As a gardening and cooking enthusiast, I search to find the best stores for cooks and gardeners. I love to find unusual gourmet foods from other countries, as well as gardening tools and historic seeds. On my recent trip to western Michigan, I found some great boutique shops in downtown Holland Michigan. Michigan is filled with small towns and darling shops. I love to browse these stores to see products I am not able to buy in my local markets. This was my first trip to western Michigan since we moved back to the State.
Since Holland is well-known for Dutch history and authentic customs, such as wooden shoe dancing, the shopping is very unique. Some shops have authentic food products from the Netherlands, along with wooden shoes and other Dutch items. The downtown area is beautiful. The stores have been renovated, and the merchandise is amazing. Some of the shops seem geared to summer Lake visitors with nautical merchandise. A very large cooking and home store is located downtown, Teermans, which I could have shopped for several hours. A hometown candy store was totally fantastic. Other shops included The Seasoned Home filled with spices, loose leaf teas, gourmet foods, kitchen accessories and home decor.
In another part of the city, was the wooden shoe factory with the only blue and white delftware made in the United States. Here visitors watch how wooden shoes are made on machines imported from the Netherlands. And, artists paint the delftware while visitors watch. The store is filled with merchandise not found other places in the United States. Many of the patterns are garden themed.
This was so much fun. And, of course Lake Michigan is less than thirty minutes away.
angel food garden 