Day 13, Holland, Michigan

We started off the day with a stop at the General Store for donuts.

It was such a beautiful day so we sat on the deck and enjoyed our breakfast.  You just can't beat donuts for breakfast!

Next stop was the Holland Lighthouse.  I love this lighthouse.  It is one of the most photographed lighthouses.

We spent the morning at Windmill Gardens in Holland.  It is an amazing place with beautiful gardens.  I would love to go back for the Tulip Festival in the spring but the flowers did not disappoint.

Just as we walked in, we walked left to the little building over there.

There is an antique Dutch street organ inside.  It was playing while we were there.

Everyone working there was dressed in appropriate costumes for their area in the Netherlands.

We could see the beautiful windmill from a distance.  There's a lot of history in this windmill.  It originally came from the Netherlands.

The flags represent different areas of the Netherlands also.

We walked across the bridge to get to the windmill.

 

I might have gotten a little carried away with the windmill pictures!

We took a guided tour of the windmill.  It's not very large so only a small group could go at one time.

The miller has quite a job!

There were several levels to the windmill.

It was a very interesting tour.  We were able to walk out on the windmill balcony for a beautiful view.

More flowers...they were everywhere!

There was a cute little "village" of shops and offices.

One of the gift shops had a wall of wooden shoes for sale.

The ones on the floor are various sizes you could try on for sizing.  I tried some on and tried to walk in them.  They aren't very comfortable and would definitely take some getting used to!

I did buy some windmill cookies though.

We had lunch at Curraugh Irish Pub in downtown Holland and took a ride around the historic district.

We then drove to South Haven South Pier Light which we saw from a distance.

We drove along the coast and saw lots of blueberry farms on our way to St. Joseph where we saw the St. Joseph North Pier Lights.  I took this from a distance but you can see one right behind the other.

We continued south and saw lots of grapes, apples and asparagus growing.  There's a lot of agriculture in Michigan.

We entered Indiana and stopped in South Bend, Indiana at the Studebaker Museum.  Even though Doug's not a Studebaker man, he found it interesting as I did.

Just a sampling of the cars we saw.

We drove though a rural part of Indiana and spotted a few more barn quilts.

We stopped for dinner in Kokomo and stopped for the night at the Holiday Inn Express in Seymour, IN.

We arrived home the next day after driving 3,196 miles!

I can't say enough about the beauty of Michigan and all there is to do there.  I could have spent a lot more time there but hope to get back someday!  If you get a chance...GO!