Holiday weekend in Harbor Country, Michigan

Old Dec 9th, 2014, 07:41 AM
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Holiday weekend in Harbor Country, Michigan

Hello Fodorites,

Since the last entry about this awesome area in Southwest Michigan was some years ago, I thought I'd contribute a little trip report from a wonderful pre-holiday weekend spent in Harbor Country (http://www.harborcountry.org/).

We drove in from Ohio on Friday afternoon and proceeded to drop our bags off at the Lakeside Inn (http://www.lakesideinns.com/) in Lakeside. It's a neat, old-fashioned hotel with a grand porch overlooking the lake, big fireplaces, and lots of comfy couches. Our friends got married here last year, so we were familiar with the space and planned to spend some cozy time next to the fireplaces, sipping wine and enjoying the holiday decorations. Unfortunately for us, we were not the only ones with this plan in mind -- we realized Friday that the Inn was packed with several large groups who were celebrating together! That said, the Inn is perfect for that, and there is plenty of space to spread out. It did get a little rowdy as one of the groups had multiple children who were running around and the other had 3 dogs with them, but we still enjoyed the common spaces. Although the confirmation letter from the Inn states that you cannot bring beverages or outside food, everyone seemed to have some wine/beer/cheese, and the Innkeepers did not appear to mind. Our group stayed in rooms 5, 8 and 10, which are all on the second floor. The rooms are pretty utilitarian, but there are nicer rooms at the Inn that include jacuzzi tubs and other amenities.

We then headed out to dinner at Cafe Gulistan (www.cafegulistan.com) on the Red Arrow Highway, which we all loved! The food is Kurdish, which we had not tried before. We had the Gulistan appetizer as well as the Izagar shrimp, which were both excellent. The winning dish of the night had to be the Kavurma (traditional Kurdish wedding dish with cubes of tender top sirloin lamb, marinated and sautéed with onions, mushrooms, tomatoes, served with Basmati rice). We topped it all off with a delicious Israeli red wine. There was even some live entertainment at the restaurant, so it felt appropriately festive! After a detailed discussion about our Saturday eating and drinking plans, we called it a night.

Saturday morning we woke up early in order to get in three full meals We strolled up to the Blue Plate Cafe (http://www.blueplatemichigan.com/) and enjoyed their bakery samples, even taking a "breakfast dessert" ginger-pear crisp to go. We all loved the rosemary potato/sweet potato side dish, too. We then headed to the Harbert Antique Mall to do some browsing and shopping (note: opens at 11 am on weekends, but open year-round, unlike some of the other antique shops in the area). From there, we drove to Sawyer for a visit to the Go Fish store (http://www.harborcountry-news.com/ar...e347660184.txt) which had the neatest refurbished furniture and some delightful Swedish holiday gifts. Right behind Go Fish is the renowned Sawyer Garden Center, which was holding its Holiday Open House that weekend. We spent a lovely few hours sampling delicious samples, browsing the holiday decorations, and enjoying a wine tasting in the back of the store. I even found some choice Nicaraguan rum (Flor de Cana) that I've never seen anywhere else in the U.S. From there, we took a detour across the street to the Greenbush Brewery Annex (http://www.greenbushbrewing.com/) to have a pint and admire the firepits outside. The whole Sawyer downtown is tiny but packed with activity.

Appropriately shopped out, we got back in the cars and headed to Three Oaks to have lunch at Pleasant House (http://pleasanthousethreeoaks.com/). They serve British meat pies along with microbrewed English-style beers. It's a lovely space and the meat pies were delicious, especially the Chicken Balti and the Mushroom Kale. It seems like a small portion, but it is quite filling. The iced coffee (yes, an odd choice on a winter day) was also wonderful, without the usual bitter flavor. Our group then split up to continue the afternoon in Three Oaks - several went to the movies at the historical Vickers theater (http://www.vickerstheatre.com/) and the other half of the group enjoyed an afternoon at the Journeyman Distillery (http://www.journeymandistillery.com/). Our visit to Journeyman may have been my favorite part of the day – the cocktails were outstanding, the atmosphere chill and cozy. I can’t wait to go back!
After a brief stop at the Inn, we made our way to the Stray Dog in New Buffalo (http://thestraydog.com/) for dinner. Evidently, their rooftop deck is a big attraction in the summer. We all enjoyed dinner, but no dish stood out in particular. Oddly, they do not have offer desserts, so several of us had a “warmer” drink - a coffee/hot chocolate combo with some rumchata and schnapps. We made our way back to the Inn for some wine, snacks, and couch-lounging.

Sunday morning we checked out Louisa’s Café in Harbert (http://www.harbertswedishbakery.com/luisascafe.html) for some Swedish pancakes and other breakfast delights. The breakfast hits included Lox and Bagels with all the traditional fixins’ and a Dutch Apple pancake which was superb. Back at the Inn to check out, we finally got to sit by the big fireplace and ended up staying there for a few hours before a final stroll on the beach across the street.

Overall, a fantastic pre-holiday weekend with good friends, good food, and good cheer. Highly recommend the area and happy to answer any questions!
goodheart is offline  
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