There is nothing more empowering than an idea whose time has come.
The Dunes National Lakeshore was beautiful
Last weekend we went to Chesterton, IN and made our way to the Indiana Dunes National Lake Shore. We started out at the Visitors Center and walked around looking at the art and gardens. The inside ranger told us about getting to the Riverwalk and driving around Beverly Shores. These two guys had their masks on.Racoon art on a two-sided bench. You know whoWhite tail deerSaw Whet Owl. I really was looking forward to the 12 minute videos they were showing at the visitor center but they were a no go because of the virus. There are many good videos on YouTube under Dunes101 though. We were driving down US 12 and turned at the sign for Kemil Beach. This view will be beautiful in a couple of weeks. There is just a touch of red right then. Turning on Lakefront Drive we parked and walked down to Dunbar Beach. It was very windy that day which made the lake all the more beautiful with the waves. The breaking waves just sometimes reach us. On the horizon is Chicago, 35 miles away. Dunbar beach is right next to the Century of Progress Homes which have a very interesting history. I found a couple of good articles that answers many of our questions that came up. Someone did live in that first house because that sign says Beware of Dog. This article is from 2018 so I would bet that 2020 did not see a tour. We went down a road that ended up being a dead end and saw the Old North Church Replica but didn’t know it at the time. We then moved down Lakefront Drive toward Beverly Shores which also has an interesting history. We stopped at Lakeview Beach and I was able to get a better picture of Chicago. The path to go down to the beach was closed but it was below the rocky area. Probably put those there to fight against erosion. I love the skyline of big cities. I remember driving near New York City and seeing that skyline, it was memorable for me. We turned around going west on Hwy. 12 past Burns Harbor where you see steel mills and look for the sign to find the Portage lakefront and Riverwalk. It was kind of tricky to get to it and we had to turn around once. It was worth it once we got there. This is the riverwalk and it looked interesting to walk out on. Notice there is no one out there. The waves were splashing into it. There was one guy who decided to give it a try. I should have gotten a picture of him trying to make it out to the end, he gave up halfway in and came running back wet and cold. This picture is not clear because all of the water splashing onto the riverwalk. We were fascinated by the surfers. Probably watched them for 45 minutes. I got a good group of pictures of this woman getting up on her board. Here she is just ahead of the swell. Starting to get up on her board.Standing and riding the wave. Still going and she looked good.She is starting to go down because the wave is going down. It takes them a while to find a wave to get up on. Not too many times did it work for them. They had wet suits on and some had head gear too. I spoke with someone in Chesterton and she said that someone is out there 365 days a year. Some men will come out with ice on their beards. Here are the waves hitting the rock wall. A good picture of the waves and swells and the steel mills in the distance. Tom and I both love watching the water and had an enjoyable two days away. Getting a little bit of nature and a big body of water and it is only two hours away.
