Saugatuck

We left the campground and headed to Saugatuck to stay with Katrina’s tennis partner whilst in the Chicago area, Kirbie and Brian Stephens. They had remodeled the house several years ago – it has been in Kirbie’s family for years. They did an excellent job with keeping the same style as the original cottage with the addition and while adding in a carriage house with a garage, pool and pool house. The landscaping is maturing nicely. Absolutely beautiful! After we got settled in their drive way

(mooch-docking) they took us over to Baldy’s Smoked Meats for lunch. Their daughter Maggie works there. Great burnt ends! Got this picture on the side of the building:

Afterwards Brian drove us around to show us the town of Saugatuck

Artsy community as you can tell by their sign

and it’s sister city, Douglas which is across the Kalamazoo River/Lake. The wide area of the river is called a lake. We stopped at the Mt. Baldhead Park where we stopped and hiked up to the top. Mt. Baldhead is actually a huge sand dune that has vegetation growing on it for years.

Then we went over to the J. Petter Gallery where we drank some wine while we reviewed the artwork. When we headed downstairs we saw a piece of art that we immediately recognized as Rob Odell’s. Rob dated my mother-in-law, Rita for a number of years after Katrina’s father, Jim, passed away. Here’s the artwork:

We have several of Rob’s pieces. Exquisite! Outstanding watercolors! I always thought that after I retired that I could learn to paint from Rob, unfortunately he passed away a few years ago.

We decided to pick up a pizza from Wick’s bar and grill where the swingers hang on the left side of the bar (it’s good to know locals). We sat on the right while awaiting the pizza to finish!

Our hosts scheduled a wine tasting for all of us at Modales Winery.

They also offered sours of which I tried one called Ooba and it was delicious! Great for an afternoon drink on a hot day so we purchased a case.

We then went over to the Evergreen creamery which unfortunately was closed. Interest story behind the creamery as two goats wandered onto their property and after failing to find the owners they decided to start milking them and create cheese. Fast forward to today, they have a herd and their cheese is used at the high-end restaurants in town. Talk about stumbling into something good!

We stopped and looked at a field of poppies which the owner has planting as a memorial for their son:

Poppies everywhere! In another week or so they would be really exploding.

Just beautiful!

We wanted to eat lunch at Crane’s apple orchard but they weren’t serving so we got a pie and some wonderful donuts.

In search of a restaurant we ended up in the town of Fennville and stopped at Root for a delicious lunch! The restaurant also doubles as an Art Cooperative.

The next day we hung around their house where I smoked some ribs for dinner. Katrina and Kirbie got their nails done – girls day out. We went to Borrowed Time to grab a drink before dinner.

Looks like we are in front of a green screen!

Other Arlington Heights friends of theirs (Tom and Liana Allison came over for dinner and we all enjoyed my ribs, Katrina’s homemade sour dough bread, Kirbie’s homemade potato salad, sides from Baldy’s BBQ, and the rhubarb raspberry pie that we purchased at Crane’s the day before. It was a great evening!

The following day we walked around the town while Kirbie worked at Amazwi.

Amazwi is an African shop where Kirbie, Brian and Maggie all work. It makes sense as Brian grow up in Zimbabwe. We stopped at the Saugatuck drug store where there was a soda fountain in the back.

For dinner we went to the Clearbrook Golf Club and had a wonderful meal overlooking the golf course. We headed back to their place as Brian needed to take a work call. The three of us went downtown and got a drink at The BARge:

Fun place right on the Kalamazoo River!

So nice to be on the water having a drink or two…

The next day the weather got a little warmer so we took their boat out and headed onto Lake Michigan. So beautiful from the lake looking at the dunes!

We even got to see Kirk Cousins house:

NFL Quarterback Cousins Lake Michigan Home

On the ride back in we were able to see the hand-cranked ferry that takes people across the Kalamazoo River:

Too cute! If we were a little later we would have had to wait until the ferry made the complete voyage!

After stowing their boat, we headed back to their house for brats and to let the dogs out. Afterwards we went back downtown for drinks and started at the Everyday People Cafe in Douglas:

We then walked down the block to Coastal Society where we had a drink by the fire and watched a guy sing and play guitar.

Great little place that created outside ”bubbles” that were used throughout the pandemic:

Come rain, sunshine, winter, or COVID people need to eat and drink!

Next up on the list was the piano bar at Coral Gables.

Big built extension to the piano for dancers! Limit four.

Brian ordered us their traditional piano bar drink: Jameson and ginger. Excellent! Unbeknownst to Katrina and I, Saugatuck is a destination place for bridle showers. Ten brides-to-be were at the piano bar really hooting it up! Here’s a quick pick of one of the partiers on top of the piano bar:

There were other pictures but not age appropriate for this crowd!

We ended the evening at the Sand Bar for popcorn where we witnessed some outstanding (not) pool play on the lone table.

The next day other friends of theirs, Jeff and Helene Lanaghan came by. We all went on another boat ride in the afternoon.

We rode past two geese with all their goslings crossing the river:

Quite the gaggle!

After returning to their house we picked up some food and went to see a choir perform in a local barn.

What a unique experience! They sounded very good even though they were masked and inside a barn.

Back at the house I hosted a bourbon tasting. I mean why not? We have about a dozen bottles to chose from and after we just had multiple tastings over the previous few weeks I’m somewhat of an expert! After showing everyone how to taste bourbon and tapping into eight bottles, Brian brings out an Elijah Craig 23 that was bottled in 1990, therefore it was 55 year old! It was really good!

The next day the six of us had lunch at The Butler.

A local favorite with excellent burgers! The girls went went shopping and Katrina got a few dresses for our upcoming weddings. Jeff and Helene headed back to the Chicago area while we lounged around their pool. After getting enough sun, we headed to Pennyroyal Cafe and Provisions, a farm-to-table restaurant.