Grand Haven, Michigan

Sunset in Grand Haven, Michigan – a great spot. It’s located on Lake Michigan at the mouth of the Grand River.

Maybe the most interesting bit of trivia about Grand Haven for “mature” folks like me is that it was the site of the first bank robbery committed by the notorious George “Baby Face” Nelson.

But my son thinks Grand Haven is really cool because the city holds the distinction of being the first municipality in the US to feature city-wide wireless Internet service. In fact, since 2004 the wireless service has been designed to work throughout the city and up to 15 miles offshore for boaters.

For you baseball fans, Grand Haven is the hometown of Neal Ball. Baseball trivia fans probably know Ball gained fame in 1909 when he pulled off the first unassisted triple play in Major League history. He did it while playing shortstop for the New York Highlanders (before being officially renamed the "Yankees" in 1913) in a game against the Boston Red Sox.

An extremely rare unassisted triple play occurs when a defensive player makes all three outs by himself in one continuous play, without any teammates touching the ball. Most unassisted triple plays have happened when the infielder catches a line drive (one out), steps on a base to double a runner (two outs), and tags another runner on his way to the next base (three outs).

More recently, Grand Haven has also been called the Midwest Mecca of beach volleyball due to the quality of sands. In fact, geologists claim the sand here has a very rare quality – it whistles when you walk on it. Anyway, Grand Haven State Beach is one of many destinations for volleyball enthusiasts and hosts the AVP Pro Beach Volleyball Tournament throughout the summer months.

And on a whole different level, since 1932 Grand Haven has also been home to the United States Coast Guard's “Group Grand Haven,” which coordinates all Lake Michigan Coast Guard activities.

As far as railroads go, the now defunct Detroit, Grand Haven & Milwaukee Railway operated in Michigan during the late 1800s and early 1900s. It became part of the Grand Trunk Western Railroad in 1928. The company had a 189 mile line stretching from Detroit to Grand Haven. Today there’s a museum on the Grand Haven waterfront that can tell you the whole story.