Grand Haven

This weekend my son, Peter, and I took a trip up to Grand Haven State Park. We usually trespass on a long stretch of private land and find a place where there are no people and miles and miles of beautiful woods, dunes and beaches, but seeing new "No Trespassing" signs and having no place to park my camper for the night we decided to try one of the many state parks here in Michigan. I have to say while Grand Haven is a beautiful place, There are prettier and more remote State Parks to visit. A lack of trees and crowded RV's roasting in the sun will make me think twice about going back there. It was thirty dollars for me to essentially park my truck for the night. But I love the lake and really enjoyed the time with Peter.

Another thing it did was to give me a chance to document a very long standing tradition of the classic American Family Vacation. In the 1950's President Eisenhower pushed through the national highway system. This was partly due to the cold war. He wanted a way to quickly move missiles from place to place in the event of nuclear war. But it also opened up travel like never before. People were buying campers of all kinds and taking trips out west to see places like the Grand Canyon and the Black Hills and hundreds of sites. In the sixties the television show, Route 66 was a big hit and the sense of freedom and exploration of America was still expanding. I remember Freddy Sparks and his family kept up grading their trailers each year. Our family seldom went anywhere, but Freddy would bring me back little trinkets from his trips out west with his mom and dad.

RV campsites are all over the US and can be a lot of fun for a family. It's not unusual for people to meet and talk and share food, play cards and talk about what life is like where they came from and how it is different here and there (really not all that different).


The pier at Grand Haven is a bit more of a production than the pier in Holland, and it seems like in the summer there is a constant stream of people walking out to the end of the pier and back. The people fishing do their best to ignore the people traffic. In Holland, there are people who fish off the pier almost year round except when the lake freezes over. Then they go out onto Lake Macatawa and ice fish.

At the end of the pier is smaller lighthouse were, I presume, the lighthouse keepers must have stayed. This one looks similar to Holland's famous "Big Red" lighthouse.

Peter and I walked into downtown Grand Haven that evening just to see the shops and grab something to eat. It's a nice place to see with some unique sites. Next week they have their annual Coast Guard Festival when the cost guard brings in big ships and sometimes tall ships take up harbor for people to see, booths are set up and many fun activities take place. Below is Mr. Kozak's, which serves great gyros. We have on in Holland, but it is pretty much a funky little drive-thru. Here you get to sit outside and watch the tourists go by.

I don't smoke a pipe very often. Once in a while in the fall, usually, I'll take it out and go for walks. I like the smell and it's comforting, somehow. Seems to go with an evening on the beach.

I'm rather happy with this picture of Peter. He was very gracious to let me take it. He usually groans and rolls his eyes when I get the camera out. I didn't bring the video camera this time just for his sake!