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Tuesday, July 19, 2022
We went back to Ally’s this morning so we could use our gift card. We had another good breakfast and got a cinnamon bun to go. The drive to Indiana Dunes National Park took just about 2.5 hours. When we got to the visitor’s center we were surprised to learn that a large part of the middle of the park was designated as Indiana Dunes State Park, which required a separate fee to enter. The State Park lands were mostly beachfront. All of the interesting things to see, plus a great deal more beachfront, was part of the National Park. There was no reason for us to pay the extra fees.
We started out by driving along the waterfront on West Lake Front Drive. The road follows Lake Michigan’s shoreline for many miles. We were surprised to see so many people on the beaches and frolicking in the water. It was a hot and humid day. We envied them.
Soon we came to the Century of Progress Historic District. We stopped there to look at the houses. Once we parked we noticed a path down to the beach. We couldn’t resist. We walked down, removed our shoes and socks, and waded in. The water was a bit on the cold side and was very refreshing. We resolved to come back tomorrow and spend some time on the beach.
The district had five houses that were originally designed and built for the 1933-1934 Chicago World’s Fair. Each of the houses was to showcase a different, technologically advanced, building methodology. When the fair ended a developer moved all of the houses to their present location hoping that they would spur interest in the new resort community he was planning. Today the houses are leased to private individuals who are restoring them to their original condition using private funding.
We continued down to the end of the park until we reached one of its major attractions: Mount Baldy. It’s a 126 foot tall sand dune that moves about 5-10 feet each year. It’s called a “living dune”. It’s dangerous to climb the dune as there is a real danger of getting swallowed up by the sand. The park service has it roped off. There is a trail that will take you to the beach where you can get a better view. Given the day’s heat we decided to return tomorrow and do the hike early in the morning before the sun was fully up.
Next we drove to the other end of the park and visited some older, historic buildings. First we found the Chellberg Farm. A large population of Swedes came to Indiana in the 1850s to work at the saw mills. By 1860 they started purchasing land for farming. This was the farm owned by one such family. There were several buildings including a main house composed of brick, a sugar house, a barn, and some other out-buildings. A short hike later we found The Bailly Homestead.
The Bailly family was one of the first to settle the area in 1822. The original homestead covered over 2,000 acres. The family prospered by trading with the Native Americans and by farming the land. Over the years the original log cabin was built into a large, two story, home. Other surviving buildings were used for storage as well as for other family members.
After getting gas we headed for our hotel – an OYO Hotel. Apple Maps brought us to a Motel 8. We tried Google Maps: same result. We called the hotel and asked for directions. The woman gave us the address we already had. She said the hotel was “just a little father down”. What does that mean??? Finally, after a bit of back and forth, she said that it was the OYO Hotel but the new sign had not yet been installed and yes, it used to be a Motel 8. There’s 15 minutes of my life I’ll never get back.
Wednesday, July 20, 2022
We went to Dunkin Donuts for breakfast this morning. They don’t have them in the midwest and we hadn’t seen one in quite a while. Besides, Deborah likes their coffee. I ordered a bacon, egg, and cheese croissant. What I got was a sausage, egg, and cheese bagel. They changed it. I also ordered a lemonade no-ice without specifying a size. Instead of asking me they simply charged me for the largest size. If that wasn’t bad enough I noticed on the receipt that they’d charged me an extra $0.99 (plus tax) because I asked for no ice. I asked the manager about that and was told that corporate had suggested to their franchisees that they start charging customers who requested this. I was fuming.
Before leaving I looked up at the menu board and found no mention of this new surcharge. I asked to speak to the manager again. I told her that she couldn’t charge me for no-ice when it was not mentioned on the menu. I told her that she would either refund the fee to me or I would dispute the charge on the credit card. She summoned the owner.
The owner told me that franchisees could charge anything they wanted. I told him that I’d taken a picture of the menu and there was no mention of this surcharge. His response: you’re not allowed to take pictures in here. My response: too bad. I reiterated that he would either refund the charge or I would dispute it. After some further back and forth he had one of the cashiers issue me a refund. After we left I looked up their reviews on Google. The one I left was just one of many that reflected seriously unhappy customers.
Yesterday we had planned to drive back over to Indiana Dunes National Park and and hike at Mount Baldy. This is exactly what we did. The hike was not particularly long but even at this early hour it was terribly humid. When we got to the Summit Trail we found that it was closed. We were a little annoyed that it was not posted at the trail head. We continued on to the beach. We walked East towards the famous dune and took a bunch of pictures.
Back in the car we parked at one of the beaches. Sometimes it’s good to have everything you own in the car. We dug out our camp chairs and some towels and found a shady spot on the beach. Except for a man playing fetch in the water with his dog we were all alone.
It was idyllic. It was cool and breezy in the shade. We sat and enjoyed the sound of the waves crashing on the beach. Lake Michigan is so large that it’s impossible to see to the other side. It resembles an ocean in every way excepting the lack of briny spray. Eventually we got adventurous and got in the water.
The beach is very sandy but the first ten feet or so of the shallows is lined with small, smooth, slippery rocks. Given the current and the waves it was hard to stand there. Further out the floor turns once again to soft sand. Initially the water felt a little cold to us but once we waded in and got used to it we found it to be delightful.
About a hundred yards out there was a sand bar. We swam out and found the water barely came up to our waists. It was very amusing. We frolicked about for almost an hour before returning to our beach chairs. By this time the beach was starting to fill up. About an hour later we had dried out enough to get back in the car and get some lunch.