Saugatuck: Art Colony Harbor & Winery Afternoon

Saugatuck's harbor formed where the Kalamazoo River meets Lake Michigan — the tannin-stained water from the surrounding hardwood forests gives the river its distinctive dark color and keeps it from freezing in all but the coldest winters. Butler Street's two commercial blocks are denser with good restaurants and galleries than anywhere in west Michigan — the combination of Ox-Bow's century-long artistic residency, Chicago vacation patronage, and an LGBTQ community that discovered the town in the 1970s has produced an unusually sophisticated small town.

A Saugatuck waterfront institution for the town's most reliably good burgers, fish tacos, and Lake Michigan perch — the outdoor deck faces the Kalamazoo River and the chain ferry crossing. Phil's operates with the kind of institutional confidence that comes from decades of doing two or three things exceptionally well without expanding.

Michigan's oldest continuously operating estate winery, established in 1973 in the Fennville AVA — the Lake Michigan shoreline's cold-climate microclimate produces Riesling, Gewürztraminer, and Pinot Noir in styles closer to Alsace or Burgundy than California. The tasting room occupies the original 1973 winery building; the vineyard-view terrace is open in summer. The 'Lake Effect' Riesling is the house flagship, named for the meteorological phenomenon that creates Fennville's distinctive growing season.

The brewery that has defined Saugatuck's beer identity since 2005 — the Neapolitan Milk Stout, the Blueberry Lemonade Shandy (using Michigan blueberries), and the Oval Beach Blonde are the house standards. The taproom on Water Street has a full food menu; the outdoor seating runs along the Kalamazoo River. The brewery's production facility across town offers a more complete view of the operation.