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| Holland. |
For a long,
long time I have talked to Brian about making a [now] family trip to Holland to attend the Tulip Festival in Lisse -
Keukenhof. I first learned about this incredible place while I studied Horticulture in college and it left a lasting impression on my heart and soul. (So did, like, 100 other places around the world I studied about in college too, by the way.)
Every year when we talk about where we are going to travel, I bring this up. So, what does Brian do? He finds us a Tulip Festival...in Holland...and books us a trip. BUT, and there's always a but, it wasn't
Holland.
It was Michigan. Holland, Michigan. Five hours north-ish of Columbus, OH. It was doable, affordable, and we both kind of thought it would semi-squash that aching for the real thing and perhaps become an awesome annual trip. We learned otherwise...
When we first heard about the tulip festival in Holland, MI, we had HIGH hopes. I mean, this tulip festival was supposed to be a compromise to THE REAL THING. So, we compromised Holland, MI for The Netherlands "Holland" and found a Tulip Festival called Tulip Time to curb the desire of the real thing. The festival really started on Friday night, May 6th, and went through the following week. We decided to head up and go right before the actual festival started and stay through the beginning.
Thank goodness we did this because with the early spring we've experienced most, if not all, of the tulips were either at their prime bloom or already past it. Negative mark one.
The tulips we did see were very pretty, but they were a lot more sparse than the photos online showed. Negative mark two. For instance, we took a walk down "Tulip Lane" which was supposedly part of a walking path that lead you through the town with tulips. Yes, the street was lined with tulips. Yes, it was pretty. But, it was two tulips deep. And it looked...forgotten.
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| Ok, maybe more than two deep in some areas but not more than four. |
We visited Windmill Island Gardens where there really is a Windmill and the fields are planted with thousands of tulips. But, again, it was not nearly the amount of tulips that I expected to see. I mean, I expected tulip fields as far as the eye could see. What I got was tulip rows, as long as the arms could reach. Negative mark three.
In addition, the entire atmosphere was very...touristy. There were carnival type food vendors that lined the streets. There was a carnival, think state fair, type of festival that was supposed to be at night. The areas denoted as good areas to view tulips seemed like small planters full or beds filled with tulips. And it wasn't because we were there a day before the festival started. We saw the same exact tulips that the festival-goers were seeing too.
Like I had mentioned, most of the tulips had already bloomed and a lot of beds with the "early bloomers" simply had tulip stalks.
The windmill was neat, but the people giving tours were literally sticklers about any extra noise while they were presenting. They also looked as if that stinkin' windmill was the last place they'd like to be. If I didn't know better, I could've sworn we would have had a quiz at the end of our tour and would have gotten slapped on the wrist with a ruler if we didn't answer the questions correctly. Luckily, that was not the case.
On top of it all, our directions took us there through a bunch of country roads and it was just a really strange and
long travel route AND Kate was not in the greatest mood for the majority of the trip and didn't really want to do anything we suggested...even with an unplanned park stop and snow cone thrown into the mix.
Overall, we were thoroughly disappointed in Holland, Michigan's tulip festival. It was a complete letdown. We were happy to have gotten in later on Thursday (before the festival), had Friday to explore, and to have left early on Saturday. Suffice it to say, we will not be going back as a planned vacation or making this an annual trip.
On some positive notes, we stayed at an amazing hotel right downtown (Courtyard Marriott), right on the parade route. Kate and Maya loved the balcony and we loved people watching. We also ate at a really decent, albeit touristy, place called Windmill Restaurant. The food was inexpensive and tasty and filled us all up for breakfast two mornings. The downtown was quaint and really quite pretty with all the little boutique shops. The little kids dressed in their dutch costumes were positively adorable. And, it was Mother's Day weekend, and I had both of my babies in my arms at one point. That always makes everything better.
On one last positive note, Kate still talks about this trip. Whenever we are playing she mentions going to "Michigan, Holland" at some point! (And I can vouch for this since I am writing this three months post-trip.)
And now, our first and last trip to Holland, MI in photos:
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| Maya climbed into our bag to get her blanket before we left! |
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After 5-ish hours in the car and Kate still wanted
to be pushed on the luggage carrier. |
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| Maya gets her first peek at the balcony! |
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| A little breakfast in bed for our littlest lady! |
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| Kate and Daddy at the Windmill Restaurant. |
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| Mommy and Maya too! |
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| My little dutch girl at the park we stopped to play at. |
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| Taking a walk around a local Holland park. |
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| Maya Bear with the tulips. |
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| Getting this photo may have made the trip worth it! |
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| But having both of my babies in my arms definitely did. |
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| I love this. |
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After our walk around, we headed to Windmill Island Gardens.
Complete with a windmill...and some gardens...though not on
an island... |
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| This was the best we got for our family photo. |
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| Tulips. |
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| Lovely tulips. |
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| My girl in a row of tulips. |
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| Trying to capture a moment. |
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And that I did. They both aren't smiling but they are both who
they are at this moment. And I love them completely. |
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Maya checks out the windmill and the already
bloomed gardens of tulips. |
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The view from the windmill. That little area where all the
brightly colored tulips are is where all of the photos above
were taken. It probably is really pretty when all the rows
that are in the forefront of the photo are blooming. |
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Checking out a random person on the street showing
off her bird friends. |
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| Pre-wooden shoe dance sister entertainment. |
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| Wooden shoe dances in the street. |
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| All together now. |
And a little klomp-klomping for your viewing pleasure:
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The kiddos got to take a turn at the end too.
Minus the wooden shoes. |
One day I'll make it to Keukenhof for the real thing. One day.
