Some of our group took a boat ride on an inlet near Lake Michigan. The town was Saugatuck just south of Holland.
We enjoyed having lunch and doing a little shopping in this quaint little town of Saugatuck.
Dune buggy ride was both fun and educational. We learned quite a bit about dunes. The State of Michigan pays college students during their school breaks to plant Sea Oats (a grass that has 8 ft. roots) to help stabilize the dunes.
This is the wooden shoe and delft factory. The lady below showed us how they molded the pottery. To make a mug they pour the clay into the mold and then she has to watch it closely. When the edges have hardened, she turns it over to pour the center clay out that hasn't hardened yet, forming the mug. Sounds easy but it takes quite a bit of training to make the various pieces.
They make and sell thousands of wooden shoes at this factory. Below he's hollowing out the center, using the pattern on the right.
The Dutch Village Theme Park was entertaining. The early settlers around Holland were Dutch and the theme park was informative about their traditions that they brought over with them.
This windmill on Windmill Island still functions as a flour mill. We took a tour up 5 flights of stairs to the top where the grindstones are. There's a large wheel on the opposite side that someone has to manually turn so that the blades will face the wind.
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