Saturday is parade day. The Grand Parade steps off at 11:45am, over 100 entries strong, so stake your spot on Washington Ave early if you want a good view. Merchants and Makers runs again 9am to 5pm, and the carnival keeps going all day. The night caps with Elton & Billy, a tribute act covering both legends' catalogs, followed by fireworks over the channel around 10pm. That show is sold out, so if you don't have tickets, the fireworks are still visible for free from most of the waterfront.

Friday's shaping up warm and mostly sunny, with a high near 82 and a low dropping to the low 60s tonight. Rain chances are low during the day, only about 10 percent, so the market and carnival should stay dry. Clouds build in tonight though, and a batch of showers is likely to move through overnight, so if you're out late for the drone show, keep half an eye on the radar. Saturday cools off to a high near 73 with a 45 percent chance of rain, mostly scattered showers rather than a washout, and it stays breezier out of the northeast. Sunday clears back out to a sunnier 79, though winds pick up into the afternoon.

The verdict: Friday during the day is your best beach and market window, just don't push it too late once the overnight showers roll in. Saturday, bring a rain jacket to the parade, and if you're getting out on the water this weekend, do it Friday or Saturday morning rather than Sunday afternoon.

7 Day Glance: The warm, mostly dry pattern holds into early next week, with highs in the upper 70s to low 80s Monday and Tuesday and only a slight rain chance. Midweek cools slightly with a better shot at showers Wednesday, and by next Friday temperatures settle back into a typical upper 70s late-summer stretch.

The Coast Guard Festival's Merchants and Makers market takes over Central Park both Friday and Saturday, and it's genuinely one of the better craft markets around, all handmade goods and over 140 booths to wander through. Friday evening, the Legends of New Country tribute show and drone show close out the night at the Waterfront Stadium, a solid pick if you want the concert energy without the Saturday crowds. Saturday is parade day, with the Grand Parade stepping off at 11:45am on Washington Ave, always a good one for kids with candy flying from the floats. If you're staying local instead, the carnival runs both days with rides and games for the whole family.

BoDocks brings Plain Jane Glory to the lakeview stage Friday from 7 to 10pm, a solid start to the weekend if you want live music with your sunset over Muskegon Lake. Over at the Flight Deck above Early Owl, Brian Fedewa plays Friday from 7 to 11pm, though remember that spot is outdoors and entertainment is weather dependent. In Grand Haven, the Kirby House keeps its rotating lineup of local and regional acts going on the main-level stage most weekends, a good backup if you want live music away from the festival crowds downtown.

Water temps are hovering around 70 degrees this week, so swimming conditions are about as good as Lake Michigan gets. Waves are running light, 1 to 3 feet off both piers, with a southwest wind that should keep things comfortable rather than choppy. With the Coast Guard fleet still in port for the festival, this is a great weekend to walk the channel and watch the ships, or get out on a paddleboard early before the wind picks up in the afternoon.

For the anglers: Boats out of Muskegon have been doing well on Chinook salmon lately, working the pierheads out to about 80 feet of water, with green and blue glow spoons producing. Grand Haven boats are seeing similar success in the 30 to 90 foot range, with green, blue, and white spoons working well, and pier anglers picking up steelhead and the occasional Chinook on spoons and alewives. Get out early if you can. The bite tends to slow once the boat traffic picks up for the festival crowds.

Downtown Grand Haven has a new lunch spot worth a walk-by: New Holland's Pinwheel Kitchen, right next to the New Holland tasting room on Washington Ave. It's built around New Holland's pepperoni pinwheels, plus newer flavors like the Trendsetter, a hot honey take, and the Bacon Dill-icious, loaded with shredded dill pickle and bacon. No alcohol on site, but they'll happily let you bring your box next door to pair with a beer.

On the Muskegon side, Dr. Rolf's Barbeque across from Trinity Health Arena is still one of downtown's best bets for smoked meat. The brisket burnt ends and the Dirty Tots get the most love, and it's an easy call before a Clippers game or a downtown wander this weekend.

The Muskegon Clippers' season has come to a close. After clinching a playoff spot on the final day of the regular season, the Clippers opened their best-of-three North Division series with a bang, mercy-ruling the Lima Locos 17-5 at Marsh Field on Tuesday. But Lima answered on their home field, winning Game 2 by a 9-1 score Wednesday, then closing it out with a 10-6 win in Thursday's decisive Game 3. The Locos move on to face the Grand Lake Mariners in the GLSCL Championship Series, which opens tonight at Simmons Field. It's a tough way for the Clippers' summer to end, but a mercy-rule win in a playoff opener is still a heck of a way to send the season off.

Looking ahead, high school fall sports practices open statewide on Monday, August 9, just over a week out. Locker rooms across both cities, from the Big Reds to the Buccaneers, will start filling back up soon.

If you haven't wandered into Lange's Comics and Collectibles at the Lakes Mall, you're missing one of the more fun corners of that building. Owner Todd Lange took over a storefront usually reserved for a big-box anchor and filled it wall to wall with comics, sports memorabilia, toys, and LEGO. What makes it extra good is that it's a family affair. Todd's son Harrison runs Static Tape in the same mall, and the two moved their combined operations under one roof after outgrowing three separate spaces. It's a story that makes the Lakes Mall feel less like an empty shell and more like a place people are actively building something.

Grand Haven has carried the federal nickname "Coast Guard City, USA" since Congress made it official, and this week is the reason why. What started in 1924 as a private picnic for Coast Guard personnel has grown into a ten-day, 350,000-person celebration, the kind most towns don't get to say they've sustained for over a century. Watching the ships come into the channel, horns blaring, spray flying, while a crowd lines the pier to cheer them home, is the sort of moment that reminds you why people fall in love with this stretch of shoreline in the first place.

Thanks for reading The Lakeshore Lowdown today. If you found something useful, share it with someone who's already staked out their spot on Washington Ave for tomorrow's parade. They exist, and they've been out there since sunrise.