I spent several summers as a kid in South Haven, Michigan, where, in my humble opinion, they have the most beautiful sunsets in the entire world. We used to stay at Sleepy Hollow, a wonderful old-fashioned summer resort with unusual art deco cottages like this one.
These were designed around 1937 by Elmer C. Carlson, whose work was influenced by the Century of Progress Chicago fair in 1933. (The original developer of this place, in the late 1800s, was from upstate NY and a Washington Irving fan. There is even a restaurant called Ichabod’s.)
Other great South Haven memories are ice cream at Captain Nemo’s, local-blueberry pancakes at a bed & breakfast I can picture but can’t name, and lots of walks on the beach to look for Petoskey stones. Most of all, the symbol of South Haven, for me, is the wonderful red lighthouse and pier.
That lighthouse is now for sale! As the article explains, the Coast Guard no longer needs lighthouses now that they have GPS. I suppose that makes sense, but I have to say that there is absolutely nothing romantic about the sickly green glow of an electronic device. A lighthouse, on the other hand . . . well, it certainly seems like a wonderful place to set a story.
Since I probably won’t be able to buy it (in addition to the purchase price, it needs hundreds of thousands or more in repairs), the least we can do is invent a story about what could happen to it, if the lighthouse were in a novel. What sort of person would buy it, do you think? What’s her (or his) story?
Give me your ideas. Maybe we can send the best ones to the South Haven Tribune.
{ 3 comments… read them below or add one }
Even though it’s over, I’d like to set an episode of The Hills at the Lighthouse.
Kristin: I can’t believe Spencer and Heidi showed up. And he’s dressed as a sea captain.
Lo: We should call him Ahab because he’s such a moby dick.
Audrina: Huh?
OK, I’ll get it started. There’s a great little tavern on the channel at the drawbridge in South Haven named “Captain Lou’s”. A great little watering hole. Very little is known, however, about the original Captain Lou and why he stopped being a ship captain and came ashore to run a local tavern. Also, is it merely a coincidence that there is also a decommissioned sailing ship permanently anchored in the harbor at South Haven, which is now a restaurant, aptly named “The Idler”? The closest Captain Lou could get to the water, thereafter, was the lighthouse at the end of the pier. Now that his tavern has been very successful for many years, he has the money to buy the lighthouse and move in. He will then spend the remainder of his years musing out over the horizon and writing the story of “Captain Lou’s Secret”. HHhhmm…. “It was a cold and stormy night…”.
Nice one!
I was trying to think of a good hideout story, because apparently Al Capone was rumored to be an investor in the 1930s developments at Sleepy Hollow. But that doesn’t really work, since the lighthouse is in the middle of the public beach.
Unless he was hiding in plain sight . . .
If this were a children’s book, someone would buy the lighthouse and fill it full of ice cream.