The Sandcastle Inn

In August, John and I took a short side trip from Kalamazoo, where we had attended a friends' daughter's wedding, to the Lake Michigan seaside town of South Haven, Michigan. We chose this area because the timing was perfect for the annual Perseid meteor shower, it was right on the lake for a good view, and the Inn was gorgeous.
At 2AM we woke up --before our alarm went off, by the way -- took our blanket and walked about two blocks down to the beach. We felt like teenagers sneaking out of the house!

There were parking lot lights in the area, but the big sand dune behind us provided enough "shade" to allow us a great view. The meteors were wonderful, and as frosting on the cake, a huge owl flew silently right over our heads while we were looking up. Perfect.