Pentwater, Michigan

Located on the eastern shore of Lake Michigan, about midway between Muskegon and Ludington, Pentwater is a typical summertime tourist town consisting of a serious marina, one main street, lots of homes for rent and a fantastic beach. If you go, be sure to stop in at the Petri Gallery right on the main street to wander through several rooms in stunning and whimsical creativity.

As you can see from the photos it was far too windy for beachgoers and swimmers or for our picnic lunch so we ate inside the car and watched the parasurfers who were clearly ignoring the red flag warning "no swimming."

After leaving town we drove north to the Pentwater Cemetery where I tracked down the grave of Edwin Nickerson, a former soldier in the 3rd Michigan Infantry. The cemetery in Pentwater is located on a series of wooded hillsides where many, if not most of the earliest grave sites are built with terraces to compensate for the slopes. Fascinating.

And on our way back to Grand Rapids we stopped at the cemetery in Hart, Michigan to look for Isaac Reed, another veteran of the Old 3rd Michigan Infantry. As I was returning to the car I came across a bit of wisdom on the Collier family stone, a couplet that spoke to me.

the Grand Army of the Republic memorial rock right along the main drag.

"So should we live that every hour 

Should die as dies the natural flower"