Kalamazoo is one area my family hasn’t explored much of recently. After doing some research, I discovered Vicksburg, a town south of Kalamazoo, has a free historic village. Now that Winston is walking, we’re trying to find interesting places outdoors to allow him to safely explore. At the same time, I wanted to pop into downtown Kalamazoo and walk around a little bit since the weather on this particular day was gorgeous. So here’s a mini day trip to the Kalamazoo area you may be interested in!
I call it a “mini” day trip because the days are now much shorter as we inch closer to winter. However, these three sights we visited packed a lot of great sightseeing and activity.
~ Day Trip to Kalamazoo Map ~
~ Day Trip to Kalamazoo Summary ~
When: Saturday in November
Why: Blessed with unusually gorgeous weather in early November, rather than head to the beach where temperatures would be cooler due to the lake, we decided to head a little south.
Time Traveled (one way): 1 hour from Grand Rapids, 2 hours from Detroit, 1.5 hours from Lansing, 3 hours from Traverse City
Time Spent at Destination: 3 hours
Budget: $$ gas, early dinner, shopping
What we did during our Day Trip to Kalamazoo
Our day trip started out at the Vicksburg Historic Village. Here we toured a couple places that were open then walked around the rest of the village. After about an hour here, we headed to Cove Lakeside Bistro in Portage for an early dinner.
Finally, we ended our trip in downtown Kalamazoo where we walked around the historic mall and popped into a couple shops.
Other Things to do in/near Kalamazoo
Check out museum’s in the area like the Air Zoo, Kalamazoo Valley Museum, or Gilmore Car Museum. Also be sure to read my blog post on the 10 places to visit in Michigan to appreciate its auto history.
Dive Deeper into History at the DeLano Farms Historic Farm, Dr. Nathan Thomas House, or the Henderson Castle.
The Kalamazoo area is home to a ton of phenomenal breweries such as Bells, Presidential Brewing, Final Gravity, The Distant Whistle, Olde Peninsula, Brite Eyes, Wax Wings, One Well, and Latitude 42. Whew, what a list! Also check out the Kalamazoo Beer Exchange for an awesome stock market & beer experience! Given the current restrictions put in place in dine in restaurants in Michigan, please check with the restaurant if they offer outdoor dining or takeout.
Lastly, there are a few neat looking parks in the area like the Urban Nature Park, Kalamazoo Nature Center, and Tallgrass Prairies Nature Preserve.
~ Day Trip to Kalamazoo Details ~
Vicksburg Historic Village
Our first stop on our mini day trip was the Vicksburg Historic Village. Founded in 1990 with the opening of the Depot Museum, the Village eventually expanded and added new historic buildings and sights. Within the Village there are 12 places to explore such as a Caboose, schoolhouse, farmhouse, barn (complete with old tractors), town hall, and businesses like a General Store and Sweet Shop. There’s even a cemetery on site.
The Village depicts the years between 1890 and 1932 and its collection continues to grow! In 2016 the Village added its latest building – the Sweet Shop.
While the entire village is open (as in, not fenced in), the Depot Museum opens up on the weekends from 11 am to 3 pm. The Village and Museum are free to enter. In the fall and winter, all buildings but the Depot Museum remain locked up. However if you’re interested in checking out any of the buildings, let the person manning the museum know and they can open some up for you. However, the exhibits can be seen by looking in the windows.
Cove Lakeside Bistro
Stop number two was to grab some late lunch or early dinner. We chose Cove Lakeside Bistro in Portage, because, well… look at that spectacular view! Cove is located right on West Lake and is halfway between our first and final stops of the day.
As mentioned earlier, on this particular day we were blessed with amazing weather so we knew we would dine outside. To further keep us and everyone else safe, we chose to eat at an off hour – we arrived at 3 pm. At that time, we chose which table to sit at and there weren’t many other diners either.
Cove took lots of steps to keep everyone safe. Upon arriving at your table, there is already water glasses, napkins, and hand sanitizer. Your waiter provides a sealed container of water for you as they take your order. Finally, when your food comes out, utensils and extra napkins are provided in a sealed paper bag.
Besides the great view, the food was equally amazing. To drink, I ordered a Rose All Day Lemonade Mocktail which is a lemonade with rosemary simple syrup, soda water, and lemon. Dinner was the flash fried fish sandwich with a side salad (gotta be somewhat healthy). The food tasted delicious, and the fish sandwich had the perfect crunch upon biting into it. My husband ordered their Bistro Burger with fries and a Whisky Thyme cocktail.
If you’re looking for an incredible meal with beautiful ambiance and a view, I highly recommend dining at Cove.
Kalamazoo Mall
Our final destination of the day was the Kalamazoo Mall – the first outdoor pedestrian mall in the United States. Built in 1959, at its peak 4 blocks of Burdick Street were closed to vehicular traffic. During its first two decades of existence, the mall experienced wide success. But then in the 1980’s, the mall suffered decline as shoppers turned to enclosed suburban malls.
In the mid 1990’s, a plan came about to revitalize the Kalamazoo Mall. In 1998, the two southern blocks of the mall opened up to one way traffic. And over the years since, new types of businesses and restaurants started moving in. Today, despite the pandemic, almost every storefront in the mall is occupied by an independent retailer or restaurant.
While exploring the historic mall, we popped into a couple different women’s boutique (its been ages since I purchased any new clothes). I checked out Adrianne’s Boutique and Lana’s Boutique. Both boutiques carry not just women’s clothing but cute home accessories as well! We also stopped into the Kalamazoo Candle Company to grab some locally made candles.
Besides these two, there are a number of unique, independent stores along the mall to check out. Shop local this holiday season and help our Michigan small businesses out!
~~~~~
Visiting free outdoor historic villages may be our new thing to get us through the winter and early spring. With Winston wanting to move and explore as much as possible combined with the continued reality of COVID, these types of attractions are a win-win.
Have you spent time exploring the greater Kalamazoo area? How about shopping downtown at the country’s first outdoor mall? There is so much great history to be a part of in this corner of Michigan!
from Michigan with Love,
Jackie
