Discover St. Joseph

It's the dog days of summer here in Michigan and it's my dog's first birthday to boot (Happy First Birthday Kaj!). So in honor of my canine best friend I'm going to feature ten dog-friendly things your dog (and you) will love about St. Joseph, Michigan. 1. First off, I have to say that St. Joseph is the dog-friendliest town I've ever been to. And because dogs are so welcomed and accommodated here, you see them everywhere! Probably the most popular spot for dog walking and dog socializing is Lake Bluff Park. Beautiful view of Lake Michigan too! In various places along the sidewalk of the park there are "Mutt Mittens" so you can clean up after your dog. Very handy to have around because no dog wants to step in some else's poo! 2. St. Joseph has a terrific off-leash dog park! It's located in Kiwanis Park on Pearl St. just off Langley. It has two good sized, fenced in areas, one for big dogs 30 lbs and over and an adjacent area for the little ones un...

This wasn't much of a road trip really, as Tabor Hill Winery is just a few miles from St. Joseph in nearby Buchanan, Michigan. But it was a quick trip to a terrific winery! D, DJ, and I visited Tabor Hill last Saturday. On a tip from the book, From the Vine: Exploring Michigan Wineries , we made dinner reservations in advance (5pm). When we got there and saw what a popular place this was we were glad we did. The drive from our condo took about 25 minutes on single lane roads through farm country, mostly corn fields and vineyards. When we arrived at the vineyard, about 4:10pm, the parking lot was packed. We managed to get a spot as someone was pulling out. The setting is very pretty with mature trees and rolling hills of grape vines visible from the parking lot. We wanted to take the winery tour before dinner and the tours start on the half hour. So we went inside first to check out the gift shop. We finished looking around inside just before 4:30 and then headed back outside to th...

Most people tend to think of St. Joseph as a beach town, resort town, art town, or the county seat for Berrien County. But St. Joseph is also a port town. D and DJ and I got to witness that first hand this past weekend. After a nice breakfast at Sophia's Friday morning, we stopped at Lookout Park to gaze upon the lake for a bit. Immediately off the coast was a freighter heading north. We watched it for a few minutes debating if it might be coming into port in the St. Joseph River. We decided to run back to the condo to get our cameras (our DSLs, not the point-and-shoot I took the previous pic with) and head into town to see for ourselves. Sure enough, just as we arrived at the top of the bluff in front of the Whitcomb we could see the ship coming down the channel of the river between the north and south piers. The channel never looked so small until a freighter occupied it! We watched it progress through the railroad bridge... And waved back to the crew members who waved to us! The...