Small Town Charm: Holland Final Entry in the Series

I found an entry I forgot to publish in my series I did a couple weeks back on Holland...


So, for your Saturday, here are photos that were too pretty NOT to share...enjoy, and I hope you have a WONDERFUL weekend!

Holland was a beautiful place to visit, and unforgettable, really.

Small Town Charm: Holland V--Not Far to Lake Michigan

BIG RED;  Lighthouse at the entrance of Holland Harbor which leads into Lake Macatawa.

While we were in Holland, we decided to make a quick trip to the shore of Lake Michigan.  It was warm and sunny in Holland and we thought we'd put our toes in the water and stick around to watch the sunset--sprawled comfortably on a well-worn quilt I keep in the trunk just for such occasions...


Well, we were wrong, it wasn't nice out by the water, the wind was blowing at a good blast, and we didn't stick our toes in, and we ended up shivering and wrapping up in the quilts instead!  


But, we still were glad we stopped in; the scenery is beautiful, as usually is the case everywhere the shoreline wraps its arms around the whole state of Michigan.


Even though it was cold, we walked the break wall out into the water and watched the waves crash on the huge rocks placed there.

And we watched crazy kids in the forty degree weather (and forty mile an hour winds) out on the water having fun on the waves...incredulous that they weren't turning BLUE from the cold!  


We also talked to some kids that had dove in and swam....OH MY GOSH.  Well, needless to say they WERE blue!

We watched workers on a tug in the channel....if the machine wasn't so noisy, I might have asked them what they were doing?  

And of course, we left with our feet caked with sand, (that felt so good, felt like summer!) and with our hair standing straight up because of the fierce winds, turned the heat on full blast in the car,  and were quite ready for something warm to drink, we promptly found a place to order some HOT CHOCOLATE!  

I think I'll come back when it's warmer...and stay a while and catch the sunset then...


Meanwhile, I will close this post out by showcasing some of the talent of my niece -- she's quite good with her camera, and I am so proud of her!  Take a look at some of the absolutely amazing shots she got while we were freezing!


Great job, Katie!  (She has her Aunt Joni beat by a country mile!)

If you ever get the chance to go, Holland has a lot more to offer than just tulips, and a State Park with beautiful views is just one of the lovely things about her.  

Small Town Charm: Holland IV --A Sweet Shoppe!

This is more on Holland.  I hope you can stand it!  I only took 476 pictures that day, and I have spared you about 422 of those.  And if I could stand another case of numb-butt from editing them, you'd probably be tortured with more pictures of Holland, Michigan than you'd ever care to see.


This is another post full of color; Holland had it in spades.  So many store fronts with old-fashioned window displays:  something that I think is becoming a lost art, something gone the way of hats in church and overcoats on men.


I still love those things when I see them and I still like an old-style storefront, a great display just beckons me, invites me to take a peek, and so I do.  The little surprises in life are the best ones!



After we watched the "klompen" and the "fashion show" downtown, we turned and found a small deli in which to have some lunch--we were famished, had done lots of walking.  We enjoyed ourselves at a fine little deli...

And when we left the deli, just a few doors down, we saw this sweet little shoppe:  The Holland Peanut Store.  I could tell from the look of the storefront that this just might be a window to take a closer look.


The name could fool you, but if you looked in the front window, this is what you'd see.  And you'd know that there was more than just peanuts in this store!


What a fun place!

In addition to having small souvenirs to remind you of your trip to Holland, there was every kind of candy in this store that you could imagine, all from your childhood until now!

I have to say, there wasn't one unhappy face in the place!

Who could be frowning in a store like this?


The proprietor told me that she loves the fact that everyone gets a little nostalgic when they walk into her store, and that she enjoys helping people with their selections.  She was all smiles, too!

For a little bit, when we first walked in, I just stopped and looked all around me, candy from the floor to the ceiling, and in every color and shape.

There was a full line of Brach's....two huge floor displays of every kind of Brach's you could remember, and the little white paper bags to fill with your selections.

I doubt if anyone could walk out of a place like this without at least a small bag of happiness to carry along with them!

Beautiful vintage-style candy showcases!

See the old tile floor?

Jawbreakers, anyone?

I grabbed a handful of these fruit slices, I LOVE them and haven't seen them in a long, long time!  The grapefruit were the best ones!

I didn't see Slo-Pokes on a stick, but I did buy a handful of these small ones.

Taffy, taffy, taffy!

I tried a new taffy flavor: caramel apple, and I loved it!


Taffy isn't something I am normally crazy about.

So, do YOU have a favorite old-fashioned candy?

If you're ever in Holland, stop by Fabiano's Holland Peanut Store!  Have a wonderful MONDAY!