Those of us lucky enough to call metro Grand Rapids home have discovered this is a great place to raise children. The city is big enough to feature national acts like Hannah Montana (on December 6 at the Van Andel Arena), yet still offer some of the world’s finest beaches, lush farmland, and abundant state parks with woods and wildlife.
This picture captures what Michigan means to me, awakening to a world surrounded by natural beauty.
For all of you golf lovers, there’s a beautiful golf course in Greenville. I took this near the clubhouse at the Greenville Country Club. Here’s a google map link.
It’s Halloween and the Forest Home Cemetery in Greenville is an incredible place to mark this day. It’s beautiful with rolling hills, old trees and mausoleums. I was in awe of this place and if you go to Greenville you owe it to yourself to walk through this peaceful beautiful place and relish the history.
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For those of you familiar with Greenville’s recent past, you may be surprised at what I found when I got the grand tour from their City Manager, George Bosanic. I wondered if I’d find a place struggling to get by with the exodus of their largest employer, Electrolux.
Instead, it is very clear that Greenville is an up and coming community that is “making lemonade out of lemons.” They are well on their way to completing ambitious plans to make it an even more wonderful place to live with the best of history, modern urban planning and the type of lifestyle a city with three lakes and a river running through it affords.
The picture you see here was taken on a road that winds along the edge of Baldwin Lake. I took it near Baldwin Beach, which is being renovated. Here’s a Google map link to the approximate area I took this photo. I’ll be posting pictures all week of the special places I found here.
Here’s another picture that I took at Leslie Tassel Park in Cascade, Michigan. This was taken on a little dock that extends out into the river. Looking to the East, this is what you’ll see. From the west, is a view of the dam. More to come tomorrow.
For years I’ve driven by the Leslie E. Tassel Park in Cascade and thought “hmmmm that might be a cute little place to sit back and look at the river.” Wow was that an underestimation. It looks like nothing much from the street but once you park and walk along the paths you’ll see that this small park is really special. I have several pictures that I’m going to post over the next few days. Check it out, I think you will love Leslie E. Tassel Park. I do. Here’s a google map link to the park.
I was lost when I took this picture so I can’t give you a google map link to it. But, this was taken in the Kalkaska area, it might have been on M-72. One thing that surprised me was how absolutely beautiful this area is. I don’t know why that surprised me except that I’ve never heard Kalkaska mentioned as pretty.
That’s something Michigan has going for it. Even though a lot of places here don’t get much attention, it doesn’t mean they are lacking in the “spectacular” department. I’ll be heading for the Detroit area soon and would appreciate feedback from those of you who can give me suggestions for interesting places to show the world on the East side of the state. Just post it as a comment or send and email to me at ann@anntopia.com. Thanks!
I saw this when I was up north on my color tour. It made me happy to see Michigan starting to make strides in alternative energy. The windmill is HUGE, look at it in comparison to the trees in the background, they are actually not very far away.
