South Haven, Michigan | Lake Michigan

This video of South Haven, Michigan's southern beach is a compilation of photos I took in 2009 and video from the Fourth of July weekend 2010 (great fireworks!). I brought them all together for a little vignette of one of my favorite towns, South Haven.

South Haven's free South Beach Park can be busy if you enter it by the lighthouse during the peak summer days; but wander down the beach a ways and you'll have it all to yourself. Wander a bit more, a couple miles, and you're into the Van Buren State Park with its mile long beach and sand dunes.

The city of South Haven is located at the mouth of the Black River on Lake Michigan. It was founded in 1869 and has a population of about 5,000 people. It has a marina, lighthouse, museums, and many parks. Festivals such as the Blueberry Festival, Icebreaker Festival, and Harborfest draw a lot of visitors. Its Fourth of July fireworks are some of the best I've seen! The downtown has many shops and restaurants and just a short stroll to the marina and Lake Michigan.

Lake Michigan is the second largest of the five Great Lakes. It's the largest freshwater lake in the U.S.A. and the fifth largest lake on Earth and is about the size of West Virginia. You can't see across the lake because it's 118 miles wide and 307 miles long. It was formed during the last Great Ice Age and the greatest depth is 923 feet. The name Michigan is from the Ojibwa Indian word mishigami and means "great water." Lake Michigan's western and northern shores are rocky, while its southern and eastern shores (where South Haven is) are sandy and dune covered. The northern beaches are the only place in the world that Petoskey stones are found.

I had so much fun doing this video that I plan to do many others. I think the hardest part is finding music to go with the video, that's free to use.

HOW I DID IT

Pictures: cheap digital camera

Video: my Droid phone

Music: freeplaymusic.com

Software: Windows Live Movie Maker (free)

Education: Lynda.com

My Website: http://www.HealthAndHomeTopics.com

Category:

Travel & Events

Tags:

• south haven
• michigan
• lake michigan
• beach
• travel
• van buren
• resort
• parks