My parents just finished up a two week stay at La Casa Rienstra, and I think we’d all agree that the highlight of their time here was a weekend trip to the Michigan shores. James and I have been on Lake Michigan in the Chicago area, but we’ve heard about how beautiful the beaches are on the Michigan side of Lake Michigan. So we took off during the 4^th of July weekend for Sagatauk, Michigan. Sagatauk is a great little artsy seaside town, with beautiful walkways along the harbor, fun shopping, good food, and fabulous beaches. The main beach in Sagatauk, Oval Beach, has actually been ranked by several travel magazines and was ranked by Conde Nast as one of the top 5 beaches in the US. Not bad for the mid-west, huh?

On our drive up to Sagatauk, we stopped for a picnic on the beach in South Haven, Michigan – another great little beach town. The place was packed – it must have taken us 45 minutes to find a parking spot! But once we got to the beach it was well worth it.

Then we carried on to Sagatauk, checked into our hotel, freshened up, and hit the town to stroll the harbor, sip margaritas, and enjoy an amazing prime rib dinner for my parents’ anniversary.

The next day we packed a lunch and took off for Oval Beach – and Conde Nast is right – this is a fabulous beach! It has a very East Coast beach feel – sea grass, sailboats, and rolling sandy hills beyond the beach. And the water is so much warmer than the Pacific shores that I grew up on – you can swim in it without feeling numb! We all came home a little toasty after several hours in the sun, but very satisfied.

We hit up a really cute little restaurant on the water for our Fourth of July Dinner, The Mermaid, and had some of the best calamari I’ve had in a long time. Then we rolled out our picnic blanket at the park for Fireworks over the Harbor with a package of fudge from the local chocolate shop. Pure Independence Bliss!