Silver Sands Park in Michigan

August 13, 2023

On Monday (August 7), we rode the motorcycle out to Benton Harbor and had lunch. Bruce picked the spot and it was a biker bar. He picked it because the reviews mentioned being able to see the river from the patio. We got there and didn’t see how to get to the patio at first, so we ate inside. The food was good.

As we left, I noticed a gate. We tried it and found ourselves in a concrete padlock with picnic tables. We had found the patio. We walked out back and along the river.

We rode a short distance to the city of St. Joseph where the St. Joseph Rive runs into Lake Michigan, to the Silver Sands Park. The parking fee for non-residents of the county is $15. Ouch!!!

What we didn’t realize was, there is free parking on top of the hill. The parking on top of the hill is for shopping and the park.

We parked in the lot next to the Shadowlands Pavilion.

We walked out along the pier. There were sailboats on both sides of the pier, small one-man sailboats in the St. Joseph River and slightly larger sailboats in Lake Michigan. As we watched, we realized the small sailboats were trying to catch up to the larger boats.

It was a sailing class. The instructor was in a powerboat and used a megaphone to communicate with the sailboats.

There was a pier with two lighthouses on the Benton side of the St. Joseph River.

As we were walking back to the shore along the pier, the green light on the rail swing bridge turned red, along with a loud warning horn sounding. The swing bridge started swinging closed. After several minutes, the thunder of a train engine and a whistle could be heard.

We walked to the beach. Looking out over Lake Michigan, this could have been a sea shore along the Pacific coast.

There were no shells along the beach. We walked towards the outdoor shower station, past the enormous playground.

Once we rinsed off our feet, we walked around on the concrete towards the carousel. We passed an enormous splash pad. We sat on a bench outside the carousel and put our shoes back on.

The merry-go-round was closed for a wedding.

After walking around the train station, we climbed the steps to the top of the hill. We looked at the free parking and then walked along the very touristy street, back towards the St. Joseph River.

We walked to the river along the sidewalk. When we reached the river, we discovered the Maritime Heritage Trail. We walked along it towards Silver Sands Beach.

Class must’ve ended for the sailors, they were sailing their boats into the marina.

The trail ended onto the sidewalk and we walked back to the Silver Sands Park to the motorcycle.

We geared up and rode to Tiscornia Park on the Benton side of the river. The parking fee was $10 and the lighthouse was closed, so we decided the parking fee was a bit much since we wouldn’t be able to see the lighthouse.

We headed home to Nox. She was happy to see us and go for a walk.