Where to Eat, Sleep and Shop Along the Southwest Michigan Shoreline

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I’ve loved the southwest Michigan shore for as long as I can remember. In the 1960s, my grandparents bought a simple cabin in the aptly named tiny town of Covert, where their house sat at the edge of a dune overlooking mercurial Lake Michigan.

My grandfather, an architect and artist, spent summers there sketching whomever happened to be playing cards on the porch, curled up in the rope hammocks or lost in a novel in one of the barreled equipale chairs. His line drawings now hang in my parents’ house and my own, mementos of languorous summers spent on the Great Lake.

Carved by glaciers thousands of years ago, southwest Michigan packs an extraordinary variety of landscapes into a relatively small stretch of shoreline: towering dunes, ancient sandy forests, wetlands, vineyards and bucolic farmland. All around the lakes are beaches and campgrounds and many hidden public access points tucked between cottages and dense patches of trees.

While my grandparents landed in Covert, generations of artists settled a little farther south in what’s now known as Harbor Country. The nickname refers to a string of Lake Michigan towns stretching from Michiana and Grand Beach to New Buffalo, Union Pier, Lakeside, Sawyer and Bridgman. It also includes Harbert, an unincorporated community where the Chicago poet Carl Sandburg kept a home, and, depending on whom you ask, extends inland to Three Oaks and Baroda.

One of the region’s enduring creative anchors is the Lakeside Inn, a 31-room hotel in the town of the same name that feels pickled in time. While it’s changed hands a few times since opening in 1915, John Wilson, the owner from 1966 until 1994, is most often credited for transforming the lodge into the artists’ haunt it remains today. The founder of the Chicago International Art Exposition, Wilson was known for inviting artists from around the world — and especially the Soviet states — to live at the inn and create work that he later exhibited and sold at the fair.

In recent years, another wave of creative people — many of them arriving during the pandemic — have reshaped the area with new restaurants, shops and galleries that draw as much inspiration from the landscape as did the generations that came before. “There’s something about the light and the air here,” says the painter Candida Alvarez, who moved to the area almost six years ago. “It lends itself to peacefulness.” So, even if you didn’t spend your childhood summers in this corner of the Midwest, the area, adds Alvarez, “provides a sanctuary, a place where creativity can unfold.”

The Insiders

The painter Candida Alvarez bought a house in the village of Baroda in 2020 and moved her art studio into a barn on the property.

A chef, farmer and cookbook author, Abra Berens has been director at large of the culinary program at Granor Farm in Three Oaks, which hosts seasonal dinners, for the past decade.

Ariane Prewitt is the owner of AP Shop in Lakeside, a boutique specializing in clothing by international designers and homewares.

Michael Slaboch moved to Harbor Country with his wife, Penny Duff, in 2016. The couple co-own Out There, a wine bar and retail shop in Sawyer.

Illustrations by Richard Pedaline

Sleep

“Petite Acres in New Buffalo has nicer versions of “Dirty Dancing”-style cottages with different-size rental houses that together function as a whole campus. Our lead baker also teaches yoga classes there. Near a nature preserve, it feels like a hideaway but it’s very close to town.” From $490 a night. — Abra Berens

“Lakeside Inn is a place with a huge amount of creative history. There was an artist collective that would gather there for many years, and they still have artist residencies. It’s a traditional place, with stone fireplaces and a big, long front porch. Guests have access to a private beach, which is so nice.” From $140 a night. — Ariane Prewitt

“Harbor Grand Hotel, in New Buffalo, is really thoughtfully put together. There’s a spa, an indoor saltwater pool and fireplaces in some rooms. There’s also a great Italian restaurant, Terrace Room, which makes all the fresh pasta in-house. The pappardelle bolognese is the most comforting, and the cioppino is amazing.” From $520 a night. — Michael Slaboch

There’s also Verdant Hollow Farms in Buchanan, where you can stay in the Black Barn designed by Chicago architect Stanley Tigerman. It’s this incredible open-concept space with soaring ceilings and an interior that’s like a maze. It’s a very playful property. You’re surrounded by this gorgeous, sprawling regenerative farm where the owners raise goats, pigs and other animals. They also have a creamery and there’s a farm store on the weekends.” From $475 a night with a two-night minimum. — M.S.

“For pizza, I order from Emma Hearth & Market in Bridgman. The last time I was there, a friend got an anchovy pizza, and it was so good that now I get it too.” — Candida Alvarez

“David’s Deli in New Buffalo serves my favorite breakfast sandwich: an open-faced Reuben with corned beef, Russian dressing, sauerkraut and a sunny-side-up egg on top. It’s the perfect size. They’ve also got great bagel sandwiches, and they’ll do one with cream cheese, bacon, tomato and spinach. The owners support a ton of local farms, so you’re never getting grocery store tomatoes.” — A.B.

“Whistle Stop Grocery in Union Pier makes great tea bread. The flavors vary; right now there’s a zesty orange. Earlier in the season, you’ll usually find a blueberry lemon loaf. Out There, a wine shop and bar in Sawyer with live music, is also wonderful. It hosts winemakers from everywhere, and gets really interesting people coming through to play shows. The owner of Farmette, Katie Burdett, has been a farmer for a long time. Her market in New Buffalo has great coffee and kombucha on tap. She has delicious sourdough bread, too. You can sit outside near the garden and see what she’s growing.” — A.P.

“The farm dinners at Granor Farm in Three Oaks are incredible. The kitchen staff often harvests vegetables in the morning that’ll be on your plate that evening. The meals are set in a huge greenhouse with floor-to-ceiling glass, so the landscape is as much a part of the experience as the food.

“Stranger Wine Company in Buchanan is run by a husband-and-wife team who make these very Burgundian wines. The pinot noir is gorgeous, and when they have the estate chardonnay, it really showcases how amazing Michigan is for growing grapes. The tasting room is in this old bank from 1866.” — M.S.

Shop

“Schaller Gallery in Baroda is a real gem. They sell beautifully made ceramics and clay works, and it’s one of those destination places that not a lot of people know about.” — C.A.

“Pat and Ellie are the owners at P & E Bottle Shop in Three Oaks. Ellie comes from a winemaking family in California and grew up in Europe. She gets bottles that nobody else in the country can get. Pat, who trained in world-class kitchens like Pizzeria Delfina in San Francisco and Blackbird in Chicago, runs this little in-shop charcuterie bar and deli, making homemade sausages and slicing meats and cheeses. It’s the perfect example of why this part of Michigan is so special.” — A.B.

“Stacia Garriott Kass, the owner of Sojourn in Sawyer, has a great eye. She sells a lot of ceramics and I found these incredible teak chairs from Denmark there. I also like Trilogy, this multi-vendor antiques shop in Three Oaks run by Brandon Nelson. Brandon goes to antique shows like 214 Modern in High Point, N.C., and he comes back with incredible finds.” — A.P.

“AP Shop is a stunning store. Ariane sells a mix of artisan home goods and designer clothing that she sources from around the world. She also loves the history of fashion, and has a huge vintage collection in the back room that she’s been curating for years.” — M.S.

Explore

“You can go to any beach at sunset and watch the sun dip down over the lake, but I like Weko Beach in Bridgman best. It’s just beautiful.” — C.A.

“Hiking through Grand Mere State Park you can really see the diversity of the landscape. You start by walking through the woods along an inland lake where the dunes have separated it from Lake Michigan, then walk along the water and climb up over a dune and back into the forest. The whole hike is just stunning.” — A.B.

“I love Warren Dunes. You can hike there year-round. One of my favorite things is looking for crinoids, these fossilized little sea lilies that look like beads. There’s a local story that in the 1920s, women in Lakeside would make necklaces out of them, and whoever had the longest one at the end of the summer would win. I try to make a necklace every season; it’s my way of knowing I’ve spent enough time on the beach.” — A.P.

“The Galien River Marsh in New Buffalo is such a different way to experience the water. It’s a nature preserve that’s teeming with birds — you’ll see bald eagles and egrets — and it’s incredibly quiet.” — M.S.

These interviews have been edited and condensed.