Holland Michigan

 Holland Michigan is a charming small city in western Michigan located on Lake Macatawa and Lake Michigan. The town was founded by Dutch immigrants in the 1840's escaping religious intolerance. Other small towns in the area are Harlem, Groningen, Zeeland, Vriesland. Tourism is the driving force of the economy. There is a beautiful downtown area, a large historic district, and an extensive beach development. Numerous parks, including one with a dog park that Rosie loved, and miles and miles of bike and hiking trails round out the area's attractions.

The "Tulip Time Festival" ended 2 days before our arrival. Which was great for us.
The tulips were still at peak but most of the tourist were gone

You can follow the "Tulip Trail" for miles through the town.
The town says the there are 6 million tulips  in the town. That is six for each tourist.

Miles of streets have tulips planted in boulevards like this or on both sides of the street in some neighborhoods.

Not my photo. From Wikepedia (Creative Commons)

8th Avenue is the main shopping/eating district.

8th Avenue

Tunnel Park on Lake Michigan

Beach picnic area at Holland State Park

Holland Lighthouse

A channel marker at the opening to Lake Macatawa. This is on the right going out to  Lake Michigan
There is another similar marker in red on the other side of the channel. "Red right returning"

From the top of the dunes

Lots of campsites at this park. There is a campground at the beach and one further inland.

We stayed at the Oak Grove Campground Resort, a very nice RV Park. It is about 5 miles from downtown Holland.
It is on the bike path that connects to other bike paths.
A short bike ride to Holland State Park along beautiful Ottawa Beach Road

Guest facilities at Oak Grove.

A visit to Holland Michigan is well worth it. We came, fortuitously, at just the right time, immediately after Tulip Time Festival.

Ciao, Frank

Hi! I'm Rosie, The Dog. Here I am reading the latest issue of the DOGS catalogue.

This is my first post so I'm a little nervous. I am a Jack Russell Terrier, NOT a Jack Russell TERRORIST, as my humans, Frank & Debbie, like to tell their friends. They think they are so cute! Blah is what I say. So what if I take my job as guardian of the house seriously. When people come to the house disguised as postal workers, UPS drivers, repairmen, or Bible salesmen I just assume that they are up to no good and so I bark and growl at them a little. And a little bite at the ankle (I call it a "snip") will drive home the point. Just doing my job. Not a TERRORIST.

Well, it is true I don't like other dogs. Except Sammy who I lived with for a while and who loves to play chase around the yard. But all other dogs better stay out of my place. I don't even like them walking on the sidewalk in front of my house and since I have a dog door I can run out into the yard and chase them away. Lucky for them the yard is fenced in or they would get a lesson they would not soon forget.

And I don't like cats either. I barely tolerate Katie, Frank and Debbie's tabby. But I'll never understand why they like her . She is so aloof. She eats her own hair and then vomits it on to the oriental rugs. Do you think it is coincidence that she never misses the rug? I don't. She brings in decapitated varmin into the house and always leaves them right in the middle of the floor. And they call me a terrorist. Ask the mouse community who fits that bill.

So Frank & Debbie are going on this trip across the USA in an Airstream. Seems kind of small and oh, so preppy, to me. But I've been invited to go, which is more than Katie can say, so I'll go with the flow, for now. I am supposed to blog about the things I see and smell along they way. I'll take some pictures from about one foot off the ground. I'm also very philosophical so I'll let you know what I think from time to time.

Check out my Profile by clicking on my name to the right.

Bark, Bark