Lake Michigan, MI

St. Joseph: Bluffs to Beach

Apple orchard, copyright Curious
Kids' Museum

Situated on a bluff looking over the mouth of the St. Joseph River, the old-fashioned town offers sweeping lake views from every corner of its brick-paved streets. If you have youngsters under 11, don't miss the Curious Kids' Museum. Allow 90 minutes here for climbing a miniature volcano, driving a scale-model ambulance, or crawling inside a giant soap bubble. The museum even has a "Mars Rover" table, where junior astronauts can use mini space buggies and robot arms to take soil samples on a Martian landscape.

From the bluff, take the steep steps down to Silver Beach, where you'll find beach shelters for changing into swimsuits, a playground, and two 1,000-foot piers leading out to a pair of lighthouses. During the first week of May, you'll catch Blossomtime Festival, a century-old spring celebration culminating in a Floral Parade in St. Joseph and neighboring Benton Harbor.