Sunday Snippet: The Places I Love Most Edition
This might be a lazy way to blog but I’ve been thinking a lot about places that I love. Pal Carol and I are going to be going to France next fall (2027) and thinking about travel has made me consider all the places that I’ve been to and loved.
This isn’t a travel memories kind of post, though. Rather, I’ve been thinking about places that have always been special to me. Places I return to for restoration and renewal. So here are three places that always make me happy and not surprisingly, they are all right here in the Midwest.
Whitehall, Michigan: Wow… I’ve been going to Whitehall since I was a kid. Mom took us up there when we camped at Muskegon State Park and Husband and I went back to Whitehall on our honeymoon and Liz and I drove up to visit when we had a writing retreat in Grand Haven. Here’s the very best part: When you drive along north Scenic Drive, you get to a place at the top of a rise where suddenly there is Lake Michigan in all its glory. There’s a spot to pull over and Mom always did so we could “say hello to the lake.” I do, too, every time I go up there. It is my spirit’s best place. Whitehall is where I found a packet of Paris postcards from the early 1900s. I was about ten, I think, and the cards made me realize I had France in my very bones.
Madison, Indiana: I think by now y’all know that this little Ohio River town was the inspiration for my fictional town of River’s Edge. It is an amazing place. Tons of history, the Ohio River, Clifty Falls Stat Park, and a spirit of “family” among the townsfolk. The River Walk is a delightful place to wander along the Ohio and watch barges and even the occasional river boat traverse up or down the vast expanse of river. The town just oozes history and culture, and I feel like I’ve come home every time I visit.
The Lake: Our lake which is also Husband’s favorite place. Our bay is big and deep and beautiful and the lake is alive with summer folk from May through September and quiet all winter, except for ice fisherman. So many of our marriage memories are there as well as our family histories. Husband’s grandparents had a cottage there and he grew up spending summers fishing and playing on the dock. My ancestors founded the town that is near the headwaters of the river that was eventually dammed way back in the 1920s to become our lake. One of my very favorite wineries is there, as well as our lake pals.
So did you notice a theme in this list? It’s water, in case you missed it. Fresh water, not salt water. Although the ocean and coasts are nice, and I do love Asilomar in Pacific Grove, California, and the Pacific down by Santa Monica, as well as the Gulf of MEXICO in Florida and the Atlantic on the East coast, fresh water lakes and rivers are still my very favorite. I’m a lake girl.
Share three of your very favorite places in the United States. I’d love to hear about them. There’s a chance to nab the e-book of your choice of any of the River’s Edge titles if you tell me in the comments your list of three. I’ll draw a winner on Tuesday.
Gratitude for This Week: Bike riding; massage on Thursday was heaven; Sis lent me her cycle pedaler for under my desk and I’m cycling as I write this; Wrote words; and we cleaned the house–all is fresh here.
Stay well, speak out when you can and check your voter registration so you’re ready when November 3 gets here, always choose kindness, and most of all, mes amis, stay grateful!
PS: Speaking of River’s Edge: Meant to Be is still on sale for just 99 cents for a short time! Be sure to grab your copy if you haven’t already and welcome home to River’s Edge!
7 Comments
Patricia Barraclough
The first of my favorite places is also a lake. It is a small mountain lake in the Adirondacks of Northern New York. My family had a camp up ther and I spent many days rowing or canoeing on the lake. I was srrounded by thick forest and I would often head out into the woods to climb the mountain on the West side. There were no trails, but I never got lost. I don’t think I went the same way once over all those years. Once I found an outcrop of quartz crystals but had no way to collect any. I never did find it again.
My second place is really a region. I love the West, especially around Colorado Springs. the majestic Rocky Mountains and the vast openess, of the rangelands is breathtaking. The National Parks are spectacular and so different from one another.
My third place is also a region of sorts. I love the ocean coastline. I am not a beach person. I love the rocky coastline of New England (into Canada) and that of the Northwest of both the US and Canada.
I hope you have a good week and that the weather is not too hot or stormy for a change.
Glenda M
Hi Nan!
My 3 favorite places in the US are my home in the hill country outside of Austin, TX, the area around the Grand Tetons in both Idaho and Wyoming, and – I’m totally cheating here – pretty much any National Park and most State Parks. Being out in nature helps calm my mind and my soul.
Liz Flaherty
Hi, Nan! Three of my favorite places–aside from home–are the coast of Maine, Vermont in its entirety, and Michigan’s west coast. I probably have about 25 also-rans, too.
Kathleen Shaputis
Three favorite places has to start with the rocking chair on my front porch. I have giant firs touching the sky with my memorial garden growing these last eleven years.
The Pacific ocean is my childhood through my thirties soothing station. The continuous roar of the waves is a lullaby to the heart, every time. I am scheduled for a book event in early October in Long Beach, Washington and booked an ocean front room as a treat to myself.
The third place lives in my heart more than anything. Last time I was there was five years ago, just after covid was my hometown of Ontario California and only for a weekend. It was changed so much, but I grew up there, still have family in the area and my mom’s ashes were spread on Mt Baldy that overlooks the city.
Okay, that was harder than I thought.
Kate Hoime
Hi Nan, I love the outdoors!! My three favorite places are Lake Tahoe in the summer (I don’t snow ski)
Love to celebrate my birthday up there with my twin I also love Napa Valley, born & raised there
I love San Diego ⚓️ My son was station there while in the Navy for four yrs!! He’s back home with his family now here in Sacramento, Ca
My oldest son lives down there now!! Love the beach
Thank you!! Enjoy your travels & Sunday too
Kate Sparks
Dauphin Island, ALwbere we going February for the quiet sounds of the ocean. My mom’s deck overseeing the lake til we sold it after her death in 2011. My swing on the back patio.
From Pat Lieberman
My favorite place is my home. It is near my granddaughter and good friends. 2nd favorite place is where my granddaughter lives and 3rd is being where my good friends are. I have a great nephew born last month but he lives across the country. I am older and hope to get to meet him someday.