05/22/2026
Meijer parking lot sunsets have been criminally underrated by every travel magazine that has ever published a list of best Midwest sunset locations and the oversight needs to be corrected immediately. The light hits the cart return at exactly the right angle in late May. The faded asphalt reflects the orange in a way that no state park overlook has successfully replicated. There is a poetry to it that landscape photographers have been missing entirely because they keep driving past the Meijer on their way somewhere less convenient.
The scenic overlook requires planning. It requires driving somewhere specific and finding parking and walking to a designated viewing area with other people who also planned to be there. The Meijer parking lot requires picking up milk. You come out with the milk, you look west, and there it is. The sky doing something extraordinary directly above the cart return and the propane tank exchange station. No effort. Full reward. Michigan efficiency at its finest.
The emotional impact is actually enhanced by the location. A sunset over Lake Michigan from a scenic dune is expected to be beautiful and delivers accordingly. A sunset over a Meijer parking lot in Portage catches you completely off guard while you are loading groceries into the trunk and hits harder because of it. Nobody prepared you for this. The sky just decided to do something magnificent above the place you buy Vernors in bulk and Michigan didn't warn you because Michigan never warns you about the good stuff.