On a sandy bluff overlooking the vast inland sea they call LAKE MICHIGAN, sits a special place, tucked in amid the pine and maple: 4951 … the perfect one-bedroom getaway for couples who don’t mind feeling just a little cut off from civilization, who won’t miss leaving behind the sounds of cars, lawnmowers, and leaf blowers … who won’t mind being lulled to sleep by the sound of waves lapping the sand, or breeze stirring the trees: water and wind.
Your beautifully-modernized apartment sits atop an old coachhouse; former outbuilding of a 19th C resort (that no longer exists). Up in your second story aerie, you’ll have an elevated vantage point with plenty of windows facing the water. And every day at 4951, the sun sets in the West, sometimes a ball of flame sinking into the deep blue water at the horizon. Other times not. And you’ll be perfectly situated to witness whatever shapes and colors that day’s sunset takes, whether inside, looking out through the windows, or out on your capacious elevated wooden deck where you’ll be spending lots of time. Here, high amid the waving branches in a green canopy, you’ll be tempted to observe, “We live in a tree house!”
Inside the airy studio apartment, there’s a definitive “Oh wow!” factor at work. One, open vaulted room houses a luxurious king-size bed, dressing area, a modern kitchen with dining area with full lake view. Cozy.
The edge of the bluff is not even 100 feet away. Have a seat there, and survey this promontory where the water meets the land. The Lake has many moods, It can be calm and hypnotizing. It can be a baleful and frightening swirl of big waves and white water. Every day is different, and you learn to enjoy every kind of weather. Should you choose to get closer to (or in) the water, Duck Lake State Park is a half mile to the south on Scenic Dr (a right out of the driveway), and has an impressive expanse of sandy beach, along with miles of woodland trails, a beautiful inland waterway (Duck L) connected by a shallow, sandy channel to the big water, and some great sand dunes to stomp around on.
This place where the waters meet, and the dunes pile so high, has been a landmark that attracted tribes (Ottawa / Ojibwa / Potawatomi) for many centuries. In their birchbark canoes they’d come, to gather, and trade. The first anglo explorers, fur traders, and settlers, also found this to be a natural spot to congregate. (There’s a settler’s boneyard behind one of the big dunes, in the forest.) Head in the other direction a couple miles, and you’ll come to “land’s end” at the White Lake pier, with an historic lighthouse that dates back about 140 years, and a big public beach. White Lake is the other major body of water that identifies the area, connected to the big lake via a channel. At the far end of White L (about 7 miles east) sits the tidy little burgs of Whitehall and Montague; sister towns astride the meeting of the White River and White Lake. This was a salient point in the harvesting of white pines during the 1880’s. Plenty of mill town history here.
If little road trips to bigger towns are on your check list, Muskegon, an old harbor and shipping town with a big beach, is 15 miles to the south, and Grand Haven (renowned beach destination) is another 10 miles south of that. A 45 minute drive to the north will land you at Silver Lake; location of massive dune formations and great outdoor fun.
