After enjoying a fine meal and some great live music at our favorite brewhouse last evening, we made our way over to a nearby beach to catch the sunset. Our conversation drifted to… “where in the world would we rather be?”
We’ve lived or vacationed all over the continental US and some of Canada. The exception is we have purposely stayed away from the North East. Our conclusion, as it has been again and again… we can’t imagine living anywhere else than here, in the Grand Haven area. It is a truly great place to vacation, or in our case to live and not have to work. Ideal for me as a place to enjoy life and write.
But what about people who have to earn a living and raise a family? Well, jobs are plentiful here, the cost of living is not bad, and the schools are excellent. I looked back at the school ratings for the Iowa community we left. On a scale of 1 to 10, with ten being best of course, our tiny rural school district is rated a 6 to 8. Pretty good! But the main high school in the larger adjoining town is rated a 1. Stunningly bad for Iowa. Our Grand Haven area schools are rated an 8 to 10.
So why do people stay in Burlington, Iowa? How does Grand Haven remain the small, shining town hidden in plain sight, in paradise? Good questions, questions that slip from our mind as we gaze out on yet another unique sunset.