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A beach holiday you can afford ... in Michigan
State's western coast offers golf, wineries, and miles of great beaches
 | A boy fishes on the North pier in South Haven, Mich. |
Shawano Cleary / AP |
NEW BUFFALO, Mich. - Imagine a weeklong vacation spent lounging on a sandy beach in Florida, touring a Napa Valley winery, visiting an art gallery in New York, exploring a historic Cape Cod lighthouse and golfing surfside on Hilton Head Island. Sounds great -- except for the expense, the unfeasible travel logistics and the exhaustion. Now imagine a leisurely vacation on the west coast of Michigan, where similar destinations are close enough to each other to be enjoyed in a lot less time and for a lot less money.
Lake Michigan, the only one of the five Great Lakes entirely within the U.S., is so large (up to 118 miles wide) that it resembles an inland freshwater sea, with crashing waves and high and low tides. And when locals refer to Michigan's west coast, they generally mean the eastern shore of the bottom half of the lake, running about 150 miles from the Indiana border north to the Ludington area.
The glorious summertime sunsets along the lakeshore recall dusk along Florida's Gulf Coast -- except, of course, for the greater likelihood of seeing the aurora borealis after nightfall.
Lake Michigan's sandy shore has beautiful dunes and beaches, summer water temperatures in the mid-60s to low 70s and summer weather approaching perfection. Summer air temperatures rarely surpass 90 degrees and humidity is low. Still, Canadian cold fronts can arrive swiftly, so pack a light jacket, even for the dog days of summer.
Golf and blueberries
New Buffalo, about a 90-minute drive from Chicago, is the first stop for many visitors to Michigan entering from Indiana on eastbound Interstate 94. It offers public beaches, resort cottages and a number of antique shops. Southwestern Michigan's first gambling casino, the Four Winds Casino Resort, is scheduled to open nearby next year.
Heading north about 10 miles, spectacular views of the lake await energetic visitors who scurry to the top of the 260-foot-high dune formation at Warren Dunes State Park.
Along the coast, all the way up to Grand Traverse Bay, the temperate climate and sandy soil is ideal for growing certain types of fruit, including apples, cherries, strawberries, blueberries, plums, pears and grapes. The region is also dotted with vineyards. Local wines will be featured at the Lake Michigan Shore Wine Festival, June 24 at Weko Beach in Bridgman.
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James Prichard / AP The Little Sable Point Lighthouse in Silver Lake State Park, near Mears, Mich. |
Continuing northward to St. Joseph, travelers can enjoy fine dining, downtown specialty shops and Silver Beach, one of the finest public beaches on Michigan's west coast.
Golf Digest magazine ranked neighboring Benton Harbor No. 18 among the country's best golf cities last year. The Western Amateur, a nationally known tournament that started in 1899, has been held at Benton Harbor's Point O'Woods Golf and Country Club since 1971. This year it takes place July 31 to Aug. 6.
To keep hugging the coast, exit I-94 onto eastbound Interstate 196, which leads to South Haven, home of the Michigan Maritime Museum and the self-proclaimed blueberry capital of the world. The harbor city's National Blueberry Festival -- Aug. 10-13 this year -- attracts thousands of visitors.
Next stop, the Saugatuck-Douglas area, a little slice of coastal New England, known for art galleries, bed-and-breakfasts, downtown shops, fishing charters and scenic dunes. The Keewatin Maritime Museum is the home of the retired steamer SS Keewatin, a 350-foot vessel that turns 100 next year.
After a short drive on eastbound I-196, it's decision time. Exiting onto northbound U.S. 31 means continuing along the Lake Michigan coast, but staying on the highway another half-hour allows a day trip to Grand Rapids.
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