How To Enjoy a Long Holiday Weekend in St Joseph (Day 3)
Day Three
No breakfast at the lake this morning. Instead we headed to Benton Harbor for breakfast at Sophia's House of Pancakes (just off I-94 at the Pipestone Rd exit). This place has the best breakfasts around. The portions are generous, the prices are reasonable, and the food is fantastic!
After breakfast we headed back to St Joseph for the Antiques on the Bluff. This flea market is held the first Sunday of each month, May-October. This is a wonderful way to while away some time while you stroll the beautiful Lake Bluff Park overlooking Lake Michigan. It was a beautiful, sunny morning and there were crowds on hand to shop from the merchants.
This isn't just antiques, there are all kinds of collectibles and just plain junk there too. Something for everyone. You know what they say, "one man's trash is another man's treasure"!
The vendors are all friendly and helpful. Even if you're not interested in shopping, it's a great place to go just to people-watch.
By the time we had strolled from one end of the park to the other and back we were ready to go. I got lucky and found a lovely set of bird salt and pepper shakers, just what I'd been looking for!
We made our way home for lunch and prepared another great salad using the fresh fruit we bought yesterday. It tasted just as good today!
What next? Time for a road trip! We decided to make the short drive down to the Lighthouse Place Outlet Mall in Michigan City, Indiana. It's about 40 miles from St Joseph. You can take I-94 down there and make good time, but it's ever more fun to take Red Arrow Highway. That's what we did.
Red Arrow Highway makes its way through a number of small towns and interesting spots along the way. You'll pass Warren Dunes State Park. There's a great beach there and a big sand dune to climb if you're so inclined.
One of the small towns you'll pass through is Harbert, where the beach umbrellas are on display. There is a competition for these hand painted creations in August.
There are several along the sides of the road. They are so colorful and welcoming.
The outlet mall was a popular place today.
In fact, I've never seen it busier. This is very good news considering the state of the economy!
There is a nice variety of stores at the mall. D and I hit our favorites, Crocs, PacSun, Bath and Body Works, Cold Water Creek, and the Coach store. We found some great deals (including an additional 30% off at the Coach store ;-) and headed home with lots of packages. Helping out the economy in our own little way. :-)
By the time we were heading home it was dinner time. There are lots of art galleries, antique stores, boutiques, and restaurants along Red Arrow Highway so we decided to drive back that way too. D and I really like to try new (to us) restaurants so we thought we choose one we hadn't been to before.
The restaurant we decided on was Redamak's on Red Arrow Highway in New Buffalo. Redamak's has been a fixture in that town since 1946. The parking lot was packed. There were lots of people milling around. All signs of a good restaurant.
There was a short wait to be seated in the main section of the restaurant and no wait for the porch. We opted for the porch. The weather was nice and mild and we weren't uncomfortable without air conditioning.
The menus are cute and full of lots of choices, but Redamak's is famous for their burgers. I like a good burger so that's what I choose... a single with Swiss cheese and grilled onion, and a side of sweet potato fries. (It didn't photograph well because they wrap each burger in wax paper and the cheese stuck to it.)
D chose a Chicago-style beef sandwich and regular fries.
We were both happy with our meals and we'd stop there again if we were passing by but we wouldn't make a trip down there just for their burgers. They're good, but no better than the burgers at Roxy's in St Joseph.
We made our way back home and once again we stopped for an ice cream cone at the Dairy Korner before heading down to Silver Beach to watch the sunset. We weren't sure we'd actually see the sun set because the sky was clouded over but we figured we'd just people-watch along the beach anyway.
We never did see the sun but the twilight show after sunset was awesome! Sometimes you just have be patient and wait for Mother Nature's show. This evening's was spectacular. It was one of the most dramatic sunsets/twilights I've ever seen, and I've seen quite a few. The cloud patterns were stratified and highlighted in dramatic reds, oranges, and yellows. The sight was magical and breathtaking all at once. Such a great show! Here's one photo for you. You'll have to visit my photography blog to see the entire series of this day's sunset pics. Don't miss it! It's worth seeing, really!
And so ends another wonderful day in St Joseph...
No breakfast at the lake this morning. Instead we headed to Benton Harbor for breakfast at Sophia's House of Pancakes (just off I-94 at the Pipestone Rd exit). This place has the best breakfasts around. The portions are generous, the prices are reasonable, and the food is fantastic!
After breakfast we headed back to St Joseph for the Antiques on the Bluff. This flea market is held the first Sunday of each month, May-October. This is a wonderful way to while away some time while you stroll the beautiful Lake Bluff Park overlooking Lake Michigan. It was a beautiful, sunny morning and there were crowds on hand to shop from the merchants.
This isn't just antiques, there are all kinds of collectibles and just plain junk there too. Something for everyone. You know what they say, "one man's trash is another man's treasure"!
The vendors are all friendly and helpful. Even if you're not interested in shopping, it's a great place to go just to people-watch.
By the time we had strolled from one end of the park to the other and back we were ready to go. I got lucky and found a lovely set of bird salt and pepper shakers, just what I'd been looking for!
We made our way home for lunch and prepared another great salad using the fresh fruit we bought yesterday. It tasted just as good today!
What next? Time for a road trip! We decided to make the short drive down to the Lighthouse Place Outlet Mall in Michigan City, Indiana. It's about 40 miles from St Joseph. You can take I-94 down there and make good time, but it's ever more fun to take Red Arrow Highway. That's what we did.
Red Arrow Highway makes its way through a number of small towns and interesting spots along the way. You'll pass Warren Dunes State Park. There's a great beach there and a big sand dune to climb if you're so inclined.
One of the small towns you'll pass through is Harbert, where the beach umbrellas are on display. There is a competition for these hand painted creations in August.
There are several along the sides of the road. They are so colorful and welcoming.
The outlet mall was a popular place today.
In fact, I've never seen it busier. This is very good news considering the state of the economy!
There is a nice variety of stores at the mall. D and I hit our favorites, Crocs, PacSun, Bath and Body Works, Cold Water Creek, and the Coach store. We found some great deals (including an additional 30% off at the Coach store ;-) and headed home with lots of packages. Helping out the economy in our own little way. :-)
By the time we were heading home it was dinner time. There are lots of art galleries, antique stores, boutiques, and restaurants along Red Arrow Highway so we decided to drive back that way too. D and I really like to try new (to us) restaurants so we thought we choose one we hadn't been to before.
The restaurant we decided on was Redamak's on Red Arrow Highway in New Buffalo. Redamak's has been a fixture in that town since 1946. The parking lot was packed. There were lots of people milling around. All signs of a good restaurant.
There was a short wait to be seated in the main section of the restaurant and no wait for the porch. We opted for the porch. The weather was nice and mild and we weren't uncomfortable without air conditioning.
The menus are cute and full of lots of choices, but Redamak's is famous for their burgers. I like a good burger so that's what I choose... a single with Swiss cheese and grilled onion, and a side of sweet potato fries. (It didn't photograph well because they wrap each burger in wax paper and the cheese stuck to it.)
D chose a Chicago-style beef sandwich and regular fries.
We were both happy with our meals and we'd stop there again if we were passing by but we wouldn't make a trip down there just for their burgers. They're good, but no better than the burgers at Roxy's in St Joseph.
We made our way back home and once again we stopped for an ice cream cone at the Dairy Korner before heading down to Silver Beach to watch the sunset. We weren't sure we'd actually see the sun set because the sky was clouded over but we figured we'd just people-watch along the beach anyway.
We never did see the sun but the twilight show after sunset was awesome! Sometimes you just have be patient and wait for Mother Nature's show. This evening's was spectacular. It was one of the most dramatic sunsets/twilights I've ever seen, and I've seen quite a few. The cloud patterns were stratified and highlighted in dramatic reds, oranges, and yellows. The sight was magical and breathtaking all at once. Such a great show! Here's one photo for you. You'll have to visit my photography blog to see the entire series of this day's sunset pics. Don't miss it! It's worth seeing, really!
And so ends another wonderful day in St Joseph...
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