Lindsey+Lloyd

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Lindsey Lloyd Mr. Konett/1st hour Michigan History 22 March 2011  **The Beach House**  After 4 hours of endless driving, we finally see the mailbox that has been so familiar to us for years, and pull in. We have been waiting for this moment all year and are ready for another adventure. The car squeezes through the small path surrounded by trees leading to the cottage. As the car is put into park, we grab as much of our belongings into our arms as possible, and run up the stairs to the sliding glass door on the deck. The cool Lake Michigan breeze coming from the shore brushes off our skin asking for us to come down and visit. We set our things in our designated room and get our swim suits on. The musky, yet cool feeling of the lonely cottage welcomes us as it does every time. We grab a cooler, which still has remnants of the beach in it, and fill it with snacks and drinks as we always do. Everyone grabs a towel and heads towards the stairs.  We step off the deck onto wood chips, twigs, and pine needles and walk onto a short, yet steep path until we reach the steps. As we start our hike down eighty steps to the beach, we hear the waves roaring, and calling for us. As I have grown, the journey down the steps has become much shorter and less tiring than when I was a child. When you reach the bottom of the hill there is a stump from an old tree that was obviously in the way of us visiting the beach and was cut down so the path could continue. It has been there ever since I remember and has tripped someone at least once each visit. To the left of the path is a big storage bin with a green lid. Whenever you wanted toys or a life jacket, you would have to get it yourself before reaching the beach; this bin was where you would find these things. As we come around the corner there is one last stretch of about 5 steps. Next to the top of these steps is good size piece of driftwood with large nails protruding from it. My grandmother found this piece of wood along the beach and has had it for many years. Ever since I was very young I have been intrigued by this piece of wood. Where did it come from? What ship was it from? What happened to that ship? There was so many unanswered questions about that piece of driftwood.  Once your foot hits the sand after reaching the ground, you know exactly where you are. The dune grass is bent over the slightly overgrown path of beach sand, as it sways with the wind. As we’re walking through the path, the long grass swipes and tickles your legs. Once you get over the small hill blocking the view of the water, you lose all your worries. I set down my things and kick off my sandals. I walk up to the water and let the waves come up and hit my feet, hoping that the water is warm enough to walk farther into. With the sun at it’s peak, we have the rest of the day to do whatever we want. To the left and right of me, there is what looks to be endless miles of beach down the shore. To the right of me, if I look hard enough, there is a small white tower about the size of an ant, that is Pentwater’s Pierhead Lighthouse. To the left of me, if I was to go all the way to the end of the shore, is the Silver Lake Sand Dunes. The closer I am to this end, the more reving of the dune buggies I hear.  We can go on the beach whenever we want, and when we aren’t on the beach there is plenty of other places to be. If we are in the mood to go shopping or go into town, all we have to do is get in the car and drive to Downtown Pentwater. It is only about a ten minute drive down a winding road surrounded by trees. Once we get to the bridge crossing over Pentwater Lake, downtown is very close. Right off of Main Street, there is a white gazebo, which every Thursday has band night. On Thursday nights, we all bring a lawn chair and listen to the band.  The entire Main Street has souvenir shops along the sidewalks. One of these shops is an antique shop in the “Gustafson’s” building. This building throughout the years has been many different stores and has been here for a long time. The Gustafson’s building was originally built by Charles Mears to serve as a large general store on the main floor, with offices and a large combined meeting and dining room on the second floor. During construction, Mears, a dedicated Mason, thought it would be necessary to add a third floor, designing and furnishing it as an elaborate Masonic Temple. In the 1960’s, the masons decided to accept the offer of a smaller, street level building in trade for the third-floor temple. When I was younger, it used to be a souvenir shop, and went out of business a couple of years ago. Now it is an antique shop with many antique sellers’ items in it. Along the other side of the street, across from Gustafson’s, is the Brown Bear restaurant. This restaurant has huge burgers that you could not eat alone. The Brown Bear has a balcony seating area where we can look over the main street, and across to Pentwater Lake. It is always fun to go into town and through all the shops for a day, just to escape from the cottage.  Another Place that is very close to our cottage is Silver Lake. Silver lake has all kinds of recreational activities: go-kart tracks, putt-putt golf, souvenir shops, swimming, and going to the sand dunes. My favorite thing to do when I go into town is to visit the Silver Lake Sand Dunes. We can go on dune buggy rides, and also climb the huge sand hills. Ever since I was little, we would go to the dunes and there was one specific dune that we always went to climb. When we climbed up the hill, each step you took would sink into the sand and slide back down. If we were lucky and it wasn’t a windy day, the sand then wouldn’t pelt against our legs and faces. It was always so tiring, but once you made it to the top it was well worth it. I would look as far as I could and still only see sand. Every once in awhile we could hear the dune buggies squealing over the dunes. Eventually it was time to go back down. I would sprint down the hill hoping not to face plant. I have done this ever year we have gone to this one hill. It’s almost like a tradition for me now to do this, and it is one of my favorite parts about being up north. My grandmother always tells me how these sand dunes have covered houses over many years. There is a house directly next to this sand dune, that has to pay an extreme amount of money to get the sand dozed away each year so it doesn’t swallow his house. There is about 2,000 acres of Sand Dunes in Silver Lake. My uncle has always been willing to take us on the Dunes with his off road vehicles. We have been on the Dunes many times with my uncle.  Right outside of the Silver Lake Sand Dunes, is the Little Point Sable Lighthouse. This lighthouse was built in 1873 and is a wonderful place to relax. This Lighthouse was once painted white but until 1977, when the reduction of maintenance costs were made, the lighthouse was sandblasted to it’s original brick setting. The lighthouse is a beautiful place to spend a day on the beach and I have always enjoyed visiting this area.  Once we get back to the cottage after a long day in town, or on the beach, it’s nice to relax and watch the sunset. Fortunately, we have a wonderful view from our cottage, with windows covering the entire back side of the house. Or we have the choice to go and sit on the beach until the sun is not visible anymore. It has always been nice to take walks along the calm shoreline and walk into the waves that come up to our feet. No matter how stressful your life may be, when you come down to the beach, all of your worries are gone.