With the economy as it is, saving can be difficult. I am fortunate to have been able to save up enough to go on this trip and, with the cooperation of my employer, was able to take a month long vacation. Thankfully I am familiar with getting the most for my money and returned home with a little money to spare. For those interested, here is how it went:

BTW, all pics will expand if clicked.

Saturday, June 20th

Things got off on the wrong foot when packing took way more time than I had anticipated. I left the house at around 11AM.....argh! Fortunately, I still made it to St Joseph, MI within a reasonable amount of time and got these two pics in before night fell (at least with the first two that is...:



Sunday, June 21st

Looking at my planner on Saturday, I realized that a few lighthouses would have to be cut if I was to make it to Point Betsie before the museum closed. I elected to start out by axing South Haven and Holland Harbor in favor of getting further down the road. Since I had visited those lights on my previous vacation, I was able to make the tough decision that my first stop would be Grand Haven instead:



Continuing up the coast, I also elected to stop at Muskegon South Pierhead:


It is truly odd that a lighthouse enthusiast such as myself would live in one of the only 3 states east of the Mississippi that does not have a lighthouse. Go figure. :p