Nunica

Nunica is an unincorporated community in the U.S. state of Michigan. The community is located near the center of Crockery Township in Ottawa County, close to the junction of Interstate 96 M-104 and M-231,  The name Nunica is derived from the Native American word menonica, meaning "clay earth", from which pottery was made. 
If you are planning a shipping trip to Nunica there is only a hardware store located in what I would call "Downtown" Nunica.  How ever you do have a choice to stop for a great meal at Turks. Known for its Pork Chops.  One server had a t-shirt on that said "Pigs Fear Us"  When you do stop there come hungry.  Try the breaded deep fried jumbo mushroom halves.  They are awesome.  The burgers are great too.  Rank in the top of my favorite bar burgers.  Oh and if you are a fan of pork rinds, they also have those on the menu as an appetizer.

Tustin Michigan is another village that time has passed by.  With a population of 230 people at the 2010 census.  Located in Osceola County this quiet town with little traffic traveling through it is safe to cross the street without worrying that you are going to be run over by a car speeding through town.  Small shops and long family owned hardware store line the main street of town.  Speaking to locals from this area, you can tell that they love the place they call home.  The sweet café we stopped at for lunch gives you that small town feeling.  The burgers we had were tasty and gave you that feel of a home cooked meal.  So stop in and enjoy a rest and a meal on your back road adventure.  Walk over to the museum and look back at treasure safe to share in the history of this wonderful welcoming and friendly village.  It is worth an hour of your busy life to see and feel what it is like to live in a small town where I am sure that most everyone knows everyone that lives is this village.

Idlewild Michigan

Todays adventure took us north again.  We ventured to the village of Idlewild Mi.  Located in Lake County in Yates Township.  Idlewild is not an old village, Founded in 1912.  Not one of your turn of the century villages like most places you come across in Michigan.  Wondering up that way was some beautiful back roads.  The trees and fields that you drive past. Old farms with their corn fields spreading across the land lets you know that you are in God's country.  Once we arrived we could see that time had forgotten this place and left it as it was many years ago.  Coming across old cottages and homes left abandoned never to be lived in again.  It struck me driving through the winding roads to locate our first stop at the Idlewild Historical Cultural Center to see what information we could discover from there.  Sadly it was not open as it said it was going to be.  So venture off we did on our own using the map that we printed before heading out.  Our next stop was to the Flamingo Club.  The vast history of famous people that would come there to preform.  History shows that some of the famous people included Sammy Davis Jr., Della Reese, Aretha Franklin, B.B. King, The Four Tops and speaking to some locals it is rumored that Richard Pryor once came there and

preformed.  Standing outside the Flamingo Club I imaged back to a time where people came there, the old cars that would park in the dirt parking lot.  People mingling outside the building talking before going in and seeing the star attraction for the evening.  I wonder how they came there, was it by car or maybe by train?  Back in 1920-1960s the freeways that we have now were nothing like what we have today.  So take a day and venture up to Idlewild and see where history was made in its days of glory...1912 to 1968 before the village of Idlewild became a place lost in time. A thank you goes out to Ace for sharing some memories of coming to Idlewild as a kid and all the fishing you did with your family.

Tonight the Traveling Hat made its way to Kollen Park in Holland where they were celebrating National Night Out.  The Holland Vintage Car Club had a few cars there for a show.
I also made my way over to Window On The Water Front.  The site use to be River View Park where West Ottawa and Holland would play against each other in the first football game of their season.  Now it is a park.