Grand Rapids glows: a presidential museum, world-class sculpture park, historic homes, and dining discoveries tantalize tourists in the urban hub of western Michigan

Travel America, Sept-Oct, 2004 by Angela Fox

GRAND RAPIDS, MICHIGAN'S SECOND largest city, is the state's fastest growing visitor destination. With $500 million invested in new cultural, sports, and recreation facilities over the last few years, it's easy to see why.

For our grand visit to this metro area of 600,000, my husband and I stayed at the Amway Grand Plaza, a hotel that has played a major role in the renaissance of downtown Grand Rapids ever since it reopened in 1981 following a multi-million-dollar renovation. The original hotel--The Pantlind--opened on the site in 1913 and in its lobby had one of the world's largest gold-leaf ceilings. Today the Amway Grand Plaza combines the graceful heritage of The Pantlind with the modern amenities of the new Glass Tower addition. You can book one of the Pantlind Rooms in the original wing of the hotel or stay in the Glass Tower's more contemporary rooms, as we did. All 682 guest rooms are generously appointed and feature thoughtful amenities.

Perhaps the best thing about the Amway Grand Plaza is its location--we could walk to almost everything. In fact, once our bags were stowed, we took a short walk over the Grand River, which the hotel overlooks, to the Van Andel Museum Center in order to get a handle on the city's history, including its furniture-making past. The museum features dozens of exhibits, a 19th century Grand Rapids cityscape, and a suspended 76-foot-long whale skeleton. Next, we walked across the street to the newly-expanded Gerald R. Ford Presidential Museum, where you can step inside a full-scale replica of the Oval Office, see the original Watergate burglar tools, and view other exhibits detailing the life and times of Grand Rapids' favorite son.

After our tour through the mid-1970s, we headed for lunch at San Chez, a restaurant specializing in tapas cuisine from Spain and Latin America. We loved the goat cheese dip with crab and caramelized onions and the portabello mushrooms layered with Serrano ham, manchego cheese, green onions, and roasted red peppers. And though it's almost impossible to stop sampling at a place like San Chez, try to do so in order to save room for the kahlua-, rum-, and espresso-soaked ladyfingers covered with white chocolate mousse or the pineapple habanero pepper cheesecake.

For a grand evening of dinner and entertainment, our destination that night was the B.O.B.--short for Big Old Building. A converted warehouse, the B.O.B. offers several restaurants and clubs on four floors. We started the evening at the Monkey Bar, munching on appetizers and sipping a Russian Banana Martini, one of a variety of specialty martinis and handcrafted beers. Next we headed for our table at Judson's Steakhouse, where we indulged in filet mignon and salmon, plus a chunk of New York cheesecake for dessert. Live comedy, jazz, and dance music are among the after-dinner options at the B.O.B., though we were too tired to last long before heading back to our hotel room.

We slept in after our night on the town--and woke up hungry for a walk through Heritage Hill, a National Historic District embracing some 60 architectural styles. First we fueled up at the Cherie Inn, a Grand Rapids tradition for six decades. The eggs Benedict with homemade hollandaise is superb, as are the omelettes and cinnamon French toast.

We had picked up a self-guided Heritage Hill walking tour brochure at the downtown visitors bureau and walked off our breakfast along the shady streets while admiring the examples of Greek Revival, Queen Anne, Eastlake, and other architectural styles. We also toured the two homes in the historic district that are open to the public--the Meyer May House, a 1908 Prairie-style that is one of the most complete restorations of a Frank Lloyd Wright house anywhere, and the Voight House Victorian Museum.

We spent the afternoon at the Frederik Meijer Gardens and Sculpture Park, a 10-minute drive from downtown. The 125-acre attraction boasts the most comprehensive outdoor sculpture collection in the Midwest, including the monumental "American Horse" by Nina Akamu, based on a design by Leonardo da Vinci. The site also boasts the largest tropical conservatory in the state and dozens of indoor and outdoor botanical displays, including the Michigan Farm Garden, a replica of a 1930s family farm complete with farmhouse and barn, a windmill, farm-related sculptures, orchards, and gardens. The newest star of the gardens is the Lena Meijer Children's Garden, which interprets the world of art and nature for kids through interactive areas that include five tree houses, a log cabin, a Great Lakes garden, and a butterfly maze.

After several hours among the gardens and sculptures, we watched the sun go down while enjoying a picnic supper and a classical concert at the Meijer amphitheater, an elegant outdoor venue with terraced lawn seating that presents nationally-known musicians in concert from June through September. The next evening we took ourselves out to the ball game--a West Michigan Whitecaps game, to be exact. The Class A affiliate of the Detroit Tigers, the Whitecaps play April through September at the family-friendly Fifth Third Ballpark, a short drive from downtown.