A day at the beach: Yo goes to South Haven

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We rounded out our trip up the coast, which included stops in Miller Beach, New Buffalo and St. Joseph, with a look at South Haven, Michigan

The first thing we saw in South Haven was a sprawling Wal-Mart Supercenter flanked by a nauseating parade of fast-food chains and gas stations. But faster than you can say “suburban Chicagoland” we had reached the downtown, and all was forgiven.

Phoenix Street cuts through a cluster of eclectic shops like Biddy Murphy Celtic Gifts, Decadent Dogs and “gypsy boutique” Renaissance. More than 20 people were waiting outside for a bullhorn to announce their table was ready at old-timey restaurant Clementine’s. Sherman’s Dairy Bar had a line out the door.

We set out for the pier at South Beach, past families lounging on the white rocks, frat guys barbequing, and a group of rainbow-haired teenagers playing Hacky Sack. We even stumbled on a couple in their late 70s stealing a kiss. On the beach, grown men were as excited about building sandcastles as their kids, and the squeal of a curly-haired girl finding the perfect shell carried for miles. A guy named Roy asked us to take his picture with his fiancé in front of the towering red lighthouse.

Boats with bright orange and yellow sails crisscrossed at the mouth of the harbor just as a tweenage girl cast a fishing line into the water.
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We felt like we were on the set of a Disney movie. We decided to take off before everyone broke out into song.

After 9:00 p.m., a few famished souls were still waiting on tables outside this Clementine’s. We grabbed a seat at the bar in Tello Italian Bistro and the bartender, 21-year-old Mona Iehl, brings us back down to earth. Over risotto, she told us of the disparity between the coast, where vacationers have their cottages, and the residential part of town where local girls, she said, are advised not to walk alone at night. Still, she said, Chicagoans get what they’re looking for when they come here.

Mona tipped us to the nightlife in town – 30-somethings hang out at a couple of bars by the harbor, and most of the “older people” usually have gatherings at their cottages – but we’re beat.

We wanted to see and do so much more. We wanted to hit the “art coast” of Saugatuck, tour the wineries on the Lake Michigan Shore Wine Trail, pick my own fruit, rifle through the antique shops, explore the tiny restaurants tucked in the woods, hike the paths to the dunes… but there just isn’t enough time. No wonder so many people keep coming back.

I decide to take another walk out to the end of the pier in South Haven. Roy and his fiancé are still out there, staring out at the dark water. He tells her, on a really clear night, you can almost see the lights “back home.”
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