Last weekend we packed up the car and headed north(west) about an hour and half for 3 days of camping fun with friends at Dunes Harbor Family Camp. The 2020 Silver Lake Camping Crew consisted of 4 families: ourselves, the Lubbers, the Canans and the DeWittes totaling 8 adults and 9 kids.
Camping a couple times a year has become a summer staple for us Kladders. And while I don’t necessarily ‘like’ camping… dirty feet, smokey clothes, deflating air mattresses, bugs, public restrooms… I do very much appreciate the memories that camping brings to our family. Jeff and I joke about how we are ‘city-folk’ and how camping is a good way to reboot by removing ourselves from our usual busy routine. We put away our phones and are completely present with each other. We slow cook our meals over the fire. We explore nature. We toss out agendas. And when else are we out in nature sleeping in a tent all four of us together? Like I said, memories.
We had an absolute blast with our friends enjoying activities both at the campground and offsite. When I asked Natalie her favorite part about the weekend she answered, “Now, don’t freak out, but… EVERYTHING!” We ate all the snacks including pop tarts for breakfast which I never buy. We had great conversations with our friends and Natalie even got to have a slumber party with her friend Maxine in the bunkbed in her trailer. And this weekend I oddly learned all of our friends favorite ice cream flavors. We all decided that hands down the crowd pleasing favorite is Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough. Other weekend activities included:
Horse Riding - The campground offered pony and horse riding on site and the kids were very excited about the opportunity. Both Natalie and Thomas liked riding the ponies which was way better than the ones they are used to that just go in a tethered circle at the local fair.
Fishing - Dunes Harbor Camp is a peninsula that’s surrounded by a very pretty river bed which makes for perfect fishing and small boats like kayaks. Our kids have been very into fishing lately after being introduced at the lake earlier this summer so they spent part of their Saturday morning hanging out with the Dads by the riverside.
Swimming - The camp also had a fantastic pool set up that was specifically designed for kids. It includes a kiddie zero entry portion with dumping buckets of water, a lazy river and a deeper end with a water slide.
Little Sable Point Lighthouse - Saturday night after a fantastic Mexican Fiesta dinner at the campsite we packed up the kiddos for an evening exploration of the Little Sable Point Lighthouse just south of downtown Silver Lake. It’s a very pretty lighthouse and extremely easy to get to - just a quick hike up a small dune. The kids had a blast exploring the paths through the dune grass and Thomas said this was his favorite part of the weekend.
Mac Woods Dune Rides - Sunday morning we packed up camping and boarded the biggest dune buggy I’ve ever seen - our entire group fit in one vehicle. $20 for adults and $12 for kids. We had a blast and even learned a little bit about the Silver Lake Michigan Lakeshore. Jeff got in his daily exercise by running down and then back up the dune overlook.
The Chicken Shack - Our last event of the weekend was a big group lunch at the Chicken Shack. They boast about having the best wings ever and honestly they might be right.
In terms of the campgrounds, Dunes Harbor was top notch and perhaps the nicest campground we’ve ever stayed at. Their facilities were next to new and offered a lot of modern amenities like upgraded restrooms and showers, an incredible pool and playground area, lots of outdoor recreation, as I previously mentioned: horses and pony rides and fun little gift shop. They had easy check in and out and very courteous staff. It was near water (a must for us) and a quick drive to Silver Lake and Lake Michigan. All in all, we’d highly recommend it. Feel free to reach out if you have any other specific questions - happy to answer.
Should we return during future camping trips we may consider renting a pontoon boat for the day on Silver Lake to spend more of our time on the water and the dunes. There are a handful of boat rental spots along the lakeshore.
And with one 2020 camping trip under our belts we look forward to round two later this summer. Stay cool out there Grand Rapids!
