Vacation Ideas near Lake Michigan for an 18 Month-old

Our family likes to vacation in Michigan each year--we rent a lakehouse. We find them at vacationrentals.com and haven't had a bad one--the owners have always been very accomodating and the houses clean and comfortable. Me like this method because we don't have to drop 100's of dollars in restaurants. We can cook/BBQ ourselves.

There's also a wonderful vacation place in South Haven called *Chalet on the Lake*. I used to go there as a child. There's a pool, parks, and you rent half of an a-frame, complete with kitchen and screened-in porch.

Good luck--have a great vacation!

We are going to South Haven this August. I suggest going through the owner of a condo. We found ours through VRBO.com. The condo we are staying at is on the beach and has a pool. We are paying $1300 for the week.

My family has been going there for years. They love it. We picked August because I want to make sure it is hot enough. It may be cooler on the lake.

We have been to Holland, South Haven, and Grand Haven. All are very nice towns and have lots of things to do. South Haven and Holland both have beautiful beaches with nice sand. We usually stay in a hotel in Holland near the outlet mall. There are also a lot of restaurants and fast food places in the area if you are on the go and need a quick meal. Grand Haven has some really cute shops and a fountain/light show at night.

Silver Beach on Lake Michigan in St. Joseph's is fantastic for families. It's a large public beach, and there are concessions, a playground, and a huge, beautiful, sandy beach. It can get busy on a hot summer weekend. St. Joseph's downtown is really quite lovely to wander, with nice little shops and restaurants. There are several hotels in the area, although they might not be right ON the beach.

Our family has been renting a condo at Pottawattamie resort in Coloma, MI the past few summers....about 10-15 minutes drive north of St. Joe's. The resort is up on a bluff looking down on the lake, so unless you get the use of a golf cart to go down the steep hill to the beach it IS a bit of a hike. But it's a private, clean beach, and the new villas have a wonderful view of Lake Michigan. It's become my 10 year old son's favorite vacation spot....even better than the amusement parks. The older cabin section is more like a stereotypical summer camp. They also have a heated pool and shuffleboard court. They have a website: www.pottawattamieresort.com

My family owns two houses in a area in between St. Joesph and South Haven Michigan. So I am familiar with both areas. I think they would both be great because both are located on the water and both have small towns with resturants and shops. Also both towns are filed with vacationing families. I can not recommend any rental property because we have not needed any. The two towns are located close enough together that if you wanted to you could take a 35 min drive to check out the other town. If you have any question feel free to contact me. Have a great vacation!