6/6/23- Grand Haven Michigan - How Many Ice Cream Shops Can One Town Have?

We rose before the sun but the almost full waning moon shone bright on the water.   The lake forecasts were calling for decent conditions during the early morning hours with wind building and with it waves increasing in size and decreased duration between them.   This meant we wanted to accomplish our planned 30 mile run early and get tucked in to a slip in Grand Haven.  Erik took Riva ashore in the dinghy while Renee prepared everything to have the anchor ready to pull when he returned.   

We were idling out of  Kalamazoo Lake down Kalamazoo River out towards Lake Michigan by 6:25am.  It was a chilly morning which made us grateful for our new full upper enclosure investment that we made last spring.   As we entered out into the lake a moderate fog had settled in but not even bad enough for us to turn on the radar.  

Nice views after the fog lifted 

but had to maneuver through fog to get to that sunrise first 

Since the wave forecasts showed conditions worsening by mid morning but not as much so as we headed north, we set the throttles at a slightly faster pace than we typically cruise.  We were flying along at a little over 14 mph.  Even with our idle speeds out of our anchorage from Saugatuck and into Grand Haven we averaged 11.6 mph today on the 30.6 mile trip.   Erik enjoys this pace much more than the freeway commute into Columbus the rest of the year!   Life is good at 10 mph 🤗

another nostalgic lighthouse entry into the river channel leading back to Grand Haven 

Max speed on this leg was 16 mph....zooming

Average speed only 11.6 though

Grand Haven is a larger town with many things to do and see which is good since it appears we will be here for at least 2-3 days waiting out bumpy lake conditions.   This is also a good thing; time to rest, relax and rejuvenate!   Before exploring the town a breakfast of omelets, bacon and toast was prepared.  

With the bicycles off the boat, tires checked and inflated and Rivas basket re attached we were off by 10am to toodle around town to see what it would have to offer.  We took a nice long ride through town and through a nice residential area with beautifully well kept old homes.  It was quite hilly and got a good burn going on our leg muscles.  As we exited the residential area it appeared as though we were then riding through a park setting, still quite hilly, that was right along the lakeshore and beaches.  Later in the day while looking at the map of where we had rode it was discovered that this hilly park like area close to the lakefront is called Mulligan’s Hollow Recreation Area which is home to ‘The Ski Bowl’.  The ski area was started in 1973 and is a not for profit run by volunteers and is largely supported through support from the community (   https://www.mulliganshollow.com/about-us/ ).  Pretty cool that they have this kind of resource.   

Before heading back to the boat we continued pedaling to the local West Marine where we purchased a couple of electrical fitting connectors and a foldable deck chair that will be nice for both sitting on the bow as well as add comfort to our not so comfortable captains chair at the upper helm.  

folding deck chair from West Marine 

The later afternoon called for napping and relaxing before preparing dinner.  Our ‘White Chair’ app indicated that there was an Alano/AA clubhouse just a mile or so from the marina that had daily meetings at 7:30am/Noon/4pm/6pm so we ventured out on the bikes again to get some recovery fellowship.  It was a nice meeting attended by about 20 folks.  Afterwards we rode back and got Riva and took a nice walk through the nearby downtown that was still bustling with what appeared to be mostly vacationers.  We sat for a while people watching on the ginkgo tree lined street that was closed off in order to allow for tables, food stands and corn hole boards to be spread around.  

The only shop in town we actually stopped into was for Riva! 
All Things Dogs

Tlaquepaque shop looks interesting and may have to be checked out later 

And now for the answer that we’ve all been waiting for!  11.  Ten would certainly not be enough and a dozen would be ridiculous overkill.   Eleven ice cream shops are within a short walk of the marina and downtown.  We will have to choose our flavors wisely over the next few days :-)

The evening was capped off by walking down the riverfront a very short distance to the amphitheater to partake in a sundae (yep…..we tried one of the 11 shops) while enjoying the Grand Haven Musical Fountain light show.  The display is one of the cities main draws and was pretty cool!   Also supported by donations, this show has been happening every night Memorial Day-Labor Day for 60 years.   Lots of children frolicking, skating and dancing about and many canine friends for Riva to bark at made for a pleasant atmosphere.   Since we will be here in Grand Haven for a couple more days we will get the chance to enjoy the display more likely from the aft deck of the boat next time.   

Musical fountain light show

                             The show was about 20 minutes long and a nice relaxing end to the day