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Published: August 9th 2013
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Windmill
One of two windmills in the Windmill Island Gardens Aug. 6: Holland, Michigan has been on my bucket list for a long time. I really always wanted to see the tulip festival. Obviously, my timing this trip was way off. I will have to come back again some spring-time and catch the fields of flowers in bloom. In the meantime, I settled for some other flowers and Dutch type buildings and gardens, complete with windmills.
I drove around downtown a bit, then parked to walk. Downtown Holland is very clean, with numerous specialty shops and sidewalk cafes. I was impressed with the cleanliness and the the décor of some of the buildings, but didn't stay around to shop.
Next stop was the Windmill Island Gardens. I don't think this is where the tulips and other spring flowers are commercially grown, but I'm sure there are plenty there in the spring. Of course this being August there weren't any. There were few flowers, actually, but I enjoyed seeing the Dutch atmosphere. The Gardens featured two windmills. I stopped at the larger one to go inside and watch the dancers prepare for their next “show”. All were enthusiastic young people with lots of energy! They weren't that great at the
Color on the Roof
Interesting roof in Holland, Michigan dances, but were cute in their Dutch costumes and big smiles.
There were several stores and displays, mostly with items to sell. One building had a miniature replica of a 19
th century fishing village which was fascinating. Exquisite detail on the display which took up a wall about 20 foot long. I could only photograph it in sections, which I did. I don't know if I will try to piece together a panorama or not.
Another store featured wooden shoes in all sizes and varied designs. I really wanted a pair, but no place to store them or wear them, really. I settled for a one inch ceramic pair on a key chain, which now is attached to my curtains in the RV.
My second stop was a tourist attraction called Dutch Village. It was a good stop for the variety of shows, shops and senior citizen discount! It was made up like a modern style farm village, but also had art and music. There were several life-size sculptures. One was of a man on a bridge holding a fishing pole with a wooden shoe on the end of it. He represented a bridge-tender who collected the
Friezework
An example of the decorative trimmings found in downtown Holland. small coins for boats going under the bridge. Other sculptures included a fisherman mending a net and Van Gogh painting a picture.
There was a huge, working street organ that had been brought over from Holland and restored. (There was a similar, but smaller one at the Gardens.) These organs are so big it is hard to believe they were considered portable. This particular organ, named Golden Angel is one of the largest ever made. Due to it's size, it was used mainly at fairs or market days and not on the streets. Other, smaller organs would be pushed along the streets and played with a hand-turned crank. The Golden Angel has 90 notes including drums and bells.
Someone turned this organ on and some young dancers came out and performed to the player-piano-sound of the music. One of the dancers gave an explanation of some of the dances and the meanings behind some of the sets. An audience member asked about the durability of the wooden shoes. He replied that the dancers went through a pair about every two weeks! I was shocked—I thought they would last a lot longer. As it happened one of the boys
Does the shoe fit?
Young people trying on wooden shoes. broke a shoe in half on the first dance. He went the rest of the way with only one shoe. These dancers were a little older and much better than the ones at the Gardens.
I visited a replica of a Dutch farm house complete with sitting room, kitchen, dining area and two “bedrooms”. The bedrooms consisted of a double-wide bed in an alcove! These areas were called "bedstays". Babies would sleep in a cradle by the bed and small children in shelves above the bed. Talk about using space! I think I would feel claustrophobic in one of those! Not to mention the fact of trying to change the linens. I have read that most Dutch housewives pull out all of the bedding, including the normally used feather-bed “mattress” when they clean. The feather beds are shaken out and hung up to air. I left the ladder in the picture to show there was another bedstay next to the open one and to represent the loft where older children would sleep.
After visiting the farmhouse and petting barn, I headed back to store area, which was arranged along a canal. I watched a shoemaker carve
Garden Dancers
Young dancers at Windmill Island Gardens the wooden shoes, a woman make candles and finally bought some cheese and crackers in the cheese shop. (After the young lady so cheerfully posed for a picture for me, what else could I do?)
Bootsie--Sounds like a pretty boring place to me. W..e..l..l.l, maybe I would have liked to check out the barn and the cheese shop! While I wish I could have seen the tulips in bloom, all-in-all I really enjoyed my day in Holland.
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Sojourner1208
William
Interesting article with colorful pictures
Interesting and detailed blog. I wouldn't mind having a pair of those wooded shoes myself for wet weather. I wouldn't do much dancing in them so they should last longer.