All along Michigan's eastern shores, there's plenty going plenty to see and do this weekend. Let's take a look at some of the events happening in the Blue Water Area for it.
Art On The River, a two day art and music festival, has become a tradition for the second weekend of June in Port Huron. This year they're shaking things up a bit. The family friendly event with art workshops, hands on art, music to dance to and food to enjoy will still be happening on Saturday and Sunday but also this year they're adding Friday night to the mix with a dance party and beer tent.
On Saturday, June, 9th see hot rods, custom and muscle cars at Rumble In The Park at Marysville Park. The next day, the park will host stock and unmodified rides that are at least twenty five years old for The Past and It's Wheels. This show well known for having quite a few Wills Sainte Claire cars. Wills built approximately 12,000 cars between 1921 and '26 in a Marysville factory. There are only 75 remaining in the entire world.
This weekend Native, Voyageurs & Settlers Days are at the Sanilac County Museum & Historical Village in Port Sanilac. At this event, families can expect to have talks and demonstrations that include beeswax candle making, showing furs, rope making, cooking and much more. Everyone is invited to come experience and learn about the rich history connected with the voyagers, Coureurs de Bois native Americans and early settlers of our Great Lakes. It runs from 10am-4pm this Saturday and Sunday.
"Local Beer" in the Blue Water Area goes back to the mid 19th century. According to the website Old Breweries the first documented brewery in the region was the J. Stein Brewery which opened for business in 1856.
In the 1901 city directory, there were two breweries listed in the city of Port Huron itself and, save for the years of prohibition, the C. Kern Brewery was in business at 511 River St. brewing it's flagship Cream of Michgan Cream ale as well as Old Dominion and other styles until it closed in 1950.
Over the last couple of decades, tastes have shifted back towards regional flavors and craft workmanship when it comes to sipping a beer and our region has some great options to do just that.
Located in the Riverview Plaza, St Clair's War Water Brewery started making and selling beer in July 2015. Since it's opening the brewery has grown and in 2017 embarked on $5 million expansion in the plaza and in the city.
Before 2018, War Water did not offer any in house food options but that changed when Anchor Point Bistro opened inside the brewery's location serving things such as flatbreads, subs, wraps and sandwiches that have a huge emphasis on fresh preparation and ingredients.
About a 10 minute drive north of War Water is the Harsens Island Brewery in Marysville. Opened in 2015 in a building that used to be a Wonder Bread/Hostess bakery by Brian Phinney and his father Spencer, the brewery has 8 different on-site brewed beers on tap.
The Phinney's use regionally sourced products as much as they can for their beer. They also keep that theme with what they name the their brews, Tashmoo Steamer, a California Common is called after steamship which brought visitors to the area from Detroit between 1900 to the mid 30's and the Hump which got its from a popular fishing spot in Lake St, Clair.
Along with some fine beer, Harsens Island has some great food options too with a menu that has tasty appetizers such as their fried mushrooms and huge onion rings, excellent burgers, delicious salmon and a whole lot more.
Oh, and why is the brewery named after Harsens Island but is located in Marysville? The Phinney family owns a house there but found the island to be a bit too small to launch the endeavor. The building the are in is perfect for it.
Less than a 30 minute drive north up Michigan's east coast from Marysville is Lexington. The village of a little over 1,000 people is well known to roadtrippers for it's shops, beaches, harbor and marina but also over the past few years, the beer that the Lexington Brewing Company and Wine House brews has put another new thing for people to check off their listing when visiting Sanilac county. Open seasonally, the brewery got its modest start at the back of the Old Town Hall Winery tasting room. A couple years back, the beers started to become the main attraction for both thisty visitors from out of town as well as the locals.
Along with the mighty roasty stout Molly Malone, some traditional quaffs such as Ludy's Pilsner, the unique Tropicana Ale which is Belgian style ale accented by citrus flavors, the brewery also has a light menu featuring flatbread pizzas, sliders and charcuterie plates.
Weekend during the summer at the Lexington Brewing Company, the place grooves to live jazz, blues, bluegrass, folk and pop classics from a variety of local combos.
