[Wander] Lust in the Time of COVID, Part I: Fennville and South Haven

It may come as no surprise to find out that I’m afflicted with itchy feet. In normal times, I will seek out any way I can to explore via planes, trains or automobiles. Of course these are not normal times. But the point of travel isn't only to see far-away places. We travel to experience the joy of new places. 

For Mother’s Day this year, I gave out a few copies of books about traveling in Michigan. Rebel, a fun gift store in Grand Rapids, put many of their products online so you could order curbside when retail was still shut down. One book was Backroads and Byways of Michigan, and another focused on hikes in Michigan. I gave myself the Backroads book, and this summer Brian and I have been exploring some areas we haven’t before, or finding new ways to enjoy places we have been. We avoid crowds, watch for well-spaced outdoor dining, and stay masked up whenever we get near other people, which puts us in the majority in some places and the minority in others. Most of the places we've visited will never make it on the Top 10 Most Amazing Sights in the United States, or even Michigan, but we have found some travel joy in small places.

Probably well-known to those from Grand Rapids, the South Haven/Fennville area is known for beautiful beaches, sunsets and wineries. We spent some time at a cottage there in July, and downtown South Haven was pretty crowded, so it seemed like a good time to look a bit farther afield. I love the beach there, but I was recuperating from a hip replacement, so walking on sand and swimming in the lake weren’t great options at that moment. While we were at a cottage, this area can also be a great daytrip.

Lots of Michiganders made a pilgrimage to Fennville this summer to see the memorial poppy field that a family created in honor of their late son. By July the field had faded, but Fennville still has plenty to make a stop worthwhile. Crane’s Pie Pantry and Winery is near their orchards, so you can pick peaches, cherries, apples, or pumpkins, depending on the season; we enjoyed some fresh-picked raspberries. After your harvest, the Pie Pantry offers, surprise surprise, a number of kinds of pie. If you can’t choose, get the sampler—you get a small portion of four different kinds. They sell sandwiches and their own hard cider and wine. Take it with you (maybe not a glass of alcohol) or tuck into it at outdoor, shaded tables. This industrious family offers a fall corn maze (you need a mask to buy a ticket, but it looks like they are not planning to require mask in the maze), they operate wine shops in Holland and Saugatuck, and they even appear to offer family photography now. One-stop shopping to be sure.

Virtue Cider is close by. Their tasting room is outdoors now, and open by reservation; we didn’t have a reservation but it was an odd time of day and they had space for us. Virtue was taking social distancing seriously. Along with their many variations of hard cider, they also offer sandwiches and appetizers to enjoy with the beverages. It looks like they usually ramp up activities for the fall, but it’s hard to tell from their website what they will be offering this year.

If you are into antiques (and even if you aren't, this is a time to try new things), there are a number shops in the area. Willow Bend Antiques offers antiques amid a fairyland of whimsical garden art, from metalwork birdhouses to enormous yard sasquatches. They have a lot of vintage and made-to-look-vintage indoor and outdoor furnishings, and since they also have an estate business there are lots and lots of china sets. Their website does not do justice to the fun garden of metalwork that greets you as you drive up.

Near Glenn you can find Sunset Junque Shop, a hard-to-describe menagerie of everything from an old church confessional to furniture to some very weird statues. I picked up a, um, lovely teapot for an appreciative friend; my daughter thinks it requires an exorcism before use.

And of course there is South Haven. Though Lake Michigan’s beaches have taken a beating the last couple of years between storms and rising water, the sandy North Beach is still quintessential Lake Michigan, and you can walk out on the pier to marvel at the high water. The downtown shops and restaurants are open for business, and people are everywhere—we stuck to shops that seemed less populated, stocking up on dog toys at Decadent Dogs and picking up a couple of new puzzles at Renaissance and Papyrus. We got some takeout pizza from Maria’s Taste of Italy that was excellent.

If you can, stay for a beautiful sunset over the pier. Every night is different, but if you catch it just right, there’s nothing like a Lake Michigan sunset.