Grand Rapids Nesties
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Our tech team has launched updates to The Nest today. As a result of these updates, members of the Nest Community will need to change their password in order to continue participating in the community. In addition, The Nest community member's avatars will be replaced with generic default avatars. If you wish to revert to your original avatar, you will need to re-upload it via The Nest.
If you have questions about this, please email help@theknot.com.
Thank you.
Note: This only affects The Nest's community members and will not affect members on The Bump or The Knot.
Beach town recs?
My H and I are going to be in the Grand Rapids area later on this summer and we figured we could make a long weekend at one of the beach towns in that area. Probably no more north than Muskegon. Doesn't matter how far south. Any suggestions on which town? Hotels? etc? We have a 1 year old, so we would need a toddler friendly place to stay. TIA!
Re: Beach town recs?
Grand Haven is a nice area.
I have no idea on hotels or what to do, but they have a pretty beach and a nice boardwalk.
I think Grand Haven is the beach town with the shopping/restaurants closest to the beach area. It would all be a walkable distance, if that matters to you. vrbo.com and homeaway.com are your best bets for condo or house rentals in the area. If you want to be able to walk to downtown and the beach, you'll want to rent a house or condo (for any of the cities).
I think South Haven has some of the nicest options for house rentals on a beautiful beach, but you are a bit further from town.
Muskegon is similar to South Haven in that the beach isn't as close to restaurants and shopping. Muskegon/Norton Shores is going to have the most options for hotels if you don't want to stay on the beach.
I live right by the lakeshore between Grand Haven and Muskegon, so if you need restaurant recs for either of those areas, let me know.
I'd love to hear your restaurant recs, Suze! I've had 2 people tell me that Saugatuck is nice, but while doing a quick bit of research Grand Haven stood out to me.
Walking distance and/or stroller friendly is a BIG plus since we will have a toddler with us. I've never been in that area, so I have no idea how vehicle friendly it is? Do most people stay somewhere and just drive to the beach and park?
I'm clueless! Thanks for all your suggestions!
We have always rented a beach house.
We just spent a day at a small semi private beach near Saugatuck and loved it (I think it was actually in Douglas). Very near Mount Baldhead recreation area, but not nearly as crowded. I hadn't been to Saugatuck since I was a kid and was pleasantly surprised.
Grand Haven is also very nice, but always crazy busy.
Grand Haven is definitely going to be the busiest town and you probably won't have a wide expanse of beach to yourself. If that's not an issue, I think it would be most stroller friendly of all the cities. If you stay in a condo at the piano factory, the grand, the zephyr, or especially anywhere on Harbor Dr, you should be able to walk between your condo, downtown, and the beach.
For waterfront dining I love Snug Harbor's deck (some entrees are kind of pricey, but their burgers and sandwiches are good for around $10). I also like Old Boys' Brewhouse in Spring Lake (you would need to drive there, but they have a nice deck overlooking the channel, great beer, pizza, etc.)
I like the card room at the Kirby Grill. You can see the water from there. The food is the same inside the restaurant, but I like the card room for the view.
The Grand Oyster Bar has good sushi, a killer burger special on Sundays (buy 1 get 1 after 5p.m.) and decent food all around. They also have a little bit of out door dining, which would be more family friendly. It's pretty dark inside.
Also, if you like ice cream, make sure to stop in at Santo Stefano for some gelato.
Thanks for all the suggestions, ladies! I think we're going to hit up Grand Haven. I bet our daughter would get a kick out of the musical fountain. lol.
Here's a dumb question though...do they rent (or have available) beach umbrellas? I found a condo on that homeaway site recommended above. It looks like it's a fairly quick walk to Grand Haven State Park beach. We'll be carting a toddler and all of her gear, so the less stuff we carry, the better. I would really like something to shade her on the beach, but really don't feel like lugging something like that around myself!