Today's a good one, sunny with a high in the upper 70s and light winds turning south through the afternoon. Overnight lows settle into the upper 50s, so it'll feel properly like fall once the sun's down. Saturday holds the sun and the warmth, upper 70s again, but it gets breezier, south winds picking up to 15 mph with gusts near 30 by afternoon.

Water's settling into the mid to upper 60s across Muskegon Lake and the nearshore water off both cities. Waves stay small through the morning, a foot or two, but build to 3 to 5 feet by Friday afternoon as that south wind fills in, so it'll have some chop to it by the time you're off work.

The verdict: Sun both days, just expect more wind and wave action Saturday afternoon than Friday morning

7 Day Glance: Sunday holds mostly sunny in the mid-70s before rain chances creep in Sunday night and stick around into Monday, 40 to 50 percent. It clears back up by the middle of next week, back into the low 70s with sun returning Wednesday.

The Muskegon Museum of Art just opened its 97th Michigan Contemporary Art Exhibition, a juried show pulling in work from Michigan artists at every level, beginners through pros. It's free, runs through November 4, and worth a visit if you haven't been to the museum in a while.

The SpongeBob Musical: Youth Edition hits the Frauenthal this weekend, courtesy of Muskegon Civic Theatre's Penguin Project. Shows run Saturday and Sunday, tickets through the Frauenthal box office or the theatre's site. Get tickets here now before it’s too late.

If you play ukulele, or want to, Unruly Brewing hosts a monthly meetup this Sunday, 2 to 4 PM. Bring your uke, a stand if you've got one, and a few copies of anything you'd like to share, all skill levels welcome.

Farmers market season is still in full swing. Muskegon's market runs Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday, 8 AM to 2 PM, with the Wednesday and Thursday flea market running the same hours. Grand Haven's market at Chinook Pier runs Saturday, 8 AM to 1 PM, through October.

The Musical Fountain's new fall schedule means just two shows this week: Friday's "A Night at the Movies" (Greatest Showman songs, 8:40-9:40 PM) and Saturday's "Made in America" encore (9:30-10:30 PM), both at Lynne Sherwood Waterfront Stadium.

The Deck's got a full weekend lined up too: Funkle Jesse tonight at 6, a party band that spans generations, Union Guns Saturday at 6 with high-energy country, and Rick Deez Sunday at 4 closing things out with top-40 covers.

The Flight Deck rooftop at Early Owl has its own weekend going: Medicine Men play live Friday, 7-10 PM, and DJ Jodi Dro & Friends take over Saturday for a DJ night, 7-11 PM. Both move indoors to the dining room if the rooftop gets rained out.

Over in Grand Haven, the Kirby House keeps its acoustic solo acts going Friday and Saturday nights, 7 to 10:30 PM, if you want live music with your dinner downtown.

Rounding it out: Unruly Brewing almost always has something going most weekends, they just don't reliably post who's playing ahead of time, so it's a good walk-in bet if you're already downtown.

Salmon are still biting, Chinook running 50 to 100 feet down in 80 to 140 feet of water off Muskegon, with Grand Haven boats reporting an uptick in Chinook, coho, and steelhead too. Water temps are settling into the mid-60s.

Wind and wave action build through the day Friday and stay up Saturday afternoon, so mornings are your calmer window if you're heading out. Standard rule still applies, always check the flags before you swim.

For the anglers: Glow plugs and glow spoons remain the go-to, with green and blue spoons still producing in shallower water.

ZINI Dining & Cocktail Lounge is open now at 380 W Western Ave downtown, Thursday through Saturday, 4 to 9 PM. It's the tasting-room expansion of Zini, a woman-owned vodka brand out of Muskegon, now serving Asian-inspired small plates alongside flavored martinis and handcrafted cocktails. Worth a look if you haven't been yet.

Ryke's Bakery has been a West Michigan staple for generations, and both local locations are worth knowing: 1788 Terrace St in Muskegon (Monday-Friday 7-5, Saturday 7-3) and 623 A Way in Grand Haven (Monday-Friday 7-4, Saturday 7-3). Custom cakes made from the original family recipes, plus their Butter Thin cookies, which locals will tell you to buy two boxes of because the first one won't make it home.

Legends Bar & Grill downtown runs "Wine on Western" every Wednesday, a 9oz pour at 6oz price, alongside a small plates menu worth building a night around, think a charcuterie board or the ahi tuna.

Grand Haven's the last unbeaten team left in the county after back-to-back one-score wins (35-34 over Spring Lake, 17-14 over Reeths-Puffer), and they'll need every bit of that momentum tonight on the road at Hudsonville. Muskegon's still hunting its first win at 0-2, hosting River Rouge at home. Nearly the entire county plays tonight, so here's the full board:

Tonight, Friday, Sept 11, 7 PM (except where noted):

That last one's not a typo. Mona Shores hosts St. Andrew's College, an all-boys prep school from Aurora, Ontario, tonight at 7:15. It's part of a handful of U.S. games the Canadian program plays every year. This is one you will not want to miss.

Garden House Floral is Grand Haven's spot for houseplants, custom arrangements, and floral art, tucked downtown at 8 N Ferry St. Beyond the standard bouquet run, they do full event and wedding floral work if you're planning that far ahead.

📍 8 N Ferry St, Grand Haven
🕐 Monday 10-4, Tuesday-Friday 10-6, Saturday 10-2, closed Sunday
📞 (616) 842-8680

Near the bow of the USS LST 393 stands a bronze statue of a man mid-note on a bugle. That's Clarence Zylman, born and raised in Muskegon, drafted into the Army in 1942, who became locally famous for playing reveille in his own jazzy, swinging style. Stars and Stripes and more than 30 newspapers nicknamed him the Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy, and he's long been credited as the inspiration behind the Andrews Sisters song of the same name, though the timeline is a little fuzzy since the song actually came out before Zylman enlisted. True origin story or not, Muskegon claimed him anyway. Sculptor Ari Norris, a Reeths-Puffer grad, cast him in bronze in 2018, forever facing east toward the rising sun, still playing reveille to wake the city up.

Take a moment for today, then get out and enjoy the weekend, that's allowed too. See you Tuesday.