Valentine’s day is just around the corner. Do you have any plans yet? We know the best way to celebrate – with a romantic day trip to St. Joseph, Michigan!
Did you know St. Joe is considered the most romantic city in Michigan? With numerous Lake Michigan scenic overlooks, art galleries, an upscale spa, and charming downtown, it’s a beautiful town to enjoy with your number one.
~ Romantic Day Trip to St. Joseph Map ~
~ Romantic Day Trip to St. Joseph Summary ~
When: Saturday in winter – This is a perfect day trip for a date, anniversary, or Valentine’s day!
Why: My husband and I haven’t had a date since last Valentine’s so some time between just us was long overdue.
Time Traveled (one way): 1.5 hours from Grand Rapids, 3 hours from Detroit, 1 hour from Kalamazoo, 2 hours from Lansing, 3.5 hours from Traverse City
Time Spent at Destination: a little over 5 hours
Budget: $$ – massages, dinner, hot cocoa, chocolates & gas
What we did during our Day Trip:
Stop number one and two were at two scenic roadside parks just south of downtown St. Joseph. After appreciating the always gorgeous Lake Michigan, we checked out some local art at the Box Factory for the Arts.
Then we traveled north of town to the Inn at Harbor Shores where we had an appointment for a couples massage. After our relaxing time at the spa, we grabbed an early dinner from Plank’s Tavern on the Water – which is also located in the Inn.
Before sunset we headed over to Tiscornia Park to take in more beautiful views of Lake Michigan. This included a careful walk on the pier to check out the St. Joseph Pierhead Lighthouses.
Finally, we wrapped up our day trip in downtown St. Joseph. Here we grabbed a hot cocoa and some chocolates from the Chocolate Cafe, walked around some of the stores, and appreciated the lights decorating Lake Bluff Park for ‘Light Up the Bluff.’
Other Things to Explore in St. Joseph:
Wine: Grab some wine to go (or once reopened for tastings) from 12 Corners Vineyards, 2121 Vineyards, or Lake Michigan Vintners located outside of the St. Joseph city limits. Or enjoy a tasting from Lazy Ballerina Winery and the White Pine Winery Tasting Room while shopping downtown.
Museum’s: At this time, many of the museum’s are temporarily closed due to COVID. Check out their websites or social media pages for more information on their potential reopening timeframe- Morton House Museum , The Heritage Museum & Cultural Center, Curious Kids’ Museum & Discovery Zone.
Art: Enjoy the Krasl Art Center in downtown St. Joe or cross into Benton Harbor to check out Water Street Glassworks and ARS Gallery & Cultural Center (temporarily closed due to COVID).
Frank Lloyd Wright Designed Houses: In St. Joe there are two houses designed by legendary architect Frank Lloyd Wright. These are known as the Carl Schultz House and Ina Morris Harper House. Check out the links provided or drive or walk by slowly to appreciate the curb appeal as these are privately owned houses.
Breweries: If beer is your preferred poison, enjoy a drink from North Pier Brewing Company (they rent igloos!), Silver Harbor Brewing Company, or The Livery.
Coffee Shops & Cafes: For an afternoon pick me up, enjoy a coffee from Clifford’s Coffee Canal, The Mason Jar Cafe, or Caffe Tosi.
Parks/Beaches with Scenic Views: The few beaches and scenic overlooks we visited only scratched the surface of what St. Joe offers! Check out the Margaret B. Upton Arboretum, Silver Beach County Park, Jean Klock Park, and Rocky Gap Park for more beauty!
~ Romantic Day Trip to St. Joseph Details ~
Lake Michigan Views
The first thing we did in St. Joe was check out Lake Michigan overlooks. My husband is a big fan of stopping by the big lake when we aren’t doing much to enjoy the view. So to set the tone of the calm, romantic day, I found a couple spots to take in Lake Michigan from on the south side of St. Joe.
Lookout Park
First up is Lookout Park, which is located on Lakeshore Drive. This roadside park contains some benches to appreciate the view from. There’s also an informational plaque that details how a number of lakefront homes in the 1950’s were lost in this area due to erosion.
Walking around the park, I noticed the view is spectacular. The water from here looks turquoise like in the Caribbean. There’s also a sculpture put here by the Krasl Art Center as part of a project from 2018.
Kiesel Viewing Structure
Stop two is the Kiesel Viewing Structure located a short distance from the Lookout Park. There’s a platform with a ramp up to give viewers an even better look over Lake Michigan.
On the left side of the park, there’s another sculpture part of the Krasl Art Center. These two sculptures were a great bonus to checking out the lake views and excellent segway into our next stop – an art gallery!
Box Factory for the Arts
Founded by the Berrien Artist Guild, the Box Factory for the Arts is a place where visitors and artists can come to see free, quality art exhibits. Local artists rent studio’s or office’s here as well. The Box Factory is located in a former paper box manufacturing plant. There are over 55,000 square feet on 2 floors dedicated to the arts.
It’s not just the visual arts that are a priority at the Box. There is also a performance stage for events and performances (once gatherings are allowed again).
Exhibits at the three galleries change every six weeks and are chosen by the Gallery Committee from local and regional artist’s submissions.
When visiting, there are plenty of places to park – both around the building as well as in an overflow lot across the street. Entrance to view the galleries are free. When we arrived, we wandered around the galleries on both levels and remarked how the artist studios remind us of being in a classic mall. Each studio is filled with windows so you may view pieces in progress even when the artist isn’t there.
Spa at Harbor Shores
After taking in some beautiful Lake Michigan views and unique local art, we headed over to the Spa at Harbor Shores Resort for a couples massage. The Resort has 92 luxury rooms for vacationers and is connected to the only Jack Nicklaus golf course on Lake Michigan. The Spa is on the second floor of the resort and overlooks the golf course.
Besides a variety of massage options, the Spa offers pampering packages that vary from 3 to 4 hours, facials, manicures, and pedicures. The pricing is also reasonable for such a high end atmosphere. Our 50 minute couples massage cost $160.
If you decide to book a massage or any service from the Spa, I recommend getting there early to give yourself time to decompress with a hot cup of tea in the relaxation room. Also make sure to take advantage of the infrared sauna!
Before our massage, our therapists asked us where our problem area’s were and where we’d like them to focus. They did a fantastic job and paid attention to our preferences. After our 50 minutes were over, we felt rejuvenated and ready for our next couple stops.
Plank’s Tavern on the Water
Next up is dinner at Plank’s Tavern on the Water. This waterfront restaurant is open for outdoor dining and accepts reservations. Despite it being sunny, this day was extremely cold. To combat the cold, Plank’s has several heat towers as well as heat lamps that did a good job keeping us warm.
The menu offers a variety of appetizing American dishes Рfrom hot sandwiches to entrees. When we visited, they offered an all day meal deal for two Рchoose 2 entrees and a bottle of wine for $59 or 2 meals from their Tavern Fare menu and a bottle of wine for $49. We opted for the 2 entrees and ordered the short ribs and pan roasted chicken with a bottle of Pellahaut Ros̩.
Our meals were exactly what we needed – warm, comforting, and delicious. And even with dining out in the cold, they retained their heat wonderfully. After finishing up our meals, we were full, warm and ready to get back into the elements!
Tiscornia Park & St. Joe Lighthouse
Around sunset we headed over to Tiscornia Park, which is also where the St. Joseph Lighthouse is located.
First we headed up the steps to walk along the dunes to take in the view of the lighthouse from afar. The view is absolutely breathtaking from this vantage point. There wasn’t anyone else around us at the time either making it a beautiful place to grab a smooch!
Then we headed back through the parking lot to the pier. On this day the pier wasn’t exceptionally ice covered, but we were careful to watch our steps. A few photographers camped out at the end of the pier snapping photos of the lighthouse and sunset. We also saw a few brave souls squeeze through the barriers to walk further down toward the lighthouse. After I started to lose feelings in my toes, we headed back to our car and then, our final stop!
Downtown St Joseph
Despite the cold impacting my toes, as soon as we reached downtown St. Joe, I wanted to get out of the car and explore! As my husband would say, typical Jackie. 🙂
St. Joe contains an adorable downtown. When we visited in late January, the trees and street lights were still wrapped in garland and twinkle lights. There’s something about twinkle lights that make an already cute place, extra charming.
Downtown St. Joe features a number of shops to explore – fashion, gift, home decor, toy, specialty hobby and more! Mixed in with the shops are a number of dining options should you be interested in spending more time downtown (once indoor dining resumes.)
Finally, there are also a couple of winery tasting rooms – Lazy Ballerina and White Pine Winery.
Chocolate Cafe
One shop we stopped into was the Chocolate Cafe. This cafe is the perfect place to warm up because what is a romantic date without chocolate?
While here, we grabbed a large hot chocolate to share as we walked along Lake Bluff Park and a pound of double chocolate covered peanuts! You can purchase anything chocolate covered here as well as cake, cheesecake, coffee drinks, and ice cream.
Lake Bluff Park
Finally we made it to the last stop on our romantic day trip to St. Joseph – Lake Bluff Park to check out Light Up the Bluff. This park runs parallel to Lake Blvd downtown and is filled with lights and winter decorations. The park is set up before Christmas, but St. Joe doesn’t take the lights down until after Valentine’s day. This gives people more time to venture out in the evening. The seasonal decorations include many snow flakes, lights wrapped around trees, snowmen, bears, and winter themed arches. It is a beautiful final stop!
Besides the lights, this park contains a number of other interesting, historic sights. We noticed a number of sculptures dating back to the late 1800’s, war memorials and more.
A couple of my favorites included a Greek-inspired fountain and historic cannon. I learned the fountain is called the Maids of the Mist and is from the 1891 World’s Fair. Nearby the steps going down to Silver Beach, there is an old cannon with stacks of (fake) cannonballs. Turns out this cannon was dedicated in 1897 to remember those who fought in the Civil War. The cannon itself was active during the Civil War.
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After all we experienced in one day visiting St. Joe, we completely agree that St. Joe can continue to be known as the most romantic city in Michigan. But if you need to judge for yourself, I encourage you to plan a visit. 🙂
If you are looking for another beautiful place in Michigan to go on a date day trip, I suggest checking out Manistee! Here is the link to my top places to visit in Manistee during a day trip.
from Michigan with Love,
Jackie
