Sauce and the City posting no.2: Vacation to Muskegon, Saugatuck and Grand Rapids

My husband and I just returned from our midsummer vacation to Michigan, where we camped, swam, hiked, caught up with old friends and ate very well. In celebration of our two-year anniversary we returned to the west coast of Michigan, the location of our honeymoon and engagement celebration, and enjoyed the beautiful blue skies and clean summer air that blows in off of the big lake. The week marked two big firsts in our lives: my first time camping for more than one night and our first time vacationing with our one-year-old Scottish Terrier, Beamish. Despite a lack of camping experience on the part of Beamish and myself, I would say that we faired quite well and managed to eat extremely well while at our campsite.

The week included three nights of camping in Muskegon State Park, where the Lakeshore Campground sits just over the dunes from one of the most beautiful beaches I've seen in the Great Lakes. On the fourth day we moved down the coast to Saugatuck, a sweet little vacation town with a whole lot of character and some great gourmand shopping.

Our camping meals were greatly enhanced by the purchase of a cast iron skillet at a local outfitter—it gave us the capability to fry fresh fish, sauté onions and peppers and cook up a hearty breakfast hash of country sausage and hominy.

We've been to Saugatuck a few times before, so when we arrived in town we headed to our favorite spot for killer martinis and the best restaurant bruschetta I have ever tasted: Marro's. The gin martinis are classic and large and the tuxedo-sporting bartenders give the place a rat-pack ambience. And the bruschetta—it's soaked in sweet balsamic vinegar with basil and then placed in a small, carved ciabatta loaf baked with a light cover of provolone. Just the right amounts of each element make it one of the most enjoyable appetizers in recent memory.

While in town, we also checked out American Spoon Foods, a small shop where you can purchase all varieties of Michigan's fruits in sauce, jelly and jam forms. I highly recommend the Peach Spoon Fruit and any of the fruit butters.

Also not to be missed are the Saugatuck Spice Merchants, where you can purchase custom blended-spices and teas. I picked up the Boater's Dip, Picnic Blend, and an interesting Coffee BBQ rub that tasted very good on the roast chicken I made when we got home to Cincinnati.