I am still a Midwest gal at heart, despite trading frigid winters for searing summers in Texas years ago. So, when my sister called to say she had rented a house on Lake Michigan for five days in September, I was excited.

The Great Lakes were our summer playground growing up. We were a big camping family drawn to isolated locations where we could fish and swim in the cold, blue freshwater lakes. (Three of my five siblings still live close to the lakes.)

These days we prefer comfortable beds over sleeping bags, but we still love white-sand beaches and privacy when we gather for family reunions. “Big Blu,” our VRBO rental house on Lake Michigan, north of Muskegon, Michigan, had it all.​

This is an excerpt from a recent story I wrote for Travel by Vacation Rental. The website is a great resource if you — like me — love to stay in private homes while on vacation in the US and around the world.