West coast of Michigan, anyone?

Gary,

IMO Michigan has some of the best lakes around.

If you don't mind traveling a bit farther north I would highly recommend Glen Lake in Glen Arbor. Very large extremely clean lake with a slalom course. Glen is about a mile inland from Lake Michigan, bordered by a national park, tons to do in the area and Glen Arbor is a really cool little town with lot's of shops and so forth for the girls. On the water there is a resort, a couple hotels and many cottages available for rent.

Chris

Ludington is a nice place to stay. It's just a little further north of Silver Lake. The state park has cabins in it you can rent. You can swim in Lake Michigan or you can put the boat in in Lake Hamlon. Might not be correct spelling on the lake but close enough. Hamlon has sand dunes that you can drive the boat out to and have a picnic so long as it's not to windy. You wont have to worry about being run over by 4x4's. Silver lake has shallow spots in it if I remember right.

And if you have a 4x4 and want to take it on the dunes let me know and I will tell you what you need to have before you go. Stay at Ludington and the dunes are only a 35 minute drive south.

joelhern2 wrote: My in-laws live in St. Joseph, MI and it is beautiful there in the summer. St. Joseph is mostly made up of wealthy Chicago residents who have their Summer homes on the lake...great restaraunts, bars, etc. Lake Michigan is right there and they have great beaches in St. Jospeh too. Best of all, the river (St. Joseph River?) which leads out into Lake Michigan is always flat as a pancake. We like to hit the river in the morning and late afternoon...but anchor the boat near "Silver Beach" for the day. Definitely check it out.

We're 45 minutes souteast of St Joseph....that is the "St Joe River" and it's always flat. Plenty of cottages there to rent.

Rob

I would also consider Saugatuck and Holland, and probably forget about Silver Lake.

Saugatuck is a nice little resort community on the Kalamazoo River right before it dumps into Lake MI. It has excellent shopping and lots of great bars/restaurants. It too is a destination for Chicagoans.

Holland is just a few miles north and basically the same story, but a little bigger, and it is on Lake Macatawa instead of a river.

I am sure that you could find places to rent, and if you were looking holland I would consider Macatawa, which is on the south side of the lake. Much less busy, beatiful old cottages, and an excellent marina nearby (Eldean).

I have been to Silver a couple times, but don't have a lot of experience there. I get the impression that it is overrated and overcrowded IMHO.

And if you really wanna go north, I am sure Glen Arbor would be great. There are some really beatiful lakes up there such as Crystal and Torch. I knew a guy that used to work here (White Birch Lodge) which I believe is on Torch Lake. Even though they use MCs it might be worth checking out.

Thanks for all the replies, I'll search for more info on St Joe.