I LEFT MY HEART IN FENNVILLE, MI

View from the porch
By EVE MARX

I LEFT MY HEART IN FENNVILLE, MI

A few weeks ago we had a party. I apologize if we didn’t invite you, but like that friend limit thing on facebook, we officially have too many friends. In any case, the point of this story is not who was at the party, but what they all ate, which was hot dogs, genuine Chicago style grilled dogs served on a poppyseed bun, with the special fixin’s, including Rolf’s deli style green relish, Plochman’s mustard, chopped onion, a green pickle and sliced tomatoes. Even the dog itself is different as it’s not really a hot dog at all, but Vienna sausage, which is always made of beef. The sausage and the buns and the mustard and the relish were delivered to our house the day before the party in a box from Chicago packed in dry ice. Mr. Sax, formerly The Grillmaster, grilled them himself. He grilled about 75 of them and the guests were overcome with gustatory ecstasy. One guest, I later learned, devoured four hot dogs himself.
A week or so after the party, Mr. Sax and I traveled to Western Michigan to visit his family at their retirement home in Saugatuck, known as the Cape Cod of the Midwest. If you haven’t been to Saugatuck, it’s a lot like going to any beachy, boaty, upscale locale in Maine where a third of the summer population pulls up on a yacht and hangs out for a month v more at the Singapore Harbor condos, while still others rent a house for $5500 a week on Donovan’s Bluff, or gather for a month-long family reunion in one of the great old $2.5 mil North Woods cottages in nearby historic Fennville, an old winery community. The winter population of Saugatuck is about 1,000 people according to the last census. If you’re still there in November and you need a loaf of bread, prepare to drive to Holland.
From Memorial Day through Labor Day, there’s plenty to eat in Saugatuck, as long as you don’t crave Indian, sushi or Chinese. Or Greek or for that matter, even Italian. People come from all over the region to tour the art galleries and the antique marts and the gift shops and to hit the Dunes State Park and eat at Hercules Bar and Grill, which serves brat and kraut, chili dogs, bacon slaw dogs, Kowalski dogs and the aforementioned Chicago dog, as well as booze infused smoothies and pitchers of Lablatt’s. If you love fudge, Kilwin’s has the best. If you love slinging back micro brew beers, the Saugatuck Brewing Company and their handmade soft pretzels crusty with salt is pretty swell. On a higher culinary plane, I was knocked out impressed by The Olive Mill in downtown Saugatuck, which sells the most fragrant and delectable extra virgin olive oils and balsamic vinegars I’ve sampled in my life. Have you ever had blood orange olive oil, or oil steeped in Persian limes, or balsamic vinegar infused with pear or fig? Tasting is believing, but you can click on to www.olivemillgeneva.com to at least visually check it out.
Speaking of fine dining, we were only visiting for two nights, so I was very pleased to be introduced to an amazing restaurant in Fennville called Salt of the Earth. Fennville’s Spartan downtown features a drug store, a bank, a consignment shop only open when the proprietor feels like it, a hardware store, and this awesome restaurant where we had a locavore dinner of roasted chicken, spoonbread-style corn bread, lake trout and asparagus. This was all served in a chic, “Moderne Rustic” setting (i.e. exposed brick walls, battered wood floor, cool lighting, and midnight blue walls) that did not speak to me at all of the rest of prairie style Michigan. I am sorry to say this, but the people in Western Michigan need better hair. The mullet has never gone out, and women of all ages seem wedded to a bubble of curls bombed with Aqua-Net. And although nearby Douglas, which is stylish and right over the bridge, has an active gay population (The Dunes is touted as the Midwest’s largest gay and lesbian resort), at Oval Beach we saw a family of Mennonites whose menfolk swim in their regular clothes and whose females never get haircuts.
They talk funny in Michigan, which is to say they talk fast but slur their words, and they clip all their hard consonants in what linguists call a glottal stop. Not to mention everyone has a distinctive nasal pitch. The people in Saugatuck are very friendly, which is good as it is a resort town, but if you’re planning on hanging around long, or even spending an afternoon at the Sand Bar Saloon or Phil’s, you get the feeling if you’re a Democrat or agnostic, you should probably keep your trap shut.
What did I like best about western Michigan? The opportunity to kick back. If you’re looking for a vacation where you can truly do nothing but lounge on a screened in porch with a book, hop a plane to Grand Rapids and then drive on to Saugatuck. While you’re there, hit the Uncommon Grounds coffee bar; that’s a great place to hang out.