Ottawa Beach Marina, Holland, Michigan

The small “Holland” village.

A bridge on Windmill Island Gardens.

Look at the size of that mill stone!
A wooden shoe - very big!

This is how they sent messages up and down the windmill,
A pulley with a wooden shoe, of course!
The wooden gears on the windmill.
Carousel for children only!
Looking down the flight of stairs I climbed to see the view from the top!
Lake Michigan.


The view from the top of the trail. You could see both Lake
Michigan and Lake Mattawan (lake near Holland). 

The lighthouse in Holland.
Lots of “Holland” items.
Beautiful grounds at Windmill Island Gardens.



Nice marina.
Taking a walk along the trails near Ottawa Beach Marina.
265 stairs to reach the top of the dunes.
Sailboats entering the inlet.
De Zwaan Windmill
      Boomerang in her slip at Ottawa Beach Marina - all alone!


We decided to stay at Ottawa Beach Marina in Holland. We had considered Eldean Marina, but after contacting another looper at Eldean, we decided on Ottawa Beach. Apparently, Eldean wasn’t a great place for dogs and the docks were high. Ottawa Beach was less expensive, too.  None of the marinas were close to the town of Holland, although I’ve heard the plan on putting at municipal marina close to town. At Ottawa Beach, we had free laundry, (I washed everything!), loaner bikes and the price was right at $1.34 a foot! The bathrooms/showers were nice, too. The state park beach and hiking trails were nearby. It was a great deviation from all of the towns we’ve been visiting. And there was a couple of restaurants, within walking distance. Plus, we were the only ones there - kind of like having our personal, private marina!

Our friend, Mark and Cathy Uggeri from Pronto, picked us up and took us to town the town of Holland. However, it was raining, so we really didn’t get to walk around. We had a nice meal at an Irish restaurant. It was great visiting with them and getting off of the boat! We had some items shipped to their home, so we retrieved them too.

The next day, our friends, Chuck and Shelly from Chenial, picked us up and took us to Windmill Island Gardens. De Zwaan, meaning “graceful bird,” is America’s only authentic, working Dutch windmill. It was brought from the Netherlands in 1964 and began operations the following year. The mill grinds wheat into flour. Since COViD, the mill hasn’t been working but millers are in training now and hopefully it will be operational soon. 




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