South Haven Michigan

We spent August 20th to August 24th at South Haven, Michigan. We have done day trips before since this is about 2 hours from our home, but we have stayed one night and two nights at two different bed and breakfast places. 

This year we stayed at Sweet Hollow Inn on the east side of the interstate highway, in the countryside a brief drive to downtown. We had perfect weather except for a shower late Wednesday afternoon and early evening. This accommodation is about half the price of Martha's Vineyard and the Carriage House, our previous B&Bs. The smaller rental fee allowed us to stay 4 nights instead of 2. We made day trips to Muskegon and Holland which we enjoyed.

Sweet Hollow is a renovated 1904 house set on expansive grounds. It is a very short walk to the Kal-Haven biking and walking trail. 
Billie and Randy, the owners of the inn, have innovatively decorated the outside.

I had hoped to read my book sitting in the arbor Wednesday afternoon after our time at the beach, but after we stopped at Sherman's Dairy Bar for ice cream and showered at the B&B, the rain began.

The tourists routinely eat ice cream at South Haven; the downtown has at least two ice cream parlors. Sherman's Dairy Bar was on Phoenix (the main drag) but east of town. This was our first stop there. We learned about "baby" ice cream portions which came in handy on Thursday at another venue. The "baby" looks like most ice cream shop's two scoops. You don't need to upsize to single or double to over-indulge in ice cream. The baby will fill you up.

We are always happy to discover new places in South Haven. This year we browsed the Eagle Street Market (an antique store). Our B&B owner suggested Maria's for dinner. The Italian food was quite good, though like most So Ha restaurants there is a wait for a table. We waited about 20 minutes; on Friday we waited almost an hour for a table at Clementine's. My husband bought two books at the Black River Bookstore (we drop in every year). 

We didn't even walk out on the pier this year. We sat along the Black River (the channel leading out to Lake Michigan) and watched the sunset the first night.

We saw no wildlife. The cats and goats at Sweet Hollow don't really qualify as wildlife.

We returned to Pilgrim Haven beach which we discovered last year.

 Some kids were playing around a floating log/limb.

 The specks in the distance are the lighthouse and tower at South Haven Beach.

We prefer Pilgrim Haven because it is not as crowded. This year they were paving the gravel parking lot so we had to find a place along the side of the road. The paving was supposed to be done by August 1st. There are smooth cement paths to the beach area which is nice for people with strollers or wheelchairs.

Sweet Hollow has 4 bedrooms to rent, each with its own bathroom. The rooms and baths are fairly small. A rather steep curving set of stairs led to the rooms; this inn was not senior or handicap friendly. Not everybody made it to the 8:30 a.m. breakfasts, but we had some company each morning. We have observed that younger couples seem unsure about eating and conversing with strangers. They don't even talk to each other much. Jake and Katia warmed up to the older couple at the dining table and then became friendlier to us as well. We ate in the sunporch several times. Thursday morning there were just 3 of us and the dining room table was set and the food brought to the table. Other mornings we all did the buffet, choosing the enclosed porch or dining room for seating.

The breakfast entrees were varied, but we were served the same mixed fruit of blueberries, peaches, and cantaloupe every morning. We had a sausage, egg, cheese casserole; individual poached eggs (cooked in a muffin tin?); cheese quiche; and baked French Toast which was rich with streusel and pecans on top. Coffee cakes or toast most mornings, yogurt and bananas always available. 

We had talked of driving north to Saugatuck for Friday's dinner but went to Clementine's in South Haven instead. We did spend part of Friday afternoon at the antique store just as you enter Saugatuck from the freeway.

I bought a canister/jar and a slip-covered book. I wish the book was a blank-paged or lined-page diary, but it is actually more like a planner.

I will cut a few photos for my folders. I may try to figure out how to gut the book and reuse the cover for making a journal.

Our last stop before heading home Saturday morning was the South Haven Farmers' Market. Hurray! Red Haven peaches are in season.

I sautéed the peppers in olive oil and added onion and sausage for our Saturday evening meal. The peppers came together as an assortment. I have never tried a purple (black?) pepper, but it was like a green pepper inside and the purple turned green when heated. It did seem milder than most Bell peppers, however. The peaches are not ready to use yet. Maybe in a few days.