By Mike Michaelson
It is at once as sophisticated as the sleek art galleries clustered along Red Arrow Highway — and as rural as a rutabaga that you might find on one of its roadside farm stands.
It is a place where you can take an invigorating early-morning walk along a deserted Lake Michigan beach, scramble breathlessly over a towering dune in the afternoon, catch a glorious sunset at dusk, and then eat organically-raised food and sip award-winning wines made from locally-grown, French-hybrid grapes in the evening.
This intriguing mix of attractions can all be found in southwest Michigan — or Harbor Country as the tourism folks like to call it — a popular destination for Chicagoans, an increasing number of whom have second homes along the Lake Michigan shore. You may even run into a celebrity resident or two such as Roger Ebert and Oprah Winfrey, both of whom have summered in the area in years past.
ROAMING NEW BUFFALO
When you arrive in New Buffalo — the unofficial welcome center to the area — you immediately feel as though you’ve left the stresses of home and office behind. The town gives off the laid-back vibe of a good resort community, offering shopping in several small boutiques and stores, a variety of restaurants and cafés and acres of gleaming boats with their brass polished and sails neatly furled.
Among the more well known dining establishments in town is the always hopping Stray Dog Bar & Grill near the harbor, with its covered outdoor patio and rooftop deck, and Redamak’s on Red Arrow Highway, a local institution famous for its burgers.
Opened in 1946 by George and Gladys Redamak and operated by the Maroney family since 1975, the 400-seat Redamak’s is a little quirky. It doesn’t accept credit cards (but will take checks and has an ATM), doesn’t offer coffee (thus discouraging lingering diners) and doesn’t offer tomatoes and lettuce on its burgers (which may be garnished with ketchup, mustard, raw onion and crosscut dill pickles). Thankfully, the restaurant relented and installed air-conditioning in 1995, though much of the seating is in a pleasant screened porch.
Redamak’s opens annually on March 1 (no matter on what day of the week it falls) and operates until late October.
To top off a meal or just to cool off in the afternoon, head to Oink’s, a classic roadside ice cream parlor filled with pig-themed memorabilia. Offering 55 flavors of ice cream including the kid favorite “Blue Moon” and a back-in-time ambiance, Oink’s is a magnet for out-of-town visitors, especially families, making it not uncommon to run into Chicago-area friends or neighbors.
For comfortable lodging, there are a variety of rental homes, bed and breakfasts and inns throughout the area as well as the
elegant Harbor Grand. Decorated in the style of Frank Lloyd Wright’s “Prairie School,” it offers harbor-view rooms with fireplaces and whirlpool tubs.
THREE OAKS’ SPOKES
The charming little village of Three Oaks (pop. 1,800) stages the nation’s largest Flag Day parade and the Midwest’s largest bicycle tour. It has two theaters occupying historic buildings and proudly displays a cannon captured in the Spanish-American War by Admiral Dewey. That artillery piece now is the centerpiece of a park that offers live music every summer weekend.
Bicyclists head for Three Oaks to pick up a map of the Backroads Bikeway and tour a superb network of marked bicycle trails with routes ranging from 10 to 60 miles. In October, the Apple Cider Century attracts 7,000 pedalers who receive a spaghetti dinner and sleeping space at the local high school.
In town, Drier’s butcher shop, dating back to the Civil War, has sawdust on the floor, a hoard of antiques and curiosities, excellent hams, and smoked bologna and liverwurst. It was founded by the late Ed Drier, beloved for his sense of humor and Burma Shave-style roadside slogans, and now is run by daughter Carolyn.
Vickers Theatre, dating to the turn of the last century, has been restored as an intimate art film house. It is the spot to see an indie film or to catch live theater or perhaps a poetry reading. A popular event is its annual outdoor “Sound of Silents Film Festival.”
The Acorn Theater opened in 2003 in a makeover of a century-old abandoned corset factory. It houses a 1931 Barton theater pipe organ and has a huge acorn sculpture in front. The 250-seat space is used for a wide variety of performances, including live theater.
FLYING HIGH
In a region that offers some of the Midwest’s finest beaches and tallest sand dunes, it is not surprising that hang-gliding enthusiasts are drawn to Warren Dunes State Park at Sawyer, where Tower Hill, a 240-foot-tall sand dune, provides a launching pad for becoming airborne.
Open year-round, the park boasts 2.5 miles of shoreline — with sand beaches that literally squeak because they are 90 percent quartz — as well as six miles of hiking trails that wind through diverse natural habitats.
Another popular spot for observing indigenous flora is Fernwood Botanical Garden and Nature Preserve. This 105-acre nature sanctuary, which slopes down to the banks of the St. Joseph River, provides a remarkably diverse habitat. It contains an intriguing mix of upland forest, bottomland woods, streams, ponds, sedge fen, riverbank, second-growth fields and a reconstructed tall-grass prairie.
THE OTHER LAKE
The quiet area near the towns of Coloma and Watervliet once was one of the Midwest’s hottest summer singles scenes. That was during the early decades of the 20th century when resorts around Paw Paw Lake attracted hordes of visitors from Chicago and other population centers, bent on a good time.
In 1910, Paw Paw Lake, with 12 miles of shoreline, was home to a half dozen or so dancehalls that would attract thousands of people in summertime. In the 1930s, the pure high Cs of Louis Armstrong’s cornet floated across the lake as resorts drew name entertainers that included Doris Day, Perry Como and Merv Griffin.
While those days are not likely to return, the towns are again attracting vacationers with new wineries, interesting shops, art studios and galleries and the perennially popular Deer Forest. The “Glad-Peach Festival” (Aug. 1-3) celebrates two staple local crops with a huge block party that closes off Coloma’s Main Street. Coloma has another “must” venue for chocolate lovers — The Chocolate Garden, with shamelessly decadent truffles that have been featured on national television.
ARTFUL ST. JO
Once known as the “Atlantic City of the Midwest,” with a vast amusement park, wide boardwalk and elegant hotels that were a lure for famous big bands, St. Joseph, Michigan is a grand old dame of a town that still knows how to kick up her heels a bit.
The Krasl Art Fair on the Bluff (July 12-13) attracts an estimated 70,000 visitors each year to scenic bluffs overlooking Lake Michigan. High-quality arts and crafts are a hallmark as more than 200 artists display their work, while dance and musical performances serenade fair-goers.
Geography of St. Joseph is two-tiered. A wide boulevard flanked by parkland sits atop high bluffs that offer splendid views of Lake Michigan. Appropriately called Lake Boulevard, it houses a pair of museums, the comfortable Boulevard Inn (with lake-view suites and a noted bistro), a restaurant or two and a breezy bandstand where Sunday concerts are held.
At the foot of the bluffs are wide expanses of sandy beach that draw swimmers and sun worshippers, and a small amusement park. A pier poking its finger out into Lake Michigan has at its tip St. Jo’s signature pink lighthouse, famous as the subject of a U.S. postage stamp.
The compact downtown area with its cluster of boutiques, bars and eateries, stretches back a few blocks from the bluff. Schu’s is a popular watering hole that looks out onto Lake Michigan.
Explore St. Jo via its self-guided “SculpTour,” featuring almost two dozen points of interest. St. Joseph is well endowed with public art, old and new, and showcases it with this tour that covers about two miles around town.
A good place to start is at the Krasl Art Center perched atop the bluffs. The museum not only exhibits the works of regional artists, it also hosts major traveling exhibitions from the Smithsonian, Detroit Institute of Arts, and other major museums’ private collections.
Youngsters delight in visiting St. Jo’s Curious Kids’ Museum, where they are invited to use all of their senses to discover wonders of science, history and culture. Kids can wrap themselves in a bubble, strum a dulcimer, freeze their shadows and watch the moon change shape.
GOOD PICKINGS
Wander a bit east from Lake Michigan’s shore and take a tour of Tree-Mendus Fruit Farms at Eau Claire, one of the region’s largest U-pick farms and probably the best known. Started by the Teichman family in 1927, it is the venue of the annual International Cherry Pit Spitting Championship (first Saturday in July), the stuff of Guinness Book of Records.
On 450 acres, Tree-Mendus grows an amazing variety of fruit ranging from apricots and pears to red and black raspberries and seedless table grapes, including about 250 varieties of apples, 30 kinds of peaches and 25 types of cherries. The pickings are good from the sweet and tart cherries of early July until the last apple in frosty October.
When pickers arrive, they’re offered sliced, freshly picked fruit to sample — sort of like wine tasting. Sampling and eating most definitely is encouraged.
If your knowledge of apples doesn’t run much further than Red or Golden Delicious, an eye-opening education awaits at Tree-Mendus, which is dedicated to preserving heritage varieties threatened with extinction. You can sample, for example, a French apple, Caville Blanc de’Hiver, such as grew in the garden of Louis XIV.
For more information, contact the Southwestern Michigan Tourist Council at www.swmichigan.org or 269 925-6301.
GRAPE EXPECTATIONS
As the first fat raindrops of a brief summer shower splatter your windshield, they also sprinkle orchards full of ripening peaches, apples and pears and acres of glistening grapes on regimented rows of vines clinging to gentle hillsides. You could well be in Sonoma, California, but, in fact, you’re in bountiful Berrien County, Michigan.
Although thousands of miles apart, the two counties have distinct similarities. Both are serious about growing grapes and making wine and both have become very good at it.
Just a short distance west of Red Arrow Highway are rolling hills and valleys with sandy, well-drained fertile soil. The buffering effect of Lake Michigan produces a moderate microclimate that makes the region ideal for growing grapes and other fruit.
Winery-hopping is an opportunity for a delightful driving tour, conducted at your own pace, as you follow a well-marked trail to nearly a dozen wineries. Most have tours and tastings and jointly or separately offer an annual calendar of lively festivals and other events. Many have restaurants perfect for a lunch or dinner stop. Most have seating areas indoors and out where you can enjoy a picnic.
One of the most well-known of the area wineries, Tabor Hill’s kitchen earns many plaudits. Its restaurant (with a piano lounge) boasts views overlooking the vineyards, making this a romantic spot. Also check out Lemon Creek Winery, family-owned and operated for more than 150 years, and The Round Barn Winery, which also operates a distillery housed in a transplanted 1911 round bar.
