On Our Radar, September 2022

Playtime. 

Chinook Pier Park on North Harbor Drive in Grand Haven now has even more to offer: along with its popular playground, locomotive and farmers market, the greenspace on the Grand River’s south channel now offers picnic tables, table tennis and cornhole boards. The redeveloped area debuted this summer where an aging building once stood. It also is a hub for food trucks, which will serve up fare including crepes and pita sandwiches through at least the end of September, when some other vendors may rotate in.

Something old, something new. 

Frank’s Restaurant continues to do breakfast and lunch business as usual at 137 E. Main St. in downtown Zeeland (as it has since 1924), and now it has a sister business: Frank’s East, a bar and grill right next door. That site has been in use as a banquet hall, and until some already-booked parties take place, there will be some variation in just which late-in-the-week and weekend hours Frank’s East will operate — but ultimately, expect Thursday to Saturday nights.

Wild things. 

Phase 1 of Muskegon County’s new Dune Harbor County Park has opened on a former sand mine in Norton Shores. With forested dunes, 2.2 miles of trails, and an inland lake created by the mining, it’s a magnet for kayakers, fisherfolk, birdwatchers and hikers. At present there’s no access to Lake Michigan, but plans are in the works. The park entry point is at Lincoln and Leif avenues in Norton Shores.

More playtime! 

Zero Latency Holland, where groups of up to eight can play virtual reality games while roaming a more than 2,000-square-foot area, opened this summer at 2522 Van Ommen Drive in Holland across U.S. 31 from Grand Rapids Community College’s Holland campus and The Shops at Westshore. If zombie hunting’s not your thing, try a VR racing simulator.

BBQ galore. 

Barbecue lovers, things just keep looking up in Holland. The barbecue choices in town are leaping by 300%. In addition to the long-popular Hog Wild on Lakewood Boulevard, three new establishments have joined the BBQ biz. Locally grown Holy Smokers has been serving up ribs and the rest for years from its popular food truck, and by the time you read this may have made the leap to brick-and-mortar, setting up shop in the former Subway location at 544 E. 8th St., two blocks off U.S. 31. On Holland’s north side, Boba Q opened this spring at 3013 West Shore Drive, dishing up boba tea alongside Laotian-fusion barbecued ribs and chicken and Laotian dishes like sticky rice and papaya salad. And also on Holland’s north side, the national chain Dickey’s Barbecue Pit has opened a location in the U.S. 31 strip mall at the corner of Felch Street anchored by Lowe’s.

Surprise! 

A few years back, if you read a sentence about strolling into City Hall to pick up some weed it would have seemed like the set-up for a punchline. Now that Michigan has legalized cannabis sales, in Fennville it’s no joke.City Hall Provisions, a full cannabis dispensary, is operating in the town’s old city hall building at 222 S. Maple St. It’s one of eight retail stores and professional offices that have opened in Fennville in the last several years. Another is Healthy Fennville, which serves up protein coffee, meal replacement shakes and energy teas at 216 E. Main St.