Things to Do in Grand Haven

Echo Valley brings together tobogganing, tubing, and ice skating into one snowy spot for wintertime revelry. At the tobogganing hill, quarter-mile runs accelerate sledders to speeds as fast as 60 MPH before bringing them to a safe halt at the bottom, where the staff then sends the toboggan back to the top via an overhead lift. Ice skaters find ample space for gliding and pirouetting on the 43,000 square-foot rink. After tubing to their heart’s content or taste-testing snowflake appetizers, visitors can warm themselves around the lodge’s circular fireplace or observe fellow snow-goers from the expansive observation deck while sipping on hot chocolate or nibbling on snacks.

Surfari Joe's—a safety-focused, safari-themed water park under new management—helps families to splash to their hearts' content with 18,000 square feet of indoor opportunities to get wet. A pair of extreme slides flings riders out of the building before funneling them back inside, where colorful runs for tykes share space with low-speed attractions such as Lino's Lagoon, a plesiosaur-free pond that warms guests with an 84-degree embrace. Between thrills, visitors can explore a video arcade or refuel at The Water Hole Bar & Restaurant, which teems with hearty sandwiches, housemade pizzas, and fiber-rich faux palm trees. Surfari Joe's happily handles parties and special events, and its onsite hotel reaches out to dedicated water sliders with cozy suites featuring flat-screen TVs, free WiFi, and access to a fitness center for burning off any steam remaining after a day on the slides.

Wings Stadium plays host to more than just board-slamming checks during the Kalamazoo Wings' home hockey games. On select days, the 8,023-seat venue opens its frozen confines to amateurs interested in all sorts of winter sports. Skaters of all ages can glide across the smooth ice during open-skating sessions, and members of the Kalamazoo Curling Club practice and face off throughout the fall and winter. On weekend nights, hockey fans can bring their own skates to a K-Wings home game and finish their night skating and checking the ice for lost incisors.

Feng shui can cause a person to tweak the placement of a chair, rearrange a room, or banish everything with a clown nose on it. For Warren Mosley and Barbara Badolati—founders of Muskegon Yoga Center—a meeting with a feng shui consultant inspired them to relocate their yoga center to a new building. They were serious about fostering a worthwhile yoga experience for their students, and the consultation ultimately paid off.

Their spacious studio now cultivates a serene environment with pastel yellow walls, ample sunlight, and billowing drapes hanging from the high ceilings. Here, they and their team of instructors direct poses and breaths in an array of yoga classes, ranging from the vigorous Vinyasa style to gentle and meditative classes. They also offer Pilates and tai chi classes in addition to life-coaching services.

Beyond the hard work and meditation, Mosley and Badolati strive to make Muskegon Yoga Center a catalyst for local involvement. They host community yoga classes at Pere Marquette Beach for a suggested $5 donation—which is given to local charities—and partner with the Johnson Cancer Center to offer classes to those living with cancer.