vibrant tulip field in spring bloom

20 Hours in Holland, Michigan

In mid-June I took my older daughter to camp in Northern Michigan. To break up the drive and squeeze in a Great Lakes adventure, we drove from Cleveland to Holland, Michigan on Saturday and had an afternoon, evening and morning to explore this small city that sits on Lake Macatawa, a body of water that empties via a channel into Lake Michigan. 

Holland, Michigan is in fact historically connected with the Netherlands and the Dutch. It was settled in 1847 by Dutch Calvinist separatists and has a large percentage of citizens of Dutch American heritage. Dutch heritage remains a cultural and economic presence in the city.

Holland is probably best know for it’s spring Tulip Time Festival when there are approximately six million tulips in bloom through the city. The tulips were gone, but my daughter and I still visited the Windmill Island Gardens, which along with the Veldheer Tulip Gardens, is one of the prominent stops in the springtime. 

The Windmill Island Gardens is home to the largest authentic Dutch windmill in the US, the De Zwaan (“the swan”). The mill was brought over from Vinkel, Noord Brabant, the Netherlands in 1964 and reassembled on its current site. It stands 125 feet high and can still turn and grind grain into flour. Visitors can enter and ascend the mill, stopping floor by floor to see exhibits on mills and Dutch cultural and economic history.

After the gardens, we parked and strolled around the shops in downtown Holland. We had a summer treat, blueberry lemonade and blueberry donuts, at Bowerman’s on 8th, a cafe and bakery outpost of locally famous Bowerman’s Farm & Market.

Holland is also home to the world’s largest pickle factory. My daughter and I noticed the Heinz factory right along the lake just west of Kollen Park, which we strolled in the early evening. The facility processes more than one million pounds of pickles daily in certain seasons!

Sunday morning we had breakfast at The Biscuit and drove over to Holland State Park’s beach on Lake Michigan. The beach and surrounding area was buzzing with summer while we were there. Sailboats out on a shimmery Lake Macatawa. Lots of families fishing in the lake and channels. People traveling on foot and by bike. The sandy expanse sits across a small channel from Holland’s iconic red lighthouse, affectionately know as “Big Red”.

the big red a historical lighthouse
Photo by Jim Grapp on Pexels.com

Holland felt like summer. It would be a great destination itself or in tandem with time in Saugatuck (20 minutes south), Grand Haven (30 minutes north) or Grand Rapids (30 minutes east).  

Late morning we hopped in the car and headed northward to my daughter’s beloved camp that doesn’t just feel like, but is, summer to her.  

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