Downtown Holland Michigan Vacation
This was another part of our trip to Holland Michigan. The reason I focused on the sidewalk is because it never gets salted, plowed or shoveled. A large portion of Holland has an underground water system that heats the sidewalks and streets in the winter which melts the snow.
I hope they realize there is a fire hydrant in there!
My husband and my mother in law checking things out while I take pictures.
Tulips were everywhere!
I found it so fascinating that the street lights hang by wires in the center of the road. Our street lights are on a pole at each corner of the streets.
We were told this was the place to eat and to plan on standing in line outside to get a seat. See the sign to the left of the door that says “Form Line Here”? We timed it perfectly and walked in with one couple in front of us. The food was amazing as well as the service.
I thought I would die laughing when my 94 year old mother in law ordered this, not realizing the size! This is even a bowl, it was huge and delicious she said. Needless to say she wasn’t able to eat the whole thing.
This was my husbands, keep in mind this is lunch!
This was my chicken salad with a slice of homemade bread. There must have been a quarter head of lettuce under there and it was the best chicken salad I have ever had.
They had windmill decorations since the restaurant was called the Windmill Restaurant.
I saved my favorite place for last! I have a story to tell you about this store. One of my followers commented on one of my “It’s Friday What’s For Dinner?” posts. He said he had cherry salsa with his meal. My mind was blown as I had never heard of cherry salsa but I knew I had to have some.
He told me to order it from Michigan so I looked it up on line. When I saw how much shipping was I said there is no way I am paying that. I was telling my husband about it and he said to find out how close the store is to Holland and maybe we can swing by and pick some up. The website said they had three locations with one in downtown Holland, it was fate.
Everything in the store was cherry! We spent $160.00 and so far everything is top of the line in quality and taste, and that salsa left me speechless. I think shipping would have been cheaper but look at all the goodies I wouldn’t have bought.
My husband and I decided it was a good thing this was hours away from our house or we may go broke!
http://www.InDianesKitchen.com
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Categories: Day Trip/Vacation
A beautiful town–nary a single scrap of paper or piece of plastic litter visible outside, and no cigarette butts, or blackened gum stains, on the sidewalk. The downtown businesses, and the lunch which you described, were enticing. The cherry store was the “cherry on top” of your report, and from the photos it seems it would be difficult to decide what to sample–there was so many different offerings. I’d love to visit…
You are so right! Here in Ohio there is litter everywhere, people are slobs. We pick trash up in our yard every day. It was so nice seeing how well kept the downtown area was along with other tourist area’s, however, the neighborhoods were pretty run down. It was a nice little vacation. Thank you 💕
That last store was quite the cherry on top it seems. 🙂
Looks like an awesome trip.
Oh yes cherry everything! I bought 3 different cherry coffee, 4 salsa,cherry shortbread cookies, chocolate covered cherries, dried cherries, jam, cherry chocolate covered pretzels and sour cherry gummy balls. Do you see a pattern? 🤣
Yes, and now I want some Dr. Brown’s black cherry soda. 🙂
OMG, Diane, this place is so beautiful! I hope you had fun and made it a vacation to remember. 😊
We will definitely remember this one since we took my husbands mom. Thank you Katherine.💕
Wonderful place
It sure was Sheree, thank you!
Looks like an amazing vacation, I’d have loved walking round that wine hall as well! 🙂
We didn’t bring back any wine but it was tempting! Thank you Paul.
Thanks Diane for sharing this delightful town and the store does sound like a place that could make your credit card go tilt.
Most definitely Bernadette. That’s one thing my husband always says, when we go on vacation and we want something just buy it as we won’t be going back, so I do. Such a smart man! 🤣
Great photos, Diane! Love the musical statue!
Thank you and the statue was surrounded by tulips too! Music is in my heart as my mom was a piano teacher for about 50 years. She just retired from it 3 or 4 years ago.
I love this! We go to Michigan every year, and we always drive through Holland on our way. But this summer, we have 2 nights in Holland. We wanted to ride the bike trail there. Now I have 2 more spots to visit there. I bet you all had a hearty laugh when your MIL got her food. Thanks for your post!
Oh Betty wait for my post of more things we did. I will be posting a windmill park and wooden bowl factory that we spent a small fortune at and a wonderful restaurant. There is so much nature to see but my 94 year old MIL was too full. 🤣
It looks very charming Diane, and those tulips! You picked a perfect time.
Thank you Dorothy. We really did as there was nobody there yet the tulips were already beautiful.
Looks like a great trip. How far is it from your home? I love cherry stuff. In my first job, at a DQ, I discovered putting cherry sundae topping into 7 up, with a squeeze of lime, was very yummy.
Is Holland a tourist town? I love the heated sidewalks. In Denmark, much of their water heating is central, a by product of electricity production, and piped into businesses and homes. Enjoy your cherry products and any bulbs you bought!
It took us 4 hours to get there, so not that far. Oh cherry anything sounds delicious Katelon! Holland is a small tourist town. Two full days and you could see most everything. It was perfect for my 94 year old mother in law as she has always wanted to go there.
What a great vacation place, Diane. We’ve never been to Michigan, but I’m putting Holland on my “to-do” list for someday. I need to visit that cherry store and the Windmill Restaurant – love the hometown diner feel and the food looks delicious. (BTW, WP wouldn’t let me “Like” this post.)
I will be blogging about some other places too. There is so many parks with hiking, biking, nature etc. but we didn’t think my 94 year old mother in law would appreciate that. Lol I keep having problems with my site but I don’t think it’s WP. Jetpack has totally messed up my site.
Wow. The photos are great. So glad you are having a good time and your MIL is too. Foods look great, but I love the cherry store! Enjoy yourselves and have a great time and safe trip home.
It was a beautiful trip and the cherry store was my favorite store downtown. I will never forget the beautiful flowers. The best part was that we went a day before the festival so there weren’t any people! Thank you JC.
Wow! I loved every picture and the story about the cherry salsa (and everything cherry). Glad you had such a good time. I am amazed at how spry you MIL is at her age. Kudos to her!
She is amazing! She still drives and lives in a condo by herself. Of course my husband helps her with whatever she needs. Thank you💕
What a great vacation town. The lunch recommendation was right on. The cherry store was incredible. I thought what you paid was a lot for someone who just wanted to try cherry salsa. I’m surprised you came home with any money at all!🤣 Everything looked so good!
Oh yes Linda, it was a great little vacation. Delicious food and pretty funny about the cherry store. I wanted one of everything. My husband only bought 3 items and I think I bought out the store. Cherry turtle coffee for breakfast tomorrow!
What a fabulous trip you had Diane. I love the photos and the tidbits that you shared. All city sidewalks should be heated like this in winter.
The lunch spot looks amazing and such generous portions too. What did your mother in law have?
And I love seeing the tulips bloom this time of year! And I bet the cherry shop treats were a delight!
Thank you Ab! My MIL had an open faced roast beef sandwich with mashed potatoes and gravy. I just finished a small bag of dried cherries, so good. I also had the cherry chocolate covered pretzels…..oh my! Next up will be one of three kinds of cherry coffee. I’m trying to make what I bought last as long as I can. Lol
You’ll need to do a post just about enjoying all the Cherry goodies.
What a delightful city in Michigan. Those tulips were picture perfect and pure loveliness! I don’t think any one goes hungry in Holland, MI!
It was so beautiful downtown and in the tourist spots. But I will say we were disappointed in the upkeep of homes and yards away from these areas. Yes, if you go hungry it’s your own fault! Lol
Lovely photos. Sounds like a very pleasant trip. I had never heard of sidewalks that have an underground heating system.
Me either Alessandra! They money they save with salt, plows, manpower and the damage caused by the salt is probably more than the cost of the heating system.
What a nice trip. And the pictures are beautiful!
Thank you so much Vickie! We really had a nice time.
I love the Cherry store! We visit the one in Traverse City when we go up North.
I really wish it was closer, I wanted one of everything. lol
I love your pictures! What a beautiful place.
Thank you Vickie it was a beautiful trip indeed.
Oh my, I didn’t even notice the fire hydrant among the yellow flowers. I see that you definitely don’t leave the Windmill Restaurant hungry! Wow, please take me to that cherry shop! You know what I would do? I would have bought a bag (or two) full of cherry products and then couriered a box to my house 😁. What a lovely place!
I bought so much stuff. Tomorrow I try cherry turtle coffee! Thank you 💕
Cherry turtle coffee … my oh my 😯!
It was delicious!
I grew up very close to Holland. When I am visiting Michigan, I try to get to a Cherry Republic! I love that store. Especially in Traverse City!
I was like a kid in a candy store. I could have bought one of everything.
Oh wow, what a beautiful downtown. And that is so cool about the sidewalks heating up. I didn’t notice the fire hydrant until I read your comment! I love cherries so I’m sure I would love everything in that store. I have never heard of cherry salsa though, what do you eat it with? I make a fruit salsa and I then put cinnamon and sugar on Pita bread and then bake them to dip into the fruit salsa. Is that the same idea?
It sure is beautiful and so clean. The salsa could be used that way, sounds delicious! I bought hot cherry salsa and will try it with club crackers and tortilla chips to see which way I prefer best. I’ve been sick (thank you Holland) so I haven’t had much of an appetite. I am looking forward to eating it though.
Oh no! Feel better soon Diane☹️
Thank you I am sleeping around 10 hours a day and today is the first day I haven’t had a horrible sore throat. On the mend I hope.
Ha ha – I love your last line of this post Diane! Everything looked so clean here and what a variety of items to purchase. The food all looks delicious and the portions huge! I am glad you came to visit at Holland!
Me too Linda it was a nice short little vacation.
It feels good to get away – I miss when we went to my grandmother’s house for a long weekend – we’d travel Thursday and Sunday but two days away felt like paradise to me as I was always on the go if I was home – errands, yardwork on my days off, so a vacation away from the routine.
Diane, I enjoyed my virtual tour of Holland, MI via your blog post. It truly looks lovely!
Thank you so much Janet, more to come.
If you ever make it this way again South Haven has a blueberry festival and everything including blueberry mustard. No I have not tried it but only because I’m not a fan of blueberries. I’m so glad you’ve made these posts about Holland sometimes it’s hard to see the great things when you live here.
Lucky you! I would be at the Cherry store weekly! Also, I have two six foot blueberry bushes and obviously LOVE blueberries. That festival would be right up my alley.
Wow I saw myself on that trip there with you all! Very lovely and the food looks great but A LOT I would have not completed eating lol 😀 Great pics! Blessings!
Well you would have been welcome to come with us! It was a lot of food but we had no idea they gave you that much. I don’t know why they don’t lower prices and give less food. Restaurants give huge portions anymore.
Haha this I know for surety! Well that’s good that they did cause not much food places are functioning like that anymore and I agree with you in the lowering of prices. Blessings!
After seeing all your great pictures and reading your posts, I hope I can go next year for the Tulip Festival. Thanks for sharing your trip with us, Diane.
It is well worth the trip. We were there a few days before the festival to avoid the crowd. If you go during the festival there is a lot of festivities with people to see. They were even setting up rides for the kiddos.
No rides for me. I will try to go before and maybe end the trip with one day of the festival. I guess it will be up to accommodation availability as well.
That’s what we did and it was well worth it.
That store with all the cherry products looks really wonderful. And the lunch you three had! Yum!
Also: Love the idea of the heated sidewalks, with no salting or shoveling.
It was such a fascinating downtown. I still have cherry products left. Lol