| 08/13/2023 |
08/19/2023 |
Thomas - 26
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VanSickle - 27 |
DAY 1 - Travel day to Dutch Treat Camping and Recreation Campground (site 26) in Holland, MI.
DAY 2 - Went to the beach and it was SUPER cold in Lake Michigan! Jeani and Ellie skipped rocks while Josh and Kevin tried to go swimming but it was too cold. Kevin and I took pictures of the Big Red Lighthouse
Big Red Lighthouse
Holland's iconic crimson lighthouse, affectionately knowns as Big Red, has commanded teh entrance of Holland Harbor since 1907. She has ignited the imaginations of sailors and land-lubbers, writers and poets, painters and photographers for generations. And even at the advanced age of 110 years old, she's still among Michigan's most-photographed lighthouses and one of Holland's favorite attractions.
The first Holland Light, constructed in 1872, was a small wodd building on legs perched atop the deck of a pier extending into Lake Michigan. It housed an oil lamp, lit by a lighthouse keeper, which placed under a magnifying device in the lantern room. Today the light in Big Red's tower is electrified and computerized, eliminating the need for a lighthouse keeper.
The current lighthouse, constructed in 1907, was designed to also house a steam-powered fog horn and was painted a pale yellow. It wasn't until 1956 when Coast Guard regulations required that navigation aids on the right side of harbor entrances be painted red, that the lighthouse got it's scarlet make-over.
DAY 3 - Ellie drove home with Josh so that she could get fitted for her senior year marching band uniform.
DAY 4 - Ellie drove back to camp with Josh while Joey and Logan followed. Joey and Logan went an EDM concert.
DAY 5 - We visited the Windmill Island Gardens Park and walked through the De Zwaan windmill, the De Klomp giant Klog where Ellie sat in it for a photo op! We also toured the Little Netherlands Exhibit. We also listened to the Four Columns Street Organ. |