Listing Through Life

We wandered around the shores of Lake Macatawa for a while before finally finding Holland State Park, the best place from which to view the Holland Harbor Lighthouse. We weren’t the first to find it — there was a traffic jam by the entrance, and the beach and pier were crowded.

The lighthouse (built in 1907) was built with two gables to reflect the Dutch culture in the area.

We strolled out on the pier with several hundred other people.

The sky was setting up for a nice sunset, but we were a long way from home and we had an hour to wait, so we didn’t stay.

The people who own the Dog n Suds in Montague opened a new one in Norton Shores in 2007. Unlike most locations, this one has an eat-in diner.

It wasn’t busy at 3:15 in the afternoon, and the few customers that were there all ate inside. We were still full from lunch, so we only ordered root beer milkshakes.

After eating at the Montague Dog n Suds, we drove along the shore of White Lake to the White River Light Station Museum. The lighthouse was open for tours, but we didn’t take one — we just strolled around the grounds and out onto the pier.

Looking north across the channel.

This was the real purpose of our trip to Michigan. As you know, I’m making a fairly dedicated attempt to visit the remaining Dog n Suds restaurants. There are two in western Michigan, tantalizingly close and yet stuck up there in a part of the country I’ve rarely visited. It seemed that my best shot was to make a long road trip and visit both.

The Dog n Suds in Montague is in an amazing location — situated along a river and across the road from a large lake.

While we waited for our food, we wandered around and took photos.

There was a parade float in the parking lot with one of the old signs.

I ordered a Texas Burger, which I haven’t had since I was a kid. It was good, but messy. I also had a corn dog. The dog itself wasn’t great, but the corn breading was excellent. The onions rings, with sweet onions, were awesome. Here’s our car hop, Jessica, bringing out our food.