We’re finally headed to Chicago tomorrow, so we decided to do some sightseeing today. It was a gorgeous day with temp in upper 70s and beautiful blue skies. We took the hotel shuttle to Silver Beach, which is on the edge of the downtown area. Like so many of the towns and beaches along this side of Lake Michigan, St. Joseph and Silver Beach were once popular destinations for people from Chicago.

Looking down toward the beach – in the foreground is an old train station that still serves as an Amtrak stop, as well as a pizza place (Silver Beach Pizza – fantastic pizza!) Lake Michigan in the background is almost the same color as the sky!

   

I wonder which part they were kidding about                      Rich as Pizza Man hero

On the way to the beach is a building which houses a working carousel.

     

    

At last we made it to the beach, and what a beautiful beach it is! The sand was warm and soft, there were several shelters as well as large restroom facilities,  volleyball nets, and a huge playground on the beach.

Across from the beach was this stone lighthouse.

Whirlpool sponsored a number of things in the park next to the beach, including the fountains here, which run from noon to 2 and 5 to 9. Rich offered to take my picture if I stood by one of the fountains – it was tempting, but I didn’t have any dry clothes with me to change into, so I declined. Although it would have been a good excuse to buy a new outfit 😄

We realized that we could easily walk back to the marina instead of calling for the shuttle to pick us up and after all the pizza we had eaten, we thought the walk would be good for us. On the way we saw this building which looked like a grand old hotel, which by googling we found out had indeed once been considered the “Saratoga of the Midwest”. In the early 70s it was turned into a retirement facility and remains as such today. What really caught my eye was the large red silhouette on the top of the building that looks like someone trying  to jump off the top. I’m sure there’s a story behind it, but I haven’t been able to find out anything about it.

I was able to get a good shot of the hotel and marina on the way back. It’s a great facility and I can highly recommend it, but after 10 days it’s time to move on!