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| Lighthouse at the entrance to the harbor at South Haven |
It has finally turned back cool. Not unseasonably cool, mind you, just cool for this season. The temperature plunged to the freezing mark, but only right at dawn, then it began to warm up. We’ll see what tonight brings. All the fruit and berry farmers and biting their nails and worrying as everything is budding out way too early (it looks like it is the end of April and not March). Hopefully, there will be apples, blueberries and cherries come summer.
Last week, as we were in the middle of several weeks of summer-like weather, we took a trip over to the West Coast (yes, Michigan has a West Coast, along with an East Coast and a North Shore, just look at a map). Destination was South Haven, a quaint port town that used to ship out a lot of lumber and produce, mostly across the lake to Chicago. Nobody ships by boat anymore out of this port, but today the harbor is filled with graceful sailboats and gas-guzzling motorboats (you can sense my preferences). Because it was still considered winter when I visited, there were only a few boats in the water, most were on land waiting for spring.
While at South Haven, we discovered a new favorite restaurant, “Clementines.” It’s inside an old building that has been tastefully decorated. This place does to perch what Frankenmuth does to chicken, having served 13 tons of the fish in the previous year. “That’s a lot of fish, so it must be good,” I thought as I ordered a platter. I washed it down with a pint of Rupperts Dark Ale (It was brewed in New York state). After lunched, we strolled around town, stopping at the Olive Cart, a store that infuses their own spices into olive oil and Balsamic vinegars. We walked away with a half dozen bottles. The salad I’m having for lunch today will be coated with a combination of oil and vinegar from our trip. Next, we wandered over to the book store. It’s a nice story, mostly used but some new books featuring local authors or topics. It was a beautiful day, sunny and warm, but the warm air over the cold lake created a fog that kept us from seeing far offshore, but I so wanted to get on a boat and sail into the unknown.
When I read that name I thought of the Edmond fitzGerald; The legend lives on from the Chippewa on down / Of the big lake they called 'Gitche Gumee'. / The lake, it is said, never gives up her dead / When the skies of November are gloomy.
ReplyDeleteYes, this is the same set of lakes, but the Fitzgerald went down in Lake Superior, off Whitefish point. Early on I think I did a post about Whitefish point.
DeleteLovely foggy perspective in that image, J. It turned to below freezing temperatures here, too.. after a very summer-like week.
ReplyDeleteI missed the winter but have been enjoying the milder temperatures and for some reason my spring allergies haven't kicked in yet (and I'm not complaining but don't want to brag too much and tempt fate)
DeleteI love that picture...and it sounds like a lovely place to visit. But I'm with you on sailing off into the unknown....
ReplyDeleteLet's hoist up the mailsail and head off into the fog!
DeleteAs always, an enjoyable post, Sage. And particularly nice to see a lighthouse which stirs the imagination!
ReplyDeleteLighthouses, even small ones like this, are really a thing of beauty!
DeleteWe had a cool spell here, too. It happened Saturday, between about 2 and 5 PM.
ReplyDeleteYour mention of cherries reminds me I need to try to make it to the National Cherry Festival in Traverse City one of these years. Ever been?
No, I've only been in TC twice, normally I miss it when heading north into the UP.
DeleteFrom elegant rooftop kitchen chimney to hobs mixer and grinders, Propello is ushering a blend of modern kitchen appliances and water purification services
ReplyDeletewater purifiers in kolkata
ANd what does this have to do with the price of tea in china, or lighthouses?
DeleteMust tourize Michigan. I've not been, except to fly through Detroit. I need to remedy that.
ReplyDeleteCheers.
You'd like the state, lots of rivers and lakes. Get up north, over the Big Mac, it feels more like the West, but with trees!
DeleteThis morning I looked this up on the bing maps. The place is basically Greater Chicago. It is unbelievable just how built up that misfortune lake from green bay on down and around. But for the very odd green bit.
ReplyDeletethe whole "West Coast" of Michigan is built up. Lakeshore property is very expensive. For wilderness, you're better off going to Lake Superior
DeleteHA, you think if I go to the States I'm about to go wandering about the middle of Mittel Steel yards. My spots will be Alaska out of mozzie season. Hawaii, the big island. The west side of Colorado, Northern New Mexico, eastern Washington State and north Ca/south Or.
DeleteSail into the fog, yeah I could do that in deep water.
ReplyDeleteSounds like a lovely restaurant visit! And I had a feeling the air would turn cooler again.
ReplyDeleteSage, around 1932 the Welland Canal connecting Lakes Ontario and Erie (and effectivly the upper three lakes w/ the world's oceans,) was enlarged allowing considerably larger (300 feet+) boats to come from overseas. One significant part of this expansion was boats from Scandinavia bringing wood pulp for paper mills near Kalamazoo MI. This trade came thru South Haven, the pulp being taken to Kalamazoo by train. There is one famous foto showing 14 of these foreign boats lined up two-by-two up the river unloading. The produce shipped from SH had a lot of fruits, especially apples and peaches. My own grandfather came from Sweden in 1886 at age 24, in 1900 bought an 85 foot schooner and shipped those fruits on his schooner, the Abbey, from South Haven to Chicago. He was so impressed w/ how much money peach growers were making that in 1906 he sold his schooner, Chicago home, everything else that moved, and bought a 20 acre peach farm outside of South Haven. 1906 turned out to be the year of the big Michigan Peach freeze, and he harvested nary a peach.
ReplyDeleteMy father told me that is father walked the few miles into town, bought a frame warehouse for $40, tore it down, sold enough lumber from that to buy a lot, had enough lumber left over to build a house on the lot. He proceeded
to build a new house every two years for 25 years, most of them still occupied (by proud owners.)
Some years ago the Chicago Tribune Travel editor took a tour around the midwest (MN, MI, WI, IL, IN) to find the
best of the midwest, and wrote a lengthy article of his results. One of the categories of the best was fried perch, which the author said were at Clementine's in South Haven.
Clementines building was built around 1900 as a bank, merged w/ another bank after WWII, space taken over by a sporting goods department of a next-door men's clothing/family shoes store. This was staffed by about a dozen people, all except the book keeper in the mezanine, young men and boys. I was one of those boys, and it always seemed to me that on Saturday every woman in South Haven trooped thru there , in one door and out the other.
The store owning family finally died off, then came Clementine's.
Arn at fosterbeachchicago,blogspot.com
Sounds like a relaxing time. Love the lighthouse photo!
ReplyDeleteI like a good fog. Lana loves to photograph it. IT turns the world just a little bit stranger.
ReplyDeleteyes, that is a lot of fish!
ReplyDeleteI wander into bookstores wherever I go. not so much to buy a book, but to get that feeling and that small of paper. They have become a rarity in this area. One of the last ones closed a few months ago.
Your last paragraph sounds like a perfect day! For us we keep getting cool temps in the morning and heat in the afternoon with LOTS of sun. I love Florida in the Springtime!
ReplyDeleteNice view/perspective in your photo!
Singing: "Come sail away, come sail away, come sail away with meeee".....Sounds like a great adventure!
ReplyDeleteJ
I grew up spending summers at my uncle and aunts house in Grand Haven, Michigan. They lived a couple of blocks from Lake Michigan and we had a special spot on the lake to play, away from everyone. We'd catch funny moments though. Like the time a lady decided to wash her hair in Lake Michigan. Can you believe it?! I have a very cool link that I'm going to post later today, but you(and one other blogger) came to mind when I saw it! I'm spending my lunch by there today!
ReplyDeletehttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aES1pDN9DBQ