This is my favorite festival, as a vendor I do a lot of festivals and arts and crafts shows all…read moreover west Michigan. It has everything for everyone from carnival rides to pancake breakfast accompanied by local talent, home made apple yummiest of all sorts to a huge craft show that donates it's booth rental to a list of charities. Carnival food galore to a car show and plane rides even a costume contest. First weekend in October

Located in downtown St. Joseph, the Heritage Museum is one place you may overlook but definitely…read moreshouldn't. As stated perfectly on their website "The Heritage Museum is our remembering place in St. Joseph, Michigan, housing our area's history, its artifacts and archival collections and a research library." You can rent the museum or come to one of their many events. They have events catered to kids and adults. I even got to bring my nephew for the Lego Carnival last year. It's a beautiful building and a great place for any event.

I used Heritage Museum & Cultural Center for my rehearsal dinner/welcome party for my wedding. It…read morewas absolutely perfect. Tammy was wonderful making sure everything was set up appropriately and we had live music and 8 long tables and 100 people, and there was still plenty of room for people to mingle and hang out. It is a great option for a classy looking venue right by the lake and downtown St. Joe's.

My cousin got married here this past summer, and it was just gorgeous…read more The setting: shady trees and sun (so carefully pick where you sit!), long benches with plenty of space in between, a lovely walkway (although sort of scary to navigate a wheelchair down the hill), and an incomparable view. There is street parking right out front (although I did not see a handicap spot), and all through the downtown, if you can walk a bit. Lovely!

The Bandshell is a very fun location to attend a musical event.  When someone plays here, you can…read morehear the wonderful   The Bandshell hosts the Municipal Band concerts, St. Joseph Today sponsored brown bag and friday night concerts, as well as a variety of other public events.  music all throught the downtown area.  Brown bag concerts are definitely a hit for locals and tourists alike. I remember coming here since I was a child with my day out for fun musical events and since then I have taken gone with cousins,  friends and even stood on the sidewalk with my nephew while he listened to a jazz concert.  I would recommend checking out their event listings because it's a lot of fun to come in the nice weather.

Berrien County Youth Fair has gotten ridiculous with prices, $32.00 to just get in, what are we…read morepaying for, what do we get for $32.00, absolutely nothing, food prices are outrageous, only thing still loyal to the actual youth is the Green Corn Dog Stand!

Berrien County Youth Fair is located at the fairgrounds in Berrien Springs, Michigan. I go to this…read morefair almost every year and was extremely ecstatic to come back this year. I'm not a ride person at fairs but if I was my 2 favorite rides were there if I chose to (swinging ship and the fair swings that launch you in a circle). We mostly went to look at the purchasable items, food, and animals. For food we got fried apple, fried peanut butter and steak with potatoes, onion and mushrooms. We also got lemonade because a fair isn't complete without lemonade in my opinion. Everything about this fair is nostalgic for me because I have been coming to this fair since I was about 6. I am so grateful to be able to come back year after year. Thank you BCYF for allowing me to create new memories while cherishing all the past memories. See y'all next year.

The Morton House Museum is the carefully preserved former home of one of the founding families of…read moreBenton Harbor. It is also a museum of Benton Harbor history. Although the exhibits are modest in size, the collection continues to grow. The museum is operated by the local historical preservation group, which hosts exhibits and talks, along with special events for the holidays. Fascinating for those who love local history or want to learn more about the roots of the town.

A small local history museum with cool exhibits. Parking is plentiful. Fun to learn about the…read moreinteresting history of the area. Oh and it's free! (Be sure to leave a donation.) The staff was very kind and helped me with some family research as well.

This is a super charming new theater in Benton Harbor. The area doesn't have a ton of theater…read moreoptions so it a was great to have the opportunity to check it out. The first thing you notice is that they use the space very well. You walk into it and there's a refreshment area with a few options at very reasonable prices. After that there's some merchandise for sale as well. Once you go into the theater there's lots of available seating around. It's a black box style theater, with the audience pretty close to the stage, which is nice. The performance itself was top notch! Clybourne Park was funny & poignant, with a minimalist stage. The acting really brought all the characters to life. The theater seems to be doing a lot of great things for the community. They have a camp for kids in the summer and Paul, the stage director seems to have a promising vision for the future of the space. Can't wait to see what's in store for this theater in the years to come.

New wonderful venue in Benton Harbor and certainly has become a "regular" cultural spot for me and…read moremy friends and family. Have attended the first three of their plays this summer: Bridges of Madison County, No Exit and Clybourne Park. Each and every one was first rate and the audiences gave robust, well-deserved standing ovations. Cannot wait for the final show of the season - Urinetown opening August 22. Not on their mailing list? Add your name so you won't miss some first-rate entertainment!

Why haven't you been here? Book a goat hike online (typically 11am on Saturdays, about 1 mile…read morehiking I think) or get some great stuff from the Farm Store on Saturdays or for pickup on a couple other days if orders are placed online. Or stay at the amazing Black Barn redesigned by the renowned (late) Chicago architect Stanley Tigerman 50+ years ago which is available to book via AirBnB. What a unique and relaxing weekend. The goat cheese is great, many may be more familiar with fresh chevre but I'm telling you the Moonlet is as good as we've had from Valencay and Mother of Pearl is as good as anything you'll find from a Crotin in its ancestral homeland near Sancerre. A little "slice" of the best Loire Valley-style goat cheeses that are available not in France but in Southwestern Michigan of all places, they aren't getting rich being this crazy about high end goat cheese but we love it! :) This is one of the highest quality and most sustainable/responsible farms you'll find, stay in the Black Barn for a couple nights or stop by to get some cheese, eggs, pork, sausages, soap, and some SWAG to support a great local business. Bravo!

Earlier this fall, we visited the farm to do a Saturday morning, goat hike! We didn't really know…read morewhat to expect coming from Chicago, but knew it would be a great experience. We really enjoyed taking a nature walk (about a mile) around the property with the goats and the owners. We learned a lot about goats. Some of them were so funny and acted kind of like your neighborhood or family dog. One came up to me and rubbed their face on my leg for a solid 15 seconds. It was very cute. We got to feed them about halfway through, which was a real treat for both the humans and the goats! This is definitely an experience. I would recommend to adults and kids alike. However, be mindful that the goats do jump here and there. As long as you're prepared for it it'll be fine. There's also an Airbnb, which I believe is a converted barn. It was converted I think in the 70s by the previous owners and looks pretty cool. So, you could make a whole weekend of it. No issues with GPS. Google let us right to the farm. Everyone was nice and our small group had a great time.