I'm in Holland!

Holland, Michigan, that is. I've known about Holland for a long time and have always wanted to see the town. It was founded by Dutch settlers and still retains it's Dutch roots. I kind of thought I'd see windmills and tulips and people with wooden shoes. Alas, not so. Yes, there is a tulip festival each year. Unfortunately, that was in the spring.

But what I did find in Holland is Hometown, USA. Living in a large metropolitan area, I sometimes long for the mythical small town seen in the movies -- a neat little burg with a thriving central area of businesses and shops and restaurants. Maybe with a nice leafy park right in the middle of everything. Well, Holland has all that.

This fellow, the Rev. Albertus C. Van Raalte and a band of merry Hollanders, founded this particular Holland on February 9, 1847. History records that the first few years were rather tough, but I'm sure they would be proud of the little town they left behind. It thrives just inland from Lake Michigan on the shores of its own Lake Macatawa.

It's a sort of Back to the Future kind of place, lost in time and yet somehow familiar.

Towns like this always get me to wondering what it would be like to live there.




Just picture yourself walking down this street ...



Or eating here ...



Or catching a movie here ...



Or stopping in to read here ...



Or listening to these enthusiastic folks ...



Or contemplating the city park ...



Or living here ...



I know I did.

Even ol' Ben Franklin seems comfortable perusing the Declaration of Independence ...