Last Day at Coopersville – July 27, 2015

Today we have a general plan but no rigid schedule to follow.  Remember, we are on vacation!

The highlight of the day was watching the Parade of Ships in Grand Haven provided by the US Coast Guard.  It is generally very well attended by visitors and residents alike and we wanted to be on north shore of the Grand River where there is a small park and maybe 30 parking spaces.  There is a walkway along the river that made a perfect spot to put our chairs to watch the ships.  To be sure we were one of the 30 with a parking spot, we stopped at a Subway and bought lunch and set up around 11:00 a.m.

MG waiting for Parade of Ships

The sun was already hot but my ingenious husband had a golf umbrella and bungee cords in the truck and before long we had a nice shady spot for boat watching.  We had lunch and watched the boats ride out of the channel to meet the Coast Guard and be part of the parade.  One observation I made is there are some really clever people who come up with the most interesting names for their boats.

By 1:00 pm the parking lot and seawall were filled with spectators and the Coast Guard was right on time.  It started with a 100 foot long buoy tender named Buckthorn,

Buckthorn

followed by 140 foot ice breaker named Biscayne Bay,

Biscayne Bay

225 foot long Alder

Coast Guard Ship – Alder

and the final ship was the monster ship named Mackinaw

Mackinaw

reported to be  a state-of-the-art heavy icebreaker in the Great Lakes.  Each ship had either a Coast Guard, Sheriff, or Auxilliary ship to escort it into the harbor.  It was heart warming to hear the crowds cheer the Coast Guard and hear the Coast Guard cheer back with their ship’s horns.

We left there to explore Muskegon just north of Grand Haven.  We found the chamber building (old train depot) and although the city appears to be trying to build up a tourist oriented downtown area, they are not there yet.

Train Depot – Muskigan, MI

We settled for a tour of the USS LST 393 carrier; one of two remaining of the 1,051 built and used during WWII.

US LST 393 in Muskegon, MI

These were the ships used to transport the tanks, trucks and troops to battle fields on foreign soil.  In fact, this particular ship was used at Omaha Beach in Normandy.  To see the enormity of the back gate and ramp where the equipment disembarked as contrasted by the cramped space of the berth deck and bathrooms for the men was stunning.  There was a video playing of a classified Navy training movie showing how everything worked so we sat down to watch it.  We were amazed at how manual every operation seemed to be compared to what we use in our private lives today.  Actually, at one point, I confess I may have closed my eyes for a few seconds and wondered how the sailors stayed awake during this film.

It was time to treat ourselves and we have gotten really good at it.  We found this marvelous restaurant on the lake with an outdoor deck under some shade trees and a wonderful menu to choose from.

Lake House Restaurant – Muskegon

We started with an appetizer called Duo Dip which was fresh made guacamole and mango, watermelon salsa with tortilla chips.  Just sitting there watching the marina and nibbling would have been enough but then we order the special of the evening; Caribbean Jerk Seared Uku Snapper.  I had never heard of uku snapper and found out it is from Hawaii.  It was topped with grilled pineapple, strawberry, and coconut chutney, served over red pepper wild rice and ginger/cardamom carrots.  Trust me.  To die for!

Nice way to end our trip to this southwestern part of Michigan.

Tomorrow we are on to Ludington, MI which is right up the coast.