The ultimate summer festival spans between two July weekends in 2012, as July 4th lands smack in between on a Wednesday!  The Queen’s Cup boat race finishes in South Haven on Saturday, June 30th. The South Haven Center for the Arts fair is in Stanley Johnston Park, directly behind The Yelton Manor on Sunday, July 1st.  Light up the Lake fireworks are on July 3, and our adorable parade is 11AM or so on July 4th.. Sure to be a rocking good time,  best to make your reservations as early as you can.

The Yelton Manor gardens are also having their peak moment in this week.  Walkable to all the fun, but out of earshot of the noisy harbor and downtown nightlife, YMBB also is the closest lodging in South Haven to the sandy beach.

HarborFest is my personal favorite of all the special events and festivals in South Haven.  Maybe because it’s pre-season, before the resort is crowded, maybe it’s the focus on our amazing riverfront and lakefront and our Maritime history. Anyway, it’s a real blast. Come and boogie to live blues, country and rock music in a giant band shell in our downtown Riverfront Park each evening.  HarborFest is very much a local festival, with competitive Dragon Boat Races on the river, pancake breakfasts, boat shows, craft fairs, so much to do! The 2012 schedule is here, the dates are June 14 through the 17th.

Your one stop center for information on all things South Haven, Michigan is the local Visitor’s Bureau.

Lodging, attractions, dining, festivals, shopping, the works, it’s all in one easy stop here.

And, of course, when you are a guest at Yelton Manor Bed and Breakfast, we’ll customize your options with exactly what you want to do as well as offer our own suggestions.

Each morning at Yelton Manor B&B we post a little newsletter at the sweets table which includes the 10 day weather forecast, a bit of headline news, info on what is happening in the resort, an inspiring quote, and the most important info of all: what time the sun sets.

Nothing resets the spirit like a Lake Michigan sunset.

Our guests send their photos and we post them here.  Need some “ahhhhhhh time”? Come here and surf the photos.  Better yet, come and be in the photo yourself.

On any given night when we hold hands and watch the sky coax the mood from daylight to moonlight, we experience the rush of romance. Everyone sharing our stretch of beach is suspended in the same wave of hushed awe.

Frequently, at the precise moment when the sun hangs halfway between sky and water, we witness a marriage proposal. Other times a small wedding party, barefoot in the sand.  No matter what, when the sun flashes its final farewell into the lake, there is usually applause from everyone present.

A sunset over Lake Michigan is the quintessential photo moment here in South Haven, Michigan. We walk down to see it almost every evening of our lives, and our guests show us their sunsets photos all season long.  We’ll be sharing them here for you to see!

The beach, right out the front door of  Yelton Manor, is 5 miles of pristine, white sand over clear blue water.  There are two huge public beaches, one north and one south of the Black River, and other smaller beach parks dabbled throughout the neighborhoods.

Dead center between North and South Beaches is our town’s treasured landmark, the South Haven Lighthouse.  Though no longer needed for guiding watercraft to or from the harbor, the lighthouse is now owned and cared for by the Historical Association of South Haven.  The lighthouse is South Haven’s trademark, representing the soul of our community, a metaphor for warm welcome and our beautiful life here. The lighthouse has probably had it’s picture taken more than every super model in the world, combined!

Whether you’re a local or a visitor, everyone makes the sunset the most important agenda item of each day.  We stop, breathe, experience the calm, the gratitude, the love.