Ionia and points south

Posted on by David Harris

Michigan Day 3

We woke up Sunday morning to this view right outside our hotel window from our private deck.

—The view from our deck. We watched swans move around the calm water along with these two fishing. As it worked out, we would see swans at every lake we visited on the trip—
—We sat and enjoyed the view and coffee until we started getting a little hungry—

A search of coffee shops open on Sunday in Lowell turned up no results. What did come up while searching was Tim Horton’s Donut Shop. Even though we usually avoid restaurant chains, Tim’s seemed like a good plan. It was a short drive from the hotel and was co-branded with a Shell station. We needed fuel so we gassed up, and ordered up a couple of donuts, breakfast sandwiches and large coffees.

—food We ate the sandwich and egg bites before driving back to the hotel. There we enjoyed the coffee and the breakfast desserts. Mary had the Bavarian creme and I had an apple fritter. Everything was tasty. Even the coffee hit the spot—

Our next stop was the Fred Meijer Grand River Trail in Ionia MI. To find one of the trail heads we had to take a short detour, accidentally driving by the Iona Correction Facility or as it’s affectionately know as “I-Max”

—The trail map for Fred Meijer Grand River Trail. The trail was mostly crushed gravel but well maintained and very picturesque—

The trail is over 14 miles long, starting in Lowell and ending in Ionia. In fact, there are a number of trails, paths and parks named after Fred. And yes, he is the grocery ‘magnate’ and founder of the Meijer’s chain.

— One of many benches along the Fred Meijer Trail. A quick Google search on the Grand River Tour de Ionia did not turn up any race information. Still, it sounded like fun to me—
—The Grand River—
—Even the the Grand River Trail garbage cans were well maintained if not emptied regularly-we left our calling card—

We completed around 14 miles round trip on the trail by 1:30 and were feeling a little hungry. Lake Odessa MI was next on the drive south.

We intended to scout Jordan Lake at Lake Odessa for possible kayaking so we drove right towards the main boat ramps and beach. It looked rather inviting. We did note that there is not a Lake Odessa, just Jordan Lake and Tupper Lake.

food After looking around for a bit, we decided to visit Buddy’s on the Beach. The bar/restaraunt was nice inside and not too busy. We were seated at a table by the window looking out over the water.

—Mary had the Asian Chicken Salad, I had the grilled chicken salad. Two sensible yet very tasty choices. Sorry, no pictures—
— There was even an adjacent bowling alley—

After our mid-afternoon lunch, we still had a little time before our Airbnb check-in so we drove back north a few block and found Lake Odessa’s Pickle Bowl.

Clearly it was a fairly new facility. There were eight courts. The playing surfaces were perfect and each court was enclosed so we didn’t have to chase the balls very far.

—We played a few games. The weather was warm but pleasant—

We drove to Marshall MI to check in to our Airbnb that would be our base for the next five days. It was a couple of miles south of town but the drive was easy. The place was a typical lake cabin with uneven floors and odd floor layouts. But it had recently been remodeled and had a lot of charm. We would end up enjoying our stay.

—This was the view from our deck out over Stuart Lake. We had our own dock but alas, we did not have a pontoon boat at our disposal. We’d have to make do, I guess—

food We were just a little hungry so we searched around and found a pizzeria named Home Slice Pizzeria. We ordered the “Kitchen Sink”, a loaded 16″ that tasted great. Plus we had a lot left over. My test for good pizza is not only what it tastes like piping hot but how good it is cold, right out of the fridge. Spoiler alert: it did really well the next day.

Later that night, I sat down with my laptop to reserve tickets for the ferry ride from Muskegon Michigan to Milwaukee Wisconsin. It would be a great way to cap our MI tour. I was just about ready to click “Buy” when Mary, reviewing the FAQs, raised a question. At that point, we discovered we had a problem. Not scheduling or time issue but a clearance issue. Our van would be too tall. I was sure it was a mistake. It had to be. How can a mini van be too tall.

I planned on looking into it the next day.

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