West Michigan Weekend

We just spent a long weekend downstate in Grand Haven, staying at Elliot’s family cottage in the Highland Park Association, and I don’t think I could’ve dreamed up a more quintessential Michigan summer weekend. Highland Park dates all the way back to 1886 and is filled with these incredible historic cottages tucked into the dunes just steps from Lake Michigan. Elliot’s family has had their cottage for about 40 years, so he grew up spending summers here and has a million childhood memories tied to this little neighborhood. I, of course, have my own history with Grand Haven after living here years ago before moving away in 2012, but this was actually the first time I’ve spent a full weekend here since! We mostly kept things easy — beach days, cooking at the cottage, dinner out, reading, wandering around town, and heading up to Muskegon for the Great Lakes Surf Festival. Honestly, just the kind of summer weekend I love.

The cottage itself is called The Gertrude, and I am OBSESSED. 😂 It’s basically my Pinterest board come to life — cozy, colorful, collected, slightly quirky, and filled with all of those little details that make an old summer cottage feel like an old summer cottage. I took approximately 500 mental notes for whenever I finally have a house of my own someday. We cooked burgers, spaghetti and breakfasts, lounged around reading books, took photos, and had some of Elliot’s friends/family stay and stop by throughout the weekend. We could walk right down to the beach whenever we wanted, which is basically my dream existence. One afternoon Elliot even got me out on a surfboard and taught me how to catch a few waves! I STOOD UP, you guys. 😂 A couple of guys on shore were cheering me on and I was feeling extremely accomplished... until we noticed lightning in the distance and our hair literally started standing up. So! That was the end of my budding surf career for the day. We got out of Lake Michigan REAL QUICK.

A big reason for the weekend was the Great Lakes Surf Festival at Pere Marquette Beach in Muskegon. Elliot was there working on video for most of the day, so I happily tagged along and wandered around checking everything out. The festival celebrates the Great Lakes surf community, with surfing, paddling, vendors, demos, raffles and plenty of people who are way more capable of handling a board than I currently am. 😂 It was really fun getting to watch everyone out on the water and see this whole little community come together around something they love. I also snuck over to The Deck for a frosé and some BBQ while Elliot worked. Nom. Honestly, everyone played to their strengths that day.

The rest of the weekend was wonderfully uneventful in the best possible way. We spent a lot of time on the beach, ate good food, took photos and just settled into cottage life for a couple of days. And I wasn't totally prepared for how nice it would feel to be back. Grand Haven holds SO many memories for me — including an absurd number of outfit photos from the very beginning of Selective Potential — and coming back over the years has sometimes felt a little bittersweet. But this trip just felt... happy. Familiar and nostalgic, but new at the same time. Getting to experience a place that was once such a huge part of my life with someone who has his own completely separate history and connection to it felt like one of those funny little full-circle things life hands you sometimes. I didn't need to make it more complicated than that. I was just really grateful to be there.

Anyway, this weekend definitely reminded me how much I love a good West Michigan summer. The beach, the dunes, old cottages, Lake Michigan sunsets, sandy feet, dinners outside — all of it. I love my life in the U.P. more than I could ever explain, but it felt really good to spend a few days back in a place that helped shape an earlier version of me, too. Mostly, though, I'm happy to have some new memories there now: The Gertrude, my first few successful seconds on a surfboard, frosé at The Deck, lazy mornings with coffee, and getting to see Grand Haven through Elliot's eyes a little bit too. Turns out you really can go back — sometimes you just get to experience it differently the next time around. ❤️