Tulip City Dispatch

Alright, so this one is kind of cheating - It's not actually at the Holland establishment, Cranes In The City, but it's at Crane's Orchards south of town in Fennville.  BUT, this orchard visit is  called out in the footnotes of Ms. Bareman's 100 Things To Do .  Cranes In The City has been in Holland since 2010 (Bareman), and they do offer snacks and drinks, as well as a host of apple-themed gifts.  It's absolutely wonderful to be around orchards and the like - south and west of Holland around Fennville, Glenn, and Ganges; then north of town in Chester Township and into northern Kent County. I've definitely gotten sandwiches at Crane's In The City, but I can't distinctly remember when...I was flipping through some digital clutter and found these pictures, which triggered my memory.  Check out the views, from the panorama to the sunbeam shining through the apple tree branches.

 As a grown-ass man, it shocked my wife that I had never been to Disney World, nor had really any desire to do so.  Growing up, my family did a lot of camping around the state of Michigan.  This was cause for a marriage moment one time when I took my wife camping, and after a few days of cooking eggs in a cast iron pan and soaking up the wilderness, she said "...so, you guys just...sit in the woods?" I blinked a few times and said "Yeah.  It's relaxing, isn't it?" No schedules, no time tables, just a week away from it all.  And, mind you, growing up (and into married life), we're not talking wilderness camping.  I've always done campground stuff, with water nearby and restroom facilities...these days, it's important to have a power outlet for phones and stuff.  But, the conversation in question was at a campground right off of a main highway going through the UP - there was a McDonald's and a gas station within a quarter mile, and the campgro