Good morning, lakeshore. Memorial Day weekend is in the rearview and summer is no longer pending. It's here, it's loud, and it already smells like sunscreen and Pigeon Hill IPAs. The lighthouse is open. The cruise ships are pulling in. The Clown Band is playing the farmers market Saturday morning and somehow that is exactly right.

In this week’s Lowdown:

Let’s get into it.

- The Lakeshore Lowdown

Four cruise lines. Twenty-four scheduled stops. This summer, passengers aboard luxury Great Lake cruise ships are paying thousands of dollars to stop in Muskegon, Michigan.

That’s not a typo.

American Cruise Lines, Ponant Great Lakes Cruises, Pearl Seas Cruises, and Victory Cruise Lines all have Muskegon on their 2026 itineraries. American Cruise Lines’ American Patriot is stopping here as part of a 9-day Lake Michigan and Upper Peninsula Route, with passengers getting a trolley ride through Muskegon, stops along the beach, and a visit to the USS Silversides.

Think about what that means. People with disposable income and a lot of options are spending a week on a ship and choosing to stop here. They’re walking downtown. Eating at our restaurants. Taking photos of the pier and sending them to people who have never heard of Muskegon.

Great Lakes cruising is projected to generate $300 million in economic impact in 2026, with more than 800 port visits across the region. Muskegon is in that conversation. And this is only year two of it really taking off.

The ships don’t make a lot of noise when they pull in. But if you’ve ever stood at Heritage Landing and watched one come through the channel, you already know the feeling. This city is worth the trip. Took the rest of the world a minute to catch up.

Low 70s, sun out, zero drama. That is the forecast for Muskegon and Grand Haven this weekend and there is nothing to complain about. Saturday comes in at 73° with a 10% rain chance that is not worth thinking about. Sunday holds steady at 71°. Southwest winds, light and easy. This is a go-outside weekend with no conditions to negotiate around.

🌊 Lake callout: Muskegon Lake is sitting at 56°F right now and Lake Michigan is hovering around 50°F nearshore. Cold enough to remind you it is still May, warm enough that people are already wading in anyway. Waves are under two feet with light southwest winds, which means flat water and easy beach conditions all weekend.

Verdict: No excuses. Pere Marquette, Grand Haven State Beach, the pier, the channel. Pick one and go. The 70s do not last forever up here and you already know that.

7 Day Glance: Thursday 77° / clear. Friday 74° / mostly sunny. Saturday 73° / sun with a stray 10% chance. Sunday 71° / same deal. Monday 76° / back toward summer. The stretch ahead is about as clean as late May gets on the lakeshore.

The post-holiday lull is not a thing here. The Muskegon Farmers Market runs Saturday morning and the Scottville Clown Band is performing at 10:30 a.m. on Western Avenue. If you have never seen the Clown Band do their thing at the market, it is exactly what it sounds like and somehow better. Get there before 10, do your shopping, and stay for the show.

The Food Truck Rally at the Farmers Market is coming up Wednesday June 3, running 5 to 8 p.m. with 20 food trucks, a bar, and the Clown Band back for round two. Worth knowing now so you can pencil it into your week.

If you have not made it down to the Grand Haven waterfront since the Musical Fountain fired back up for the season, this is your push. It runs nightly at dark. Free. Bring something to sit on and give yourself more than five minutes. The people who rush it always wish they stayed longer.

The Legal Immigrants perform at The Deck on Saturday May 30th at 7pm. They are a rock and roll band out of Grand Rapids and The Deck in summer is exactly the right room for them. Beach Street, lake behind you, cold drink in hand. That is the move for Saturday night.

Sunday at The Deck goes a different direction with an emo and pop-punk set starting at 5pm. If that was your high school soundtrack, this one is for you. Two nights of live music on the water before June even officially starts.

Music on the Grand launches its 2026 Wednesday series on June 3rd in downtown Grand Haven at Lynne Sherwood Waterfront Stadium, free admission, 7 to 9pm. Worth knowing now so you can plan your week. Free concerts on the river every Wednesday through August. Grand Haven does this better than most cities ten times its size.

Flat water, light southwest winds, and temperatures in the low 70s. This is one of the better on-water weekends of the early season and the conditions are calling for it. Muskegon Lake is sitting at 56°F right now, which is comfortable enough for a paddle if you are moving and cold enough to remind you to respect it if you are not.

Beachside Kayak does delivery rentals straight to your cottage, campsite, or launch point, which means there is no hauling gear or hunting for parking. Their sit-on-top kayaks and SUPs work on Muskegon Lake, Duck Lake, Mona Lake, and out on Lake Michigan when conditions are right. This weekend the conditions are right. Flat water in the channel on a Saturday morning is one of the better kept secrets on the lakeshore.

For the anglers: May is one of the best months of the year to fish Lake Michigan out of Muskegon, with king salmon migrating through and actively feeding before they push west toward the middle of the lake in June. Charter captains out of Muskegon are booking spring king salmon and coho trips now, and the window does not stay open long. If you have been thinking about it, this is the weekend to stop thinking about it.

Smokey Jose's is open in downtown Grand Haven at 100 Washington Avenue, the former Copper Post space, bringing BBQ and Mexican fusion back to the lakeshore. Think brisket and tacos and handcrafted cocktails in a 4,000-square-foot room with a back patio and a food truck for quick bites. The owners ran the original on Mackinac Island for years before closing it down, and now they have landed in Grand Haven. It is a real opening worth celebrating. Go check it out this weekend.

Pigeon Hill is releasing their Toasted Marshmallow SCP on Sunday May 31 at the Brewer's Lounge on 4th Street. The SCP is already one of the better beers in Muskegon, a salted caramel porter that somehow gets better every time they twist it. A toasted marshmallow version on a Sunday afternoon in late May is not a hard sell.

Saturday is as loaded as a spring Saturday gets on the lakeshore. District playoff weekend and the MHSAA track and field state finals are happening at the same time, and local athletes are all over it.

Grand Haven's boys won the Division 1 regional track title led by Keiavion Korenstra, who swept the 100 and 200, and distance runners Luka Hammond and Archer Verhage going 1-2 in the 1600. They head to Rockford Saturday for the Division 1 state finals alongside qualifiers from Mona Shores, Reeths-Puffer, and Muskegon who punched their own tickets at regionals. A big day for lakeshore kids on the track.

On the diamonds, Mona Shores baseball faces Rockford at 10 a.m. in the Division 1 district at Reeths-Puffer with the final at 2 p.m. Grand Haven hosts their own Division 1 baseball district with Forest Hills in at 10 a.m. and the final at 2 p.m. On the softball side, the Division 1 district at Holland West Ottawa has Mona Shores facing Reeths-Puffer at 10 a.m. and Grand Haven taking on Muskegon at 10 a.m., with the finals at noon. Mona Shores already blanked West Ottawa in the opening round to get here. MCC is hosting a Division 4 baseball district with the final at 2 p.m. and comes in at 20-5.

The Muskegon Clippers open the 2026 season on Friday June 5 at Marsh Field against the Michigan Monarchs. Marsh Field has been home to baseball in Muskegon since 1916 and has seen Satchel Paige, Hank Greenberg, and Mickey Cochrane come through its gates. Seven dollars gets you in. Bring the kids. Summer baseball at Marsh Field on a June evening is one of those things you do not realize you needed until you are there.

Josh Rake is a Mona Shores kid who loved brewing so much he dropped out of college to do it full-time, spent years working his way through some of Michigan's best breweries, and then came home to Muskegon and opened his own place. That is a pretty good origin story.

Rake Beer Project specializes in progressive and farmhouse ales brewed raw, using traditional Northern European methods that most American breweries don't go near. The result is a rotating tap list that leans into kettle sours, smoothie-style sours, and fermented coffee drinks alongside the more classic styles, all in a room that feels like it was built by someone who actually cares about the space. They recently moved into the former Pigeon Hill taproom on Western Avenue, which gives them more room and puts them right in the middle of downtown. If you have not been in since the move, now is the time.

The red lighthouse at the end of the south pier opened for the season this week. Most people walk past it on their way to the beach and don't think much about it. Here's what they're walking past. In 1858, Jemima Monroe took over lighthouse keeper duties when her husband William passed away, ran the light alone while raising two children, and held that post for ten years until her resignation. She is still Muskegon's only female lighthouse keeper, and Michigan has more female lighthouse keepers in its history than any other state in the country. The current tower was built in 1903 and you can climb 54 steps to the top to see the whole channel and the lake spread out in front of you, with docents on hand to tell you the full story. It is worth the walk. It has always been worth the walk.

Summer does not wait for anyone to get ready. Jemima Monroe ran a lighthouse alone for ten years. The least you can do is walk out to the end of the pier this weekend and see what she saw.

-The Lakeshore Lowdown

P.S.

Enjoy the newsletter? Share with a friend! 👇