A summer day in Southwest Michigan is a day in paradise. From rosy dawn to starry night, you can fill your days with simple joys. They can be as easy-going as searching for wave-smoothed, glistening beach glass along Lake Michigan’s shore to adrenaline-rushing surfing on the Big Lake with friends.

Lake Michigan rightfully steals the summer spotlight in Southwest Michigan with its miles of soft sand beaches. Its fresh water laps at your feet one day and roars to life the next, wildly splashing high up on our century-old lighthouses. There are sandcastles to build. Beach balls to toss. Picnics to eat. And wide-open spaces to twist and turn and pound in your watercraft.

Yet you’ll find the joys of summer on more than our beaches. Paddle across mirror-still inland lakes. Bring home original art and antiques from our galleries and shops. Go on an “I Love Art Surrey Scavenger Hunt” with your family in St. Joseph. Pick juicy peaches, plums and blueberries or gather quarts of crisp peppers, cucumbers, greens and plump tomatoes from our farms and markets.

Try our chefs’ tempting creations at pizzerias, cafes and restaurants. Send golf balls soaring over lush fairways. Mountain bike or hike on picturesque trails. Listen to heart-stirring live music as you sip locally-crafted wine, beer and spirits. See more stars than you can count at our International Dark Sky Park. Rattle the chains on disc golf courses. Hem and haw over what delicious ice cream flavor you will choose to cool your day.

However, our simplest joy comes at the end of each day when the sun slips beneath the horizon, leaving in a blaze of colors. In that silent moment, a feeling of deep peace will settle within you. Stay over. There are more of life’s simple joys to find tomorrow.