north Atlantic pollack filet, stuffed with shrimp, crab meat and marscapone (a very rich Italian-style cheese), then baked in an oven.  It was served with a lime hollandaise sauce, griddle fried potato-crab cakes and vegetables.  Ooooooohhhh!  That sounded great!   But I wasn't in the mood for seafood that evening.  (As I write this, my stomach is doing jumping jacks.  If we get back there at some point, I'm getting that.)

I also was looking at the Sea Salt and Herb-rubbed beef tenderloin filet - an 8 oz. seasoned filet, grilled then drizzled with a sweet lemon ancho chile butter that would give it a little sweet and smoky bite.  Mmmmm.... Decisions, decisions.  

I was trying to get Cindy to get the Galway Bay Seafood Fleadh (mainly so I could have a couple bites), but one of the specials that evening was a salad that featured sea scallops, greens and chopped veggies.  Cindy thought that would be good to get.  She also ordered a cup of the Guinness cheese soup - a mixture of sausage, potatoes and onion with a cheddar cheese/Guinness beer base - for us to share.

When Kelly asked me what I wanted, I was still torn.  I thought the North Atlantic stuffed pollack would be great, but it also sounded pretty rich.  Shepherd's pie is also pretty rich and I wasn't THAT hungry. When I heard myself say, "Corned beef and cabbage", I still didn't know if that was what I really wanted.   

When Kelly brought out the "cup" of Cindy's Guinness cheese soup, I remarked, "Geez, Cindy!  I'm glad you didn't order the bowl!"  

Kelly said, "Oh, we just have one size for the soup.  It's sort of in between a bowl and a cup." 

And you want to talk about rich!  Hoo boy, that soup was almost a meal in itself.  It featured large chunks of potatoes (I couldn't really tell if there was sausage in there or not) in a very rich cheese base.  It was good, but I didn't want to eat much more than about three spoonfuls of the stuff.  I was afraid it would spoil my dinner.

As we pushed what was left of the soup away from us, we noticed that more people were coming in from the outside.  A couple of ladies who were seated near us came by our table and one of them said, "You guys were smart coming in when you did!"  

Cindy asked, "Is it starting to rain?"

The lady said, "Well, not yet, but the wind's come up and it's gotten cooler.  It looks like it's only a matter of moments before it will start to rain."  

Not long after that, Kelly brought our food to the table.  The corned beef and cabbage featured only a few small cuts of corned beef with a couple scoops of mashed potatoes, both topped with a horseradish sauce.  A generous amount of cabbage came with it, but I concentrated primarily on the corned beef and potatoes.  The corned beef was very tender and flavorful, and I really enjoyed the creamy horseradish sauce on the top.  I should have asked for fresh ground horseradish, come to think of it.  But it was good enough as it was.  But quite honestly, I don't think there's not much you can do to corned beef and cabbage to make it any different from restaurant to restaurant.  

Cindy's salad was exactly what she wanted.  It was light and tasty with some greens, chopped carrots, peppers and sprinkled with herbs.  She offered me one of the scallops and they were plump and cooked perfectly - not overcooked to where they're rubbery, but not undercooked where they're kind of squishy in the middle.  

I know Cindy really liked the Curragh Irish Pub a lot. "We made the right choice," she said, meaning that we could have had dinner across the street at the New Holland Brewing Company.  We did say that the next time we come back to Holland that we'd have to try the brewpub, but we'd also have to come back to Curragh at some point, as well.  The food was good for an Irish pub, the service was impeccable, the decor and ambience of the place made it feel like you were in a true Irish pub back in the homeland.  We couldn't do anything but recommend Curragh as a must stop when you're in Holland.

The Windmill Restaurant - Holland, MI

We stayed at the Doubletree in Holland, MI, a nice hotel that turned out to be centrally located for the trips we made during our visit to Western Michigan.  Because I'm a longtime Hilton Diamond member, we got a free breakfast each day we stayed at the hotel.  But because we're more adventurous, we decided to pass up the free breakfasts at the hotel and seek out where the locals eat breakfast.  One of those places was the Windmill Restaurant in downtown Holland.

The downtown Holland area is very nice - Holland, itself, is a very nice city.  There are a number of shops and eateries that you won't find in malls.  Being that it's less than 30 miles from Grand Rapids, we were told a number of people come from that area to shop in Holland because of the unique nature of their shopping and restaurants.  The Windmill is located in the heart of the downtown area on W. 8th Street (see map). And because of the Dutch influence on the area, there's a lot of Dutch heritage touches to the city.  The Windmill is named, of course, after the large Dutch windmills found all over the home country of The Netherlands.  Owner Terry McMurry runs the little family restaurant that opens at 5 a.m. daily (7 a.m. on Sunday) and serves breakfast and lunch throughout the day until they close at 4 p.m. (2 p.m. on Sunday). 

We got to the restaurant just after 9 a.m. and although the place isn't small, it was packed with a number of people getting breakfast.  We had to wait in an area up front for about 15 minutes to get a table, but while we were there the line stretched out the door and onto the sidewalk.  That's a good sign for any family-type restaurant like The Windmill.

The interior of the place is not fancy, but comfortable.  The restaurant features a number of booths along the long wall, tables in the back and a couple tables with chairs and bench seats along the wall up front.  There's an old style lunch counter that was lined full of people while we waited.  The Windmill gives you a choice of a booth or table, or sitting at the counter.  We talked about sitting at the counter, but I wanted a table or booth.  

A table up front with a bench seat opened up and we were escorted there.  There was another table of younger girls seated next to us that was just finishing up their breakfast fully cognisant that the more they dawdled, the more piercing stares they'd get from people who were standing in line waiting for their table to open up.  

As we looked through the menu, we found a number of breakfast items that sounded pretty damn good.  They also had comfort food staples such as meatloaf, hot beef sandwiches and burgers.  But I was looking for things like French toast with blueberries on top, or blueberry pancakes, or anything with blueberries since we were in the heart of blueberry country in Western Michigan.  We had heard some lady who was standing in line in front of us rave about the hash brown omelet, as well.  

We saw something interesting on the menu that Cindy had to ask the waitress about when she brought her some coffee - thin pancakes, rolled up and filled and/or topped with your choice of brown sugar, powdered sugar or cinnamon sugar.  The waitress said, "Oh, yeah, they're very popular and really good."  She explained that you could also get the rolled up pancakes with either a strawberry or blueberry filling.  Cindy asked if the blueberries were fresh or if they were more like pie filling.  The girl admitted that it was more like a pie filling.  "It's not blueberry season around here yet.  We won't start to get fresh blueberries until July or August."  OK, that pretty much ruled out anything with blueberries for me.  

I kept looking over the menu and decided to get the corned beef hash and Swiss cheese omelet.  We'd noticed on the table next to us when another waitress was cleaning it off that there were these thick pieces of toast.  Cindy asked if they made their own bread.  The waitress said, "We sure do!  You get your choice of either regular bread or the homemade bread for toast."  

By this time, our waitress came back and we were ready to order.  I did order the corned beef hash and Swiss cheese omelet along with a couple slices of the homemade whole wheat bread.  Cindy ordered something called the Bird's Nest  - one or two eggs over easy (Cindy got one egg) laid over hashbrowns mixed with real bacon bits, then topped with cheddar cheese.  She got some of the homemade white bread toast.  And she was intrigued enough to try one of the rolled pancakes with cinnamon sugar filling and topped with powdered sugar.  

Since it was pretty busy at the restaurant, we knew it would take some time to get our food.  We were seated right next to the front window and we marveled at how many people were standing in line to get in.  At one point, Cindy counted 22 people standing in line.  She said, "I think we came at the right time."

A family of four - man, wife, boy, girl - took the table next to us after the girls gave it up a few moments before.  Now, I know this is close quarters and it's tough not to listen in on the conversations of others even when you don't want to, but this turned out to be another hazard of eating out.  As we were waiting for our food, the family began to give their order.  The boy - probably 11 or 12 - ordered his breakfast which included one of the roll up pancakes.  The girl - a little older, we guessed - then ordered her breakfast which also included a roll up pancake, as well.  

Then the father stepped in.  He said, "OK, this is what we're going to do..."  He immediately told the waitress to cancel the kids orders and he ordered FOR THE TABLE!  "This is what he's gonna get," he told the waitress as she basically ripped the ticket out of her book and started over.  Then he ordered for his daughter, then himself, then his wife.  Cindy and I were just completely incredulous after we witnessed this.  It was like he was saying, "No, no.  You're not gonna get that.  You're gonna get THIS!"  He did order the rolled up pancakes for everyone, though.  But still, why didn't he just begin to order for everyone before the waitress took the kids orders?

I didn't notice it at the time, but Cindy pointed out to me afterward that she felt the wife was a little creepy.  "Did you see that she was just staring at us while we were eating," she asked me after we left.  I did notice out of the corner of my eye the lady looking our way, but I thought she was looking out the window.  Cindy said, "Oh no.  She was just staring at us while we were eating, looking over our food.  I almost asked her to please stop."   

Our breakfast did show up about 20 minutes after we ordered and I was hungry.  The thin omelet was good sized and chock full of a creamy mixture of Swiss cheese and what appeared to be homemade corned beef hash.   It was excellent.  It was more than enough for me along with the large pieces of homemade toasted whole wheat bread.  

Cindy's Bird's Nest breakfast was not very big, sitting on a small plate that was dwarfed by the homemade white toast on her plate.  She said it was very good and raved about the bread.  "Oh, my God," she exclaimed.  "This bread!"  The bread was good.  It was thick, fluffy, chewy and very flavorful.  I don't know if there was an upcharge for the homemade bread over the regular bread, but I wondered why anyone would want to get a meal with regular bread rather than the homemade bread.  

But the highlight of the meal was the pancake roll up.  Cindy had asked for maple syrup to go along with the pancake, but a couple bites into it she decided she didn't need it.  The cinnamon sugar inside the rolled up pancake was plentiful and the combination with the powdered sugar on top was a great taste sensation.  We joked that we'd probably have a major sugar buzz afterward, but it was excellent in taste.  

These little family restaurants like The Windmill are fun to find when we're out searching around for places like this to eat.  Other than the family next to us with the obnoxious man and the lady staring at us while we were eating (we felt sorry for the kids - they seemed rather pleasant), we were very happy with our breakfast at The Windmill.  We contemplated going back at some point during our visit to Holland, but decided to seek out other breakfast places in the area.  But I wouldn't have minded going back in the least.  

Boatwerks Waterfront Restaurant - Holland, MI

We took an extended weekend trip up to Western Michigan earlier this summer and stayed in Holland, MI.  We had hoped to stay in South Haven, a small town about 30 miles south of Holland - and a place we'd stayed at before about 10 years ago - but the hotel we wanted to stay at was full.  Instead, we got a room at the Doubletree in Holland.  Holland has a number of great little shops in their downtown business district and we were in one on a Friday evening.  We were talking to the store manager about places to eat that would have views of Lake Michigan.  She said, "Well, there really isn't one around here, other than the Boatwerks.  But it's not really on Lake Michigan.  It's on Lake Macatawa just west of downtown."  We decided to give it a shot and drove to the place.  

Boatwerks Waterfront Restaurant is an upscale restaurant owned by Joe Walsh (not the rock star) and run by managing partner Chris Hart.  It is situated in a large building that features inside and outside seating, a lounge, a private room that can accommodate up to 100 people and an outdoor lawn/patio area that can handle a large tent for special dinners, weddings and other events.  It's located just next to Kollen Park on Holland's west side (see map).

The inside of the place is heavy on mahogany, the type of wood used on old boats that were built in the 40's, 50's and 60's (many of which are still running strong on upper Midwest lakes to this day) with a spacious indoor dining area.  Exposed wooden beams line the ceiling and being that the place has a nautical theme to it, they have boat flags, models of boats and other neat little boating decorations around the room.  The lounge area (above right) has a waterfront view of Lake Macatawa and has room for about 75 people.  

It was around 8:30 when we got into Boatwerks.  We were greeted at the hostess stand by a young lady who told us that it would be a 30 minute wait - minimum - if we wanted to be seated inside, but they had immediate seating outside.  Cindy thought sitting outside would be a nice touch as it was a beautiful evening.  She instructed us to go through the dining room and out the door to the outside hostess stand.  As we were walking through dining room, we noticed a number of empty tables which caused Cindy to remark, "All those people must have gotten up to go to the restroom."  We were a little perplexed at first, then realized that they may not have had the waitstaff on hand to take care of any more than what they did have in the dining room.  

When we got to the hostess stand outside, the girl there informed us that it would be a 15 to 20 minute wait.  I said, "Wait a minute.  They just told us inside that it was immediate seating."  

In a rather cold manner, she replied, "Well, they were wrong."  She asked for our name and handed us a beeper/buzzer.  She said, "You can go to the bar inside or you can get drinks out here and go down to the tables along the water's edge."  I sort of shrugged and we went to the outside bar.

Actually, the outside area was rather nice.  They had a number of tables with umbrellas that overlooked the lake.  The tables and chairs were a heavy duty composite that was impervious to the elements.  The bar area was pretty small and for some unknown reason they only had two of the tappers working that evening.  Cindy had asked for a mai tai and the bartender told her, "Well, let me look to see if we have the stuff to make one for you."  She hunted around for a bit and then came back and said, "No, we're missing creme de almond and the sweet and sour mix.  I can go in and see if they have that at the inside bar."  Cindy decided to cut her losses and ordered up a UV Blue and lemonade.  The only beer they had outside was Bud Light and Blue Moon on tap.  I got a Bud Light, which was overly flat.  Instead of going down to the tables along the water, we found a nice high top ledge near the bar to look at the setting sun.  

Our little square buzzer began to vibrate about 15 minutes after we got there and we were shepherded to a table along the far perimeter of the outside seating area.  It was a beautiful evening, as I said, and the sun was just beginning to set behind the trees across the lake.  Actually, we had hoped to watch the sun set into Lake Michigan, but Holland is a little bit inland at the widest part of the huge lake.  Where we were at that evening was fine with us.  

Our server for the evening, Leslie, came over to greet us as we looked through our menus.  She was being tailed by another young girl who was obviously learning the ropes at Boatwerks.  I asked if they had any Bell's Brewery products available and she told me they just had Oberon Ale, a wheat beer that I don't care for much at all.  I asked if they had the Bell's Pale Ale and she said, "No, we don't.  But we have the Founders Centennial." (That beer is a robust India Pale Ale that had just become available in Iowa a couple three months prior.)  I got one of those and Cindy got a glass of white wine.  

The menu at Boatwerks is an extensive mix of seafood, pastas, steaks and chops, as well as sandwiches.  They also feature a number of gourmet pizzas with toppings that include lobster, smoked beef brisket, and a chicken and broccoli pizza that uses an alfredo sauce instead of the red pizza sauce.  Cindy knew she wanted some sort of fish entree, but I was torn between a number of things on the menu.

A few of the things that caught my eye were the Tournedos Alaskan - small beef tenderloin filets topped with a mixture of shrimp, sea scallops and lobster meat and finished with a bearnaise sauce.  The macaroni and cheese option was interesting as you could add things such as smoked kielbasa sausage, beef brisket, lobster, bacon and a couple other things.  They had three different sizes of prime rib on the menu including a 16 ounce slab for $24.95.  They had a seared ahi tuna filet that they rolled in sesame seeds and grilled it rare.  I'm not big on sesame seeds with tuna, but I'm sure they could have held back the seeds had I asked.  

One thing that caught Cindy's eye was the Boatwerks version of a Spanish paella with saffron rice mixed with chorizo sausage, chicken, mussels, sea scallops and shrimp.  But she ended up ordering the Boatwerks' signature Lake Superior whitefish that is topped with an almond crust, then baked and served with a fresh dill cream sauce and veggies.  I was torn between two things - tri-colored parmesan cheese-filled tortellini tossed with shrimp, sea scallops, lobster meat, and mussels in a cream sauce; and the crabmeat-stuffed flounder topped with a hollandaise sauce.  I ended up going with the seafood tortellini.  I also got a glass of white wine to go with my meal.    Cindy also wanted to get Boatwerk's baby wedge salad and wondered if I'd help her eat it.  Sure!  

The wedge salad was rather interesting.  Instead of half wedge of lettuce, they serve a half-sized small lettuce head along with the bacon bits, tomato chunks and bleu cheese dressing.  Then they also chop up carrots and green onions to put on the top.  The salad was very good and it was a perfect size for two.  Also, I can't forget about the fresh bread rolls they brought out with the salad.  They were warm and chewy.  They were very good.

The sun had just set when Leslie and her helper brought our food to the table.  Cindy's whitefish had a thin crust of chopped almonds on it - I don't care for almonds, but Cindy certainly does.  A pool of the fresh dill cream sauce laid beside the fish with the fresh veggies on the other side.  She gave me a bite and even the taste of the almonds weren't all that overpowering to me.  She said it was very good.

My seafood tortellini was top notch.  About the only quibble I had with it is that the mussels were a little fishy in taste (one of them didn't open) and the shrimp they used were the ultra small-sized ones that are pretty insignificant in taste.  But the cream sauce was wonderful and the tortellini pasta was cooked perfectly.  The parmesan cheese inside gave each tortellini a nice chewy taste.  But the scallops and the lobster meat were very good in the mix.  It had been awhile since I had gotten a seafood pasta dish and I wasn't disappointed in the least.

The other thing that I wanted to point out was that they serve wine in what are more like tumblers rather than in stemmed glasses.  You can see the wine glass in the picture with Cindy's fish.  They were actually sturdy, but not heavy, and very easy to drink out of.  They felt good in the hand.  I am now on a quest to find glasses like that for our home.     

For not really knowing what to expect from Boatwerks Waterfront Restaurant, I'd say that we were pleased with our meals on our first visit.  Cindy loved her whitefish and other than a couple minor problems with my pasta, I thought it was very good, as well.  Leslie tried to tempt us with some dessert, but we were way too full and it was getting too late for a sugar buzz.  She did a fine job taking care of us.   Just being able to enjoy a nice meal on the deck overlooking Lake Macatawa was worth the trip to Holland.  But we had other adventures that long weekend that made it even better.