I’m visiting with my husband and 4 month old baby in August. We will be there for three nights. My questions are

Which beach would you recommend out of these? Lions park, rocky gap county park, Hagar beach, cherry beach, or silver beach county park

Which of these trails is more stroller friendly? John and Dede Howard, or harbor shores nature and fitness trails

What spots are best to hit downtown shopping wise?

I’m also planning to hit the lighthouse and maybe Stovers farm market? Any other recommendations?

Good restaurants? My list includes: Caffe Tossi, Larks barbecue, North Pier Brewing Company, Silver Beach Pizza

We will also be playing Pokemon Go if there are any players here that would like to chime in on some good spots haha

My family is relocating to Stevensville in about a month and we need a pediatrician for our toddler. Willing to travel about 45 minutes if needed. Appreciate any recommendations!

Will be moving to Briarwood apartment, Benton Harbor from Washington, read a lot of reviews about the area and have some apprehensions. Seen videos of the apartment online looks ok specially in aerial shots.

Also, will address of Briarwood apartment, Benton Harbor ( in fair Plain) comes under Benton harbor city 1% income tax ?

I got an airbnb in Benton Harbor and now some friends are telling me it's not a great area, and yeah online Benton Harbor doesn't have great stats. It's like 2 streets north of Napier Park across the river from St. Joseph. Curious if anyone has any input!

Friends. Where do we go dancing in and around st joe?

I truly appreciate all the recs I got, but my little family can’t afford 500$ a night on a week night! So how about a nice, safe, clean hotel for less than 300$ a night, on a weekday? I don’t trust the travel sites, but I sorta trust you guys. Thanks in advance.

I am once again posting in search of local bluegrass jammers. Guitar, banjo, mando, bass, you name it. Mandolin player here just moved from East MI

I’m planning on proposing next month and need ideas for the night of and a surprise Lunch for a larger group (# is TBD).

Any suggestions are greatly appreciated!

Hi everyone! I'm looking for recommendations for a great family dentist in or around the St. Joseph area.

Ideally, we'd love to find one office where my husband, our young kids, and I can all go, so seeing children is a must.

We're hoping to find someone who is:

• Honest and conservative (doesn't recommend unnecessary work)
• Gentle and good with both kids and adults
• Thorough and up-to-date with technology
• Friendly, welcoming staff and an office that's easy to work with

We're happy to drive 20–30 minutes if they're worth it.

If you have someone you absolutely love (or someone you'd avoid), I'd really appreciate hearing about your experience and why.

Thanks so much!

I have family members coming onto town who love to mountain bike. Looking to bring them mountain biking around St Joes.

Any idea if there are shops that rent mountain bikes?

Asking $150 each. This is my first time camping at Gridlife Midwest, and I decided to save some money with the carpool pack. Unfortunately some friends cancelled and I would like to recoup some of the cost.

It's not clear if someone can use this ticket without entering with me, but I have heard they tend to be flexible with the rules as long as it is reasonable. I am able to transfer the tickets on the Tixr website. I will absolutely refund you if they do not let you in, I can meet you at the entrance if there are any issues.

You will need your own transportation and parking pass.

Stevensville Martin's says they stock four flavors but always sold out. Anyone got the hook up? Specifically cherry vanilla?

We have two rental properties in Coloma/Benton Harbor we would like to put new roofs on and build a porch to one of them. Thank you in advance for your suggestions.

Myself, husband, and 16 mo daughter are moving to Stevensville late this summer and are looking for a church in the area. We may be looking for a unicorn here, but this is ideally somewhere that is family-friendly with traditional aspects (choirs, Christmas pageants, etc), but also takes a "love thy neighbor" and accepting of different people approach.

Looking to avoid places that heavily emphasize politics or Christian nationalism and also don't want to feel like we're at a rock concert or megachurch. (No judgement if any of this is your jam, it's just not what we're personally looking for).

Does anything like this exist within ~45 minutes of Stevensville?

Hi all! We'll be staying in downtown St Joe this weekend and are hoping to hang at Silver Beach as much as weather allows. We wanted to bring a tent so that our 4 month old has plenty of shade and a cooler as well- but according to the "official" rules I've seen online these might not be allowed. Will we really be fined for a tent and cooler? Thanks in advance!

Hi all! Coming up to St Joe this weekend and staying very close to Silver Beach. We of course want to get some good time on the beach as weather permits- but we will have our 4 month old with us and were planning to bring a tent to have good shade for him and a cooler for his milk. Looking at the beach rules- it sounds like they might be enforcing fines for these things though?

Can anyone confirm how strict they are on the no tents/coolers policies? Sounds a bit crazy to me to not allow those things! Thanks in advance 😄

Hi all! Coming up to St Joe this weekend and staying very close to Silver Beach. We of course want to get some good time on the beach as weather permits- but we will have our 4 month old with us and were planning to bring a tent to have good shade for him and a cooler for his milk (and possibly an adult beverage for mom and dad). Looking at the beach rules- it sounds like they might be enforcing fines for these things though?

Can anyone confirm how strict they are on the no tents/coolers/alcohol policies? Sounds a bit crazy to me to not allow those things! Thanks in advance 😄

went to Saint Joe last year and ate this barbecue joint. I wanna go back but can’t find it. The owner was also the cook and he would come out and talk all sorts of crap to the customers. I just kinda happened upon it. I don’t remember what area or what road. But such a unique does anybody have any idea of what I’m talking about?But such a unique does anybody have any idea of what I’m talking about?

for those traveling I recommend this place for adults. we have eaten there the last three times we traveled to Saint Joseph and it has been consistently good and has a fun menu.

the downtown area was very dead the days we were there. 5/13 and 5/14. we were definitely a week ahead of the start of tourist season. it was different to be there when it was so quiet.

Hi all, we're taking a trip to Michigan in June and we're thinking about visiting Silver Beach Park. I mainly want to have paved, accessible areas where I can use my mobility scooter and look at the views. I was thinking of areas were I could go up and down the promenade and look out, and maybe go to the carousel, maybe get some pizza.

The problem is, if it's too crowded, it's stressful using a scooter. How crowded might it be? We aren't early birds, so it would probably be 11 or noon before we got out there. We could go later in the day if that's better, too, but about when does it slow down? Is it fun to go later in the day? We'll be there on a weekday, probably a Tuesday or Wednesday. Possibly even Thursday, but less likely.

Warren Dunes: I'm also thinking of hitting Warren Dunes. They have a trackchair, but I know I can't count on definitely getting that (I'll call in advance to see if I can reserve). From what I've read, it looks like there are few areas there that I could use my mobility scooter? The mobi pads are kind of useless if I'm scooting, as I'd have no place to park the scooter at the end of it. Are there nice views of the dunes and water if you just drive through the park in your car?

Side Question: We'd be coming up from Missouri. Google maps shows a lot of road work between New Buffalo and Benton Harbor on I94 west (and I'd also hit it on the route if we went to Grand Rapids, too), but it's not showing if I go just to Silver Beach Park. Is that correct? And how much of a hold-up is that road work if we were to go to Benton Harbor or other cities that route?

Does anybody live in a condo downtown without parking? How much am I going to hate not having a dedicated parking spot during the summer? I know residents have permits for overnight but have to move their cars every 24 hours...

Hi there!

We're new to the area (Coloma) and want to see the Grand Floral Parade on Saturday. Is parking nuts? Any tips for where to park and where to watch? How early to get there? My daughter has CP, so we do have a disabled parking tag.

Hi everyone, my wife, son, 2 dogs, and I are toying with the idea of moving from NH to SW Michigan. We have family in the Chicago suburbs and the Quad Cities of IL/IA. We previously lived in the western suburbs of Chicago and vacationed a few times in New Buffalo and really liked it. However New Buffalo is a REALLY small town, and there’s not a lot of housing inventory, and I wonder if it’s just dead in the winter?

Anyway, we’ve sort of expanded our search to include St Joe, there’s more housing available, and I assume that being a bigger town there are probably more activities and amenities that are available year round. Our son is 10, and would attend public schools, so that’s a big factor. We like the water and the beach, and other outdoor activities (I love to fish) and my wife swims for fitness so we’d love to find a gym or YMCA with an indoor pool. And our son is an avid soccer player. Our budget cap is ~$600k, but ideally we’d like to stay well under that. I would love to hear people’s thoughts, good and bad on what it’s like living in the St Joe area. We wouldn’t want to go much farther up the lakeshore because we want to stay within an hour and a half of family in the Chicago area.

Thank you!

Hello! My family is moving from Texas to SW Michigan in July. Our situation has a few challenges (a discharged bankruptcy (mine) and an old felony (husband's)), but we are responsible tenants. We're hoping to work with a realtor or directly with a private landlord to find a place to rent, anywhere in the SWMI region. We need at least 2 bedrooms, ideally 3, for under $1,300 a month. Looking for recommendations on people or agencies we can contact. Thank you!