#cherry hut

There is a moment while driving on 31 in Benzonia when you’re sitting at the top of a hill overlooking Beulah, Crystal Lake, and further away the city of Honor. Driving down that hill, I get butterflies every time because it reminds me of my childhood. I know that road and that town like muscle memory because even though I never lived there and really only visited each year for a week at a time, each visit was incredibly special to me. My grandparents have a cabin on a road close to Crystal Lake, which has been passed on to my dad, that smells a certain way and looks a certain way. It’s all very nostalgic for me. 

Last week as we faced a long Memorial Day Weekend, we went back and forth about what to do and where to go. We had plans to camp at Muskegon State Park, but we were feeling meh about that. My dad had invited us to the Beulah cabin with him, my step-mom, my sister and her friend. But we wanted to camp, so we decided to join them but stay in the side yard. I’m so glad we did that: We had the benefit of spending time with family but also the exciting freedom that comes with camping and being on our own schedule. We did our favorite things, like visiting the Cherry Hut and the flyfishing shop. We sat for hours with my family at a brewery on the first night we were there. We went to the drive-in movie theater, the Cherry Bowl Drive-In, and I was the only person who stayed awake for the movie. We tried a new deli called L’Chayim that had incredible bagels.

I love the way we walk away with this collection of memories that soothe me, because they are made up of these places that mean so much to me. Each moment this weekend builds on the one before it until we’re saying to ourselves, “This is our place” and talking about how to come back again and again. It’s not just nostalgia anymore. It’s more than that. It’s building a place and a love for a place in my adult life with my spouse. That’s pretty incredible. I feel very lucky for that. 

- Lucy