On a day so sunny that I felt like I needed sunglasses for my sunglasses, Best Husband and I ventured to Saugatuck, Michigan, for a winter’s day adventure. We ate lunch at The Butler, a restaurant located in one of the original town buildings from 1892. We poked around in interesting little shops, ogling expensive kitchen knives in The Butler Pantry kitchen shop, and admiring original artwork in the many art studios. We tasted exotic olive oils at The Olive Mill, and peered into windows of restaurants we had not seen before, hoping to savor them on another visit.
Then, the real adventure began. We left the downtown area and drove to the shore of Lake Michigan at Oval Beach. One never knows what they’ll find on the Lake Michigan shores in the winter. Often the water’s edge are encased in thick ice floes that may change daily with the weather. Other winters we’ve been to the Lake Michigan shores to find no ice at all. This day, we were not disappointed. The shore was blanketed with a massive ice floe, spreading out 50 to 100 yards from the shore. Not wanting to become an icy death statistic or an unexpected guest of the Coast Guard, we wisely kept to the water’s edge as we walked and photographed this amazing gift of nature.
© Huffygirl 2013
Huffygirl's Blog 
Really nice emotional set! Beautifully done!
Why thank you Mark, and thanks for stopping by.
Beautiful! Can you believe I’ve never been to Lake Michigan in the winter?
Well, you better get up here soon. Unfortunately, sometimes the ice dissipates rather quickly and you can come expecting to see ice and there will be none. Also, not all beaches form the ice floes, depending on local boat traffic, currents, water temp, wind and the shape of the shore, so you may not see it at just any beach. The very first time we came out to see the ice floes, we started walking out on it because it looked pretty solid. then we turned to look back at the shore and saw it was moving up and down, and realized it wasn’t really attached to anything.
Stunning- someday I have to get to your part of the world.
Yes you do. Probably not everyone knows that we get these amazing ice formations on our big lakes here.
As usual, the pics are wonderful. But it was too short. I was just settling in for a great read, enticed by your use of words and your sense of humor…and you stopped! I hate to complain, but geeeeee….
Oh, wait…I can see some words hidden beneath the pics. I wonder if that is why it seemed to stop so abruptly. The last words I can see clearly are “this amazing gift of nature.”
If you click on one of the photos, it will enlarge and you can arrow through and read the captions.
Sorry to disappoint you with my lack of verbosity Sandra. I thought two paragraphs were enough, and then let the photos do the talking. I’ll try to do better next time. Or, maybe your browser was not displaying all the text?
Gorgeous photos. I love going to places like that”off-season.” All the tourists are gone and you can really enjoy the beauty without the crowds and with a view you don’t often see. My youngest son and his wife like to go to Cape Cod in the winter for that same reason. I will finally get to see Lake Michigan when I go to Chicago in September.
Hurray. Of course it’s much prettier on the Michigan side, but still a site to behold. People who have not been there before are surprised at how big it is. Check out one of the dinner cruise options on Odyssey Cruises if you don’t mind spending a bit of money for dinner on the lake!
Great pics Donna 🙂
Thanks Ann.
mindblowing pics…thanks for sharing…
You are welcome Tushar. It is even more stunning in person – the photos cannot do it justice. Thanks for stopping by.
Those beaches are, what, 90 minutes from me, and I’ve never thought to visit them in winter? Boy, do I feel foolish now. Great photos – and thanks for the inspiration!
Wow Sid, you better get right over there. I can’t guarantee there will still be ice, as it dissipates quickly with a warming trend, but at least put it on the calendar for next year. Plus, you can actually get a parking spot in Saugatuck in March! Good to see your words again.