Gary's Indiana Dunes

The sky was grey and damp this morning, but we got ourselves put together and went out for coffee.  Our new friend Cynthia had promised to bring us some homemade apple butter, and we didn't want to miss it.  As it turned out, we missed her, but she had left the goodies with the S/Bux barista and we snagged a haul of three jars of good stuff.

Then, with coffee cups stuffed into the console, rain jackets and umbrellas in the back seat, and a desire to explore, we hit the road.  One of the points of interest we had noticed along the Indiana Toll Road last week was the Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore, so we decided to check it out. Turns out that the "dunes" are a bit underwhelming if you've ever seen the Oregon Dunes or the Sand Dunes of Southern California.  The area is heavily wooded, with lakeshore houses along the road.  We drove into the entrance to a shoreline access point:

We stopped at Central Beach, but it was raining so heavily that all we could do was stick a foot into the 40 degree water of Lake Michigan and then run for the car.

The road ended near the town of Michigan City, whose claim to fame is a power plant and an old lighthouse.

We turned west on Highway 12 and stopped at the Port of Indiana.  The area is totally secured and patrolled, but there is a fishing access point onsite that we were allowed to drive to.  The road went between and around huge steel mills, recycling operations, and manufacturers of coiled, beam and extruded steel.  It's a huge operation with dock facilities where ships are loaded, primarily with scrap metal, for shipment overseas.  The security guard told us that most metal goes to India.

Photos are discouraged, but we managed to bootleg a few.  You get a feeling for the size of the plants by comparing to the Great Lakes ship in the foreground of the first photos and the train in the last.  The air smells of hot oil and metal and the ground vibrates from the machinery. This is the kind of industrial might that America is known for and I've always had a hankering to see it.  The entire area around Gary, Indiana is focused on industry, steel, and manufacturing.

We were just a hop and skip from downtown Gary, so we went into town far enough to get a photo.

They may be a bit premature, but here's hoping they know something that I don't!

On the way home we stopped for an early dinner at the Industrial Revolution in Valparaiso, IN.  Based on a theme of American steelworkers, the restaurant is a work of industrial art.

Donna and I shared a John Adams burger on a pretzel roll and a bowl of chili.  One of the best lunches we've had on this trip! And, no, that really isn't bacon hanging out of the burger….just my imagination….ok, I was wrong, it is bacon. Wonderful!

Of course, not every restaurant restroom has the Three Stooges playing on the tv!  All this and a sense of humor too.  What more could we want?