It is only December 8th, but this month is already insane! Between my travel plans and the holidays I will only spend three nights at home this month… And those three nights have already come and gone! I am currently in Spain, but my month of crazy travel began with a long weekend in the Indiana Dunes.
Honestly, I had no idea what to expect when Indiana Dunes tourism first invited me. I had never been to Indiana and the thought of a lake that is a beach troubled this Florida girl. I am happy to report, however, that the Indiana Dunes proved to be a really gorgeous and fun destination full of experiential history and outdoor activities.
Jess decided to join me for the weekend and we began our trip visiting the Bailly Homestead and Chellburg Farm and the Broken Wagon Bison ranch. Both sites gave us a sense of what life was like when Indiana was part of the American frontier. Moving forward in time, we also explored several of the small historic towns — Valpairiso, Chesterton, and Porter. Each had their own living history museum that chronicled life in Northwest Indiana from settlement in the 1850s through the twentieth century. And of course, we explored and hiked the actual dunes.
Lake Michigan was really strange to me. I mean it looked like the ocean and sounded like the ocean, but there was no salt, jelly fish, or sharks! Jess and I were both stunned by the lake’s gorgeous blue color and enjoyed the hikes up, down, and around the dunes (the Succession trail in West Beach was our favorite).
I will be sharing more details about my trip on the Indiana Dunes website and in my next couple of blog posts! So stay tuned!
