One of my favorite summer vacation destinations is Ludington Michigan in the west side of the state. I’ve been visiting Ludington since childhood when my father or uncle would take us kids north. There’s plenty to do in town but it’s the beach that brings me back often.
There’s a great family park/beach right on Lake Michigan called Stearns Park & Beach where most people go to swim, picnic and walk out to the North Breakwater Lighthouse . If you’re lucky you might even see the S.S Badger on its way across Lake Michigan to Wisconsin.
I’m more of a private beach person who prefers the sounds of seagulls and waves to the sounds of a crowd. I’ve never swam at the city park beach because I’ve always known about another “secret” spot a few miles down from the park that often provides just what I am looking for. Of course you have to go on the right days to ensure you have a large stretch of beach to yourselves. In my experience it’s during the weekdays when most people are working or gone home after a fun weekend that you get a good chance at having a large stretch of beach.
This year we visited during the weekend and into the week so I knew we would have a large area to ourselves if we visited the beach on Tuesday and Wednesday.
The photo below shows the beach goes on for miles.
The Mystery Meat 