Welcome!
At last, the Wickwood newsletter we've longed for! Finally, a means to seasonally convey the upcoming events of Saugatuck and Douglas, the news at our Inn and the latest and greatest discoveries we make about a few of our passions - food, wine, books, art, gardening, travel, anything that tickles our fancy and just might yours! We might even pass on notes from our own Little Black Book along with the latest local and national foodie dish! You never know! We hope you enjoy this and that we see you soon at the Inn!

Tastes at the Inn
Our local Farmers' Markets are open! Now each week we can follow the season with locally homegrown produce picked to perfection. Lately we're serving:

Town Notices

June 9~12 Waterfront Film Festival
June 13 George Brown Studio latest paintings of scenes
June 17 Ox-Bow Studio Auction
June 18 Saugatuck's Arts and Crafts
June 18 Ox-Bow Every Other Friday Open Studios
June 20 Spring Anniversary Exhibit James Brandess
June 24 and 25 Good Goods Gallery Annual Sticks Show
June 25 Henry Johnson's Trio Lakeshore Jazz Connection
June 25 Jan Miller at Joyce Petter Gallery
June 25 Winery Open House Fenn Valley Vineyards
June 25 and 26 Art on Center Downtown Douglas
June 25~July 29 Places: Seen and Unseen Water Street Gallery
June 26 Allegan Antique Market Days Allegan County Fairgrounds
                       July, August ...

"I like passion. People who aren't    carried away should be"        JR

                     

Best Bites
"Cooking is too hard a thing to do for money only"
Matt Millar, Journeyman

Chef Matt Millar just opened The Journeyman in Fennville (really!) and the food obsessed are flocking. They're greeted with the freshest, most masterful Roasted Black Cod, Sautéed Soft Shell Crab, Wild Ramp and Potato Soup, Foie Gras Terrine, just-picked Spring Greens Caesar Salad and Pot du Crème...Wow!
The ravishing greens at the Ravines Golf Club now host a marvelous dinner every night - great salmon and the best perch in town!
The critically acclaimed Chaps in Douglas has a fabulous new menu and every dish we've tasted will satisfy your palate!
The Grill Room at Clearbrook has expanded and guests can now dine Al Fresco there- as well as at Everyday People's Café where Matt Balmer combines classic tastes in unexpected ways, the sizzling hot Blue Moon, Phil's Grill, and The Mermaid.
Pumpernickel's changes it's mood after 6 and serves dinner and a cocktail - with a splash of fabulous music!

Our local food scene today is marvelous!
    

  "It is a happy talent to know how
   to play." Ralph Waldo Emerson
   

Around Our Towns

The Chain Ferry is open to cross the Kalamazoo. Boats have been launched. Mason Street Warehouse Theater's season has kicked off. Water Street Film Festival has announced its selected movies. Our four golf courses are preened. The sculptures for Art Around Town are in place. The galleries are hosting Wine and Cheese Openings. Our unique shops and boutiques are bursting. And, it's Artist Sylvia Randolph's 100th Birthday!! She's our local treasure and has celebrated with the very personal "Sylvia's Sunday Supper Cookbook"- available at Good's Goods. Sylvia sets a mean pace for us all!

                     

Live Like a Local

As you drive into town get ready to slow down, turn off your phone and greet a stranger on the street. It's said that, "The wise man travels to discover himself," so stop the noise and listen. Secondly, leave your city duds in your suitcase - we know that you're really trendy at heart. Casual does it here.
Then just wander…..
Stop by Ida Reds for a great late lunch (but before 2:30).
Hang out at The Red Dock sipping Margaritas, watching the sloops race, or the swans performing their ballets.
Have a Great burger at Phil's or The Butler, play pool at The Sand Bar or head to the What Not Inn for terrific jazz or cabaret.
Search for the Green Flash at Sunset.
Walk our "singing beaches" - it's part of our everyday here!
Get out on the Lake, the River, or the Big Lake, somehow - The Duck, The Star of Saugatuck, or The Chain Ferry, rent a sail boat, or paddle your own canoe up the Kalamazoo.
Let something utterly wild slowly creep into your own nature.

Our Little Black Book

From time to time we'll share snippets about our favorite places around the world. And as we discover more, we'll update you. Please use this as merely a guide for one of the best parts of travel is serendipity. First we'll flip to

         Paris...When It Sizzles ...
   

A Moment of Silence

When you visit, take the time to immerse yourself in the wonders of why we live here.

Walk the beach just after dawn - you'll find the best beach glass then.
Climb Mt. Bald Head at sunset, bike Lake Shore Drive, or slide down the Dunes at the State Park.

Slow down on Wickwood's Back Porch surrounded by flowers and just read…or play checkers with your "best pal" while you're tasting cookies and lemonade. Guests forbid phones or tv's - so savor the cooing of the doves.

Pamper yourself!! Soothe your tired bones with a massage at any of our day spas - Belle Vita, Spring Renewal, Waterfront Center Stage Salon

Or work those muscles with a bicycle ride, walk or run our country roads and paths, or pump iron at the Pump House.

Sounds of Summer

Follow the notes in the air and you'll hear music all over town.

From jazz and cabaret, to music for dancing, listen for it at Chaps, Pumpernickel's, The What Not Inn, Coral Gables, Wally's, The Red Dock, The Boathouse, The White House, Everyday People's Café, The Blue Moon, The Sandbar, and Uncommon Grounds.

Watch for the schedule of the Lakeshore Jazz Connection Concerts and the Chamber Music Festival. Outdoors, music is at Fenn Valley Vineyard, The Butler Tiki Bar, and Wednesday night "Music in the Park" at Wick's Gazebo.

  
Your Own Sketchbook

"How shall we beguile the lazy time, if not with some delight?" William Shakespeare

Come dabble, dribble and splat with us. Paint, sketch, or sculpt to unleash the artist within. You're invited to join a local art class held all around our towns all year long, they're for artists of all ages from beginners to pro's. We're all always learning!!

Checkout -
Saugatuck Center for the Arts
Ken Cadwallader Fine Art
Express Yourself Art Barn
Ox-Bow School of Art
Jim Brandess Studio
Reid Galey at Water Street
Kendall Art School at Ox-Bow
Artist demonstrations at our local galleries all year long.

"The eyes are ravished with the beauties of naked nature"      Robert Benchley

Splashy Sunsets, Singing Sands, and 'The Green Flash'

On any given evening along the quiet windswept sand dunes towering above the gently rolling surf of Lake Michigan, locals and visitor alike, watch in awe-inspired admiration as the brilliant sun slowly sets with a fiery crescendo of a lipstick streaked sky.

The heavenly performance of Saugatuck's sunset entrances visitors who often stay long after the spectacular panorama slowly fades under the gentle veil of night. It's reminiscent of an old-fashioned outdoor movie theater with the sun as the Hollywood star.
                                                             More Splashy Sunsets ...

  
The Buzz Around Town
The exuberant eccentrics who live here love the spontaneity of our villages.
The irresistible Michael Holmes (the crooner) and Wally Michaels (tickling the ivories) have their own groupies! Follow them too to Chaps, Pumpernickel's, and The What Not. We can't get enough of them! It's Cabaret music at its best!!
"Music in the Park" every Wednesday night - from Jazz to Blue Grass - from July to September. Add your own loaf of bread, hunk of cheese, jug of wine and hum along.
A Farmer's Market is in the works at the SCA (Saugatuck Center for the Arts) with only the very best home grown local produce offered. We're in the Fruit Belt and doubly blessed with very rich black soil so anticipate great heirloom tomatoes, organic greens, fruits and vegetables, perennials and cut flowers, poultry and meat and an assortment of Artesianal American breads and cheeses.
      

  "The country habit has me by the heart
                          Vita Sackwell West

Cookbooks Galore

If you're an avid cookbook collector, as I am -- Please note for your "Things to do Before I Croak" List - a visit to the just dedicated Longone Center for American Culinary Research, The Clements Library at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor. It is truly a culinary treasure like no other

Thirty years ago I found my way to the Longone's Wine & Food Library and thought I'd gone to heaven!! Since I was educated as an historian and recently a born again foodie, once there, I never wanted to leave. Thousands and thousands of cookbooks surrounded me tracing the culinary history of America.

Now Jan and her wine loving husband have donated their 20,000 American culinary book collection dating from 1698 to 1950 for all of us to have access. It's truly a national treasure. A fabulous gift to cooks everywhere as are Culinary Symposiums that have been initiated. For more information and to subscribe to the quarterly newsletter call (734) 764-2347.

Trade Secrets

Truffles ~ Pigs and chefs go crazy over the taste of truffles - including me! It's that one magical flavor that remains indescribable but addictive with no rehab in sight. And, as the supply has decreased, as you might expect, the prices have sky rocketed.

So until farmers find a way to cultivate them, the secret ingredient of chefs has been a light drizzle of Truffle Oil, or a sprinkling of Truffle Salt. Remember that less is more. You'll find numerous other uses for Truffle oil and salt over pasta, risotto, grilled chicken or veal, or in salads as it dresses up the simplest of flavors. Both ingredients are worth their weight in gold!!

Truffle Oil can be found at Sabatino Tartufi USA (888) 444-9971 / sabatinotartufi.com or Urbani Tartufi / urbani.com. For for Truffle Salt / ritrovo.com.

Sea Salt ~ One of our favorite source for varieties of sea salt - from Flowers of the Ocean to seasonings / celtic-seasalt.com.
           (continued)

Trade Secrets (continued)

Organic ~ Heritage Foods - a new reason for healthier and sustainable foods from small family farms - turkey, lamb, beef, seafood, and condiments Everything we've tasted has spoiled us and is great / heritagefoodusa.com.

Herbs ~ Fresh thyme, rosemary, sage, Italian parsley, chives, mint, chervil, dill, tarragon, and basil. Sometimes lemon verbena, scented geranium leaves, chocolate, mint, or lavender.

For the past twenty years, one of my greatest luxuries has been fresh herbs and young greens delivered to my door by the Herb Lady, Nancy Baker. While my own herb garden suffices part of the year - the bags of fresh herbs that appear every Friday has added dimension and sparkle - to every dish I make. I'd be lost without them! Do yourself a favor - find yourself a local source.

"No shoes, no news , no blues"
  Saugatuck Motto

Enjoy the Summer and come play in Saugatuck soon!  Julee and Bill