Artisan classes happen every Tuesday evening at 6:30 p.m. with ever-changing menus. Call ahead to book a class that might be soups, fish, pasta, chicken, grilling, hors d’oeuvres, knife skills or more.

Kids’ cooking classes happen in the morning and Chef Douglas McConnell says their delight in learning good tasting things don’t come out of cans makes his day.

Themed dinners are open to the public in this space which seats 20, another reason to call ahead to see what’s up on a Grand Haven vacation.

Whipping up the perfect cup of coffee is another plunge-in activity, this one in Holland, a squeaky-clean brick downtown with at least a dozen eateries and many al fresco dining opportunities.

Attend this class to improve your espresso, lattes, milk steaming and basic cup of Joe at home; might have to buy new equipment to follow through.

Start with a burr grinder. That’s not what we had at home but Jack Groot who runs the Midwest Barista School says it gives a more even grind, better releasing flavor from the bean.

Even lets you vary the grind by changing the closeness of the burrs.

“Start with good beans, freshly roasted, use a burr grinder, grind for every pot and expect water temperature to be 200 degrees,” Groot says.

I have no idea what temperature my pot reaches but now I’ll have to find out, and maybe shop for a new one. Travel discoveries sometimes call for action.

“Put your coffee in a carafe,” Groot insists. “Don’t leave it on the eye of your machine or you’ll get a burnt taste.”

Pretty good info from a three-hour class; imagine taking the three, four or five day version. Wonder how many coffee shop owners actually do that?

Barista School in Holland started two years ago and Groot has coffee-making students from Canada, California, Texas and Washington, D.C., plus the Midwest.

Drinking of another sort is high on the bucket list of many vacationers. You can make your own beer at Saugatuck Brewing Company in Douglas, a little south of Holland and still hugging the Lake Michigan coastline.

Here’s how it works: If you have your own formula, they’ll furnish you the components.

Or describe the kind of beer you like and they’ll let you know what recipe you need and provide the ingredients. You mix it up and cook it off in copper brewing kettles.