Indiana – Jen's Highways and Horizons Travelogue

What’s to See at Indiana Dunes National Park?

Jen — Tue, 02 Jul 2024 04:27:04 +0000

A NATIONAL AND STATE PARK

Indiana Dunes has both a National Park and a State Park that are blended together nearly seamlessly. Between them, they cover 15 miles of Lake Michigan shoreline, have 50 miles of rugged trails, and a diverse ecosystem of dunes, wetlands, prairies, and old-growth forest. I’m sorry, what?! Wetlands at a dunes park? Yup, I was surprised to learn how diverse this area was! I was kind of expecting a lot of sand and not much to do if you didn’t want to get sand in your shoes. Boy, was I wrong! They have lots of fun hiking challenges, dune challenges, biking, beaches, camping, birding and more. There’s definitely something for everyone!

Make sure to stop at the visitors center. This park covers a lot of territory and has several units to explore.

A note about accessibility for those with limited mobility – while much of this park is for the most active outdoor enthusiasts, there is still plenty to see from the comfort of the car or with a short, paved walk. In fact, my personal favorite part of the park (read below to see what it is) was probably the most accessible part for us. Don’t let this being a dunes park dissuade you from visiting, its totally worth it for anyone!

MOUNT BALDY

This sand dune is one of the tallest at 126 feet tall and moves at a rate of 5-10 feet per year. When the prevailing northwest wind exceeds 7mph the sand moves. I thought I was the only hungry one, but, Mount Baldy is “starving”. Due to beach erosion, there is more sand being taken away by the waves than they are bringing in. This is due to a breakwall that was built for Michigan City Harbor. In 1974 the Army Corp of Engineers began “feeding” the beach with sand trucked in to try to correct the effect. These aren’t just little amounts, in 1996 they brought in a total of 85,000 cubic yards of sand!

An interesting phenomena happened some years ago where a young boy was climbing up the dune and disappeared before his parents eyes. Sand dunes aren’t supposed to have natural cavities (its sand, it fills cavities in!) and this isn’t quicksand. It turns out that the boy fell down a hole 12 inches across that was lined with fossilized old tree bark. The young boy fell down an ancient hollowed out tree! Today, you cannot climb Mt. Baldy without taking a guided tour with the NPS.

: 126 foot tall Mt. Baldy behind the building.

: This sand dune is consuming trees in its path

: This tree was consumed long enough ago it is now dead.

: For scale, you can see the cars and person.

: This is a 12 story wall of sand!

: Mt. Baldy moves at a rate of 5-10 feet per year.

WEST BEACH

On the opposite end of the park from Mt. Baldy is the West Beach area. Here we found people enjoying this beautiful day on the jetty or the sandy beach. The jetty had a great paved sidewalk so people could easily walk out and fish and there was a small lighthouse at the end of it. The jetty provided a nice protected cove that boats were going in and out of.

: A boat in the safe harbor the jetty provides.

: A boat anchored - they were out walking on the sandbar.

: A view of the walkway up the jetty with fishermen.

: The other direction is the beach area where people are enjoying the beautiful day.

: Chicago skyline in the distance.

: A boater enjoying the day.

: The NPS leaves the shore all natural with washed up driftwood and debris as part of the habitat.

: A look at the large area the park covers.

Portage Lakefront & Riverwalk

This is actually a section within the West Beach area and is where the jetty and beach we visited were too. The interesting part of this area is this used to be an industrial area where the National Steel Company used to process hazardous waste. This is 57 acres of dunes and lagoons which were cleaned up as part of the national lakeshores general management plan. They were able to reclaim this area and turn it into a usable part of the park and provide more access to the lake.

: The green area in front was once a toxic dump that has been reclaimed.

: You can see dunes in the background with people climbing on them.

: From rust to recreation.

: From Landfill to National Park land.

: In northern Indiana on the shores of Lake Michigan, a prickly pear cactus grows (I'm confused too)

: A milkweed thats just about ready to burst into bloom.

CENTURY OF PROGRESS HOMES

My favorite part of the park was the Century of Progress Homes built for the 1933 Chicago World’s Fair that sit on Lake Front Drive in Beverly Shores. The Chicago World’s Fair theme was the ‘Century of Progress’ which offered millions of people of the Great Depression a hopeful vision that highlighted futuristic changes. A developer brought 4 of these houses to Beverly Shores in 1935 by barge and the Cypress Log Cabin was dismantled and brought by truck.

To save the structures, the Indiana Landmarks leased them from the NPS and then subleased 4 of them to people who have restored them in exchange for long-term leases. All of the restored homes have modern features inside And although they are nearly a hundred years old they remain current by todays standards. There are occasionally tours guided by the NPS.

The Rostone House

The Rostone house was built to showcase Rostone, an exciting new material billed as “never needing repairs.” The material was composed of limestone, shale and alkali and showed much promise as a construction material since it could be made in a variety of colors and forms, like slabs and panels, and made to exact dimensions. Most of the house was completed at a factory and the house weighed 120-130 tons, making it the heaviest of the structures relocated from the World’s Fair.

Since it was touted as never needing repairs, how has it held up over the years? Well, by 1950 (less than 20 years!) the air pollutants from the steel mills and refineries nearby, lake-effect snows, rains and quick changes in temperatures proved to be too much for Rostone and it started to severely deteriorate. The Rostone was covered with Perma-stone, a popular concrete stucco. There are still some restored Rostone panels surrounding the front door, the interior entrance area and around the living room fireplace.

: The Rostone House.

: Head on view.

: Looking back.

: Information panel regarding the Rostone house.

The Florida Tropical House

The Florida Tropical House was clearly the most striking of the bunch and exactly what you’d expect to see in modern day Florida. With its beachy appeal and pink exterior it screams Florida. Its tagline was ‘Home, Cruise Ship, and more.’ This was the only state sponsored house and it was meant to lure tourists to the Sunshine State. The home was the most expensive (coming in at $15,000 to build) and luxurious Century of Progress home and was designed for people of means who lived life in style. The home’s centerpiece was its spacious two-story living room, with an overhanging balcony. It was modeled after an ocean liner deck with the building’s flat roof showcasing large open terraces perfect for lounging and sunbathing. The nautical theme continued inside with portal windows and cruise-ship inspired aluminum railings. Over the years, the bright pink color has served as a navigational aid for boaters!

: The Florida house sits relatively close to the Rostone house and both share a beautiful waterfront view.

: The pink pops against the water.

: Front view of the house. I bet the views are amazing from those upper terraces.

: A little further down the street, looking back at the Florida house and its view of the beach and water.

: Information for the Florida house.

: Overview of the historic district.

Armco-Ferro House & Cypress House

The Armco-Ferro house was all about being mass produced and affordable. It was a prefabricated home with the virtues of porcelain, enamel and steel. It’s the only remaining Century of Progress home that met the Exposition Design Committee’s criteria of being “mass-produced and affordable for an American family of modest means.” It was manufactured for $4,500! There is no frame and it was constructed from thin corrugated steel panels connected by steel clips and then finished with a shiny porcelain-coated exterior. It looked much like the traditional four-square wooden homes of the time with 4 bedrooms and two bathrooms upstairs and a living room, kitchen, den, and dining room downstairs.

The Cypress house was in contrast to the other homes as it was a log cabin showcasing ‘the Wood Eternal’ it was made from. They used cypress for siding, shakes, structural timbers, walls, flooring, window shades, and furnishings. Due to its construction, it was disassembled and moved by truck instead of by barge like the rest of the homes.

: This sits across the street and uphill from the Florida house and overlooks the water.

: Information about the house.

: The Cypress House - also across the street and uphill but with a commanding water view.

: Information about the house.

The House of Tomorrow

The nickname of this house is ‘America’s First Glass House.’ This house was intended as a showcase of modern design and innovative building materials, this house played a pioneering role in the development of passive solar heating. The construction workers found that the sun streaming thru the glass heated the space enough they could shed their winter coats. This actually worked against what the most touted feature at the Fair was, air conditioning. It even had an airplane hangar tucked into the first floor. The home is currently in a dilapidated state and they are working on restoration and finding a long-term lease tenant to continue maintaining it. I bet it will be amazing when its done!

: The House of Tomorrow is across the street and uphill.

: Currently under renovation.

: Information regarding the Glass House.

: Info on the glass house and Century of Progress homes.

Beverly Shores

Beverly Shores is a resort community on the Indiana shore of Lake Michigan. Lake Front Drive stretches several miles along the waterfront with the beach and community access on one side and homes and streets back into the community on the other side. In this area the beach is public so you can walk on it, but you must access it from a NPS site. All of the pullouts along the road say they are for residents with a parking pass. It was a beautiful drive in Smurf-vette with the top down, enjoying the perfect weather.

: Lake Michigan from Lake Front Drive.

: Waves rolling onto the beach.

: I can't get over how tropical the water looks here - totally unexpected!

: A little dune next to Lake Michigan.

FINAL THOUGHTS

Indiana Dunes National and State Parks holds a little something for everyone. I had no idea that there would be such a variety of things to do here, nor did I expect the totally amazing Century of Progress Homes Historic District right on the waterfront that totally made my inner history nerd happy. I also had no idea (I feel like this is a theme here) that the waters of Lake Michigan could look tropical. These pictures are unedited and are the true colors of teals and blues. I’ve been to Chicago and the shores of Lake Michigan and the past and I recall it being a dreary, gray choppy lake…on a good day. We were blessed we a splendid day and it all exceeded my expectations. I highly recommend taking the time to visit this park!

What did y’all think of this park? Let me know in the comments below!

The Aquatorium at Marquette Park – Gary, IN

Jen — Tue, 02 Jul 2024 02:21:48 +0000

OVERVIEW

An Aquatorium defines a place where one goes to view water. The word was invented by the Society for the Restoration of the Gary Aquatorium and Octave Chanute’s Place in History. (Whew, that’s a mouthful!) They created this new word because this facility was formerly known as the Gary Bathhouse and also the Gary Bathing Beach and the society wanted to try to move away from the bathhouse image.

: The front of the Gary Bathing Beach Aquatorium.

: Going up to the second level.

: A view out the front overlooks Marquette Park.

: A view down the breezeway to the promised water view beyond.

: A view of Lake Michigan from the upper floor of the Aquatorium.

: Sand dune with Lake Michigan in the distance.

: Each pillar is topped with lovely flowers.

: Opened in 1922 and closed in 1971, it is now on the National Register of Historic Places.

A MONUMENT TO OCTAVE CHANUTE

As if a hundred year old bathhouse isn’t interesting enough, this building also stands as a monument to Octave Chanute. Octave flew the world’s first aeronautically designed glider from a dune just west of the building in 1896. Wait a minute, is that actually before the successful Wright Brothers flight in Kitty Hawk in 1903? It sure was!

The publicity generated by Octave’s glider experiments prompted the Wright Brothers to contact him and he became their mentor and advisor. Octave was also the first person the Wright Brothers contacted after their successful flight! Octave Chanute is considered the grandfather of flight.

: Octave and a replica of his glider.

: Statue of Octave Chanute pointing west to the dune he took flight on.

: Plaque for the statue.

: Informational board.

A MONUMENT TO TUSKEGEE AIRMEN

In addition to honoring Octave, this facility is also a remembrance to the Tuskegee Airmen whose heroics in World War II led to the racial integration of the armed forces. In 1941 the American military did not want the Tuskegee Airmen to fly. But, fly they did. By the end of the war in 1945, the only ones who regret that decision were the defeated Nazi’s. In 1948 President Truman ordered the ending of racial segregation in the Armed Forces.

: A Tuskegee Airman and a plane like they flew.

: Statue of a Tuskegee Airman.

: Plaque for the statue.

WATER VIEWS

The whole point of the Aquatorium is to view the water and it did not disappoint. During the sunny day with blue skies the water was amazing blue and had some lovely touches of light teal. It really reminded me of tropical water and not at all what I expected from Lake Michigan. We came back in the evening for the sunset but there was an event happening on the upper viewing level so I wandered down to the sand dunes and beach and watched the sun set from there.

: The Chicago skyline in the distance.

: A boat out enjoying the beautiful weather.

: Sunset on the beach.

: Chicago at the golden hour.

: Chicago with the sunset.

: The last glimpse of the sun.

FINAL THOUGHTS

If you are ever in the area, I highly recommend taking some time to visit Marquette Park and the Aquatorium. The park was free to get in to and if you can find parking along the street near the Aquatorium that is also free. If you park in the lot next to it, there is a small fee. The park is quite large with lots of green space, beach access and even some lakes and ponds we saw kayakers and fisherpeeps at. I hope you enjoyed this neat piece of history! Leave a comment below and let me know what you thought.

City Methodist Church Ruins – Gary, IN

Jen — Thu, 27 Jun 2024 03:26:50 +0000

We spent a day in Gary, Indiana before embarking on our Route 66 adventure which started in nearby Chicago. While we expected Route 66 to have buildings of times gone by in various states of ruin and rebirth, we did not expect this abandoned church to awe us with its beauty and its disrepair. It was an experience like none other for me.

Gary was a booming industrial city built around the manufacturing of steel. In 1926, U.S. Steel footed half of the astronomical $1,000,000 price tag to build this church. The English Gothic styled church towered over 9 stories tall and housed a gym, theater, music studio, cafeteria, and commercial unit. It had ornate stonework, molded arches, towering pillars, and plenty of stained glass windows.

In the early 1970’s a drastic recession of global steel prices resulted in the economic devastation of the numerous cities across the “Rust Belt”. Residents fled for the suburbs and Gary was brought to its knees. The church could not adapt to the dwindling community and eventually closed in 1975.

: The first approach to the church.

: A several story part of the building with some of it underground too.

: The main church chapel area.

: The grand entrance to the chapel.

: The intricate arch and detail work above the entry door.

: Down the side by the entrance, the church is overrun by vines of grapes.

: Sign out front.

: Other side of sign out front.

The church is nearly 100 years old and has spent half its life neglected. All that neglect has resulted in the roof collapsing which then expedited the decay throughout the rest of the interior. It was quite eerie to look thru the dingy broken windows and see bright blue sky instead of a roof to protect the structure.

: Looking thru the windows to the sky above.

: A closer view of the interior of the chapel.

: A closeup of a broken window reveals some intricate stonework behind it.

We did come across some local inhabitants who had taken up residence in the vineyards but we didn’t bother them and they didn’t bother us. While I was on guard and not quite brave enough to venture inside behind some broken plywood, we felt safe-ish walking the exterior.

A pretty little mourning dove just hanging out. Hopefully she isn’t actually mourning anything.

Can you see her friend? They sure do blend in!

Back on the side where we could see all 3 sections of the facility there seemed to be a large building to the left, a central building set back from the sidewalk with a jungle courtyard and then the church chapel to the right. While the courtyard was severely overgrown and quite dense from the street, I did find a hobbit trail that led to the interior space. After a pep talk I put on my big girl panties and decided to brave the path to see if I could find anything else. The hobbit trail didn’t disappoint!

: After ducking thru the bushes near the chapel the courtyard area opened up to the left with a view of the first building and the one set back.

: A bit more of the view of the center building and another entrance.

: The entrance to the middle building. Directly to the right is the chapel.

: I didn't go inside but did get a dlimpse thru the broken window in the door.

: The ivy on the left here is the ivy to the right of the door. I'm standing on the top step looking into the chapel.

: Another look into the chapel from further down the path. If you look close you may see stained glass! You'd never guess from outside.

This area provided me with my favorite photo of the excursion.

Looking through the pillars and arches, across the chapel to the remaining stained glass with the blue sky shining down from above. You can see the stonework like we saw from the outside. Hard to believe that dingy exterior glass was hiding this beauty!

The architecture and structure of this building is fascinating to me. With the crumbling exterior you can see the internal methods of construction.

: Part of the collapsed roof visible in the chapel.

: Ornate adornments can be found everywhere you look.

: The first building seems to have a lower level or basement.

: I thought it was interesting the way the inner construction of the arch was basic brick and mortar that was clad in the much nicer stone. It wasn't until I was editing my pictures did I notice the blood like substance coming from the window above. Yikes!

It definitely looks like this abandoned church has truly been overrun by vines and shrubs and is decaying beyond repair. I was happy to learn that in 2017 it was awarded a grant to develop the church into a “ruins gardens park” with an amphitheater for weddings and receptions. In 2019 they also received funds and removed a lot of asbestos. That will hopefully open the path for additional review of the structural integrity and what is needed to move forward with the project.

While it is now a popular spot for urban explorers, photo shoots and even small weddings, it also has had its 15 minutes of fame on the big screen. It was a filming location for Transformers 3, The Nightmare on Elm Street, and the series Sense 8.

I truly hope this piece of history sees its share of revival so that future generations can appreciate the beauty of this beast and be a symbol of rebirth for the residents of Gary.

: Smurf-vette visits the City Methodist Church.

: Mom and I, excited we made it out in one piece.

Thank you for coming along on this adventure with us! Leave me a comment and tell me what you thought of this relic!

A Quonset Hut Cutie in Gary, IN

Jen — Mon, 24 Jun 2024 04:09:14 +0000

Since I enjoy taking the roads less traveled, it stands to reason that I also enjoy staying in places that aren’t always your run off the mill hotels. Such was the case in Gary, IN where I came across this cute quonset hut AirBnB. Yes please!

Looking back towards the entrance of the little community.

This little area had about a dozen quonset huts total.

Each hut was divided in half to make duplexes. Our half ended just about in front of my car. In that little area they still managed to fit 2 bedrooms and a tiny bathroom. These were from the 40’s to 50’s era but were recently renovated but still kept their rustic vibe.

Pretty much the whole living and kitchen area and hallway to bedrooms here. See the curved walls?

Left of the entry was the living area with loveseat and TV.

A drop sided table and a very retro kitchen.

Both rooms had queen beds with log frames and rustic wood paneling. You can see some of the curved bracing in here too.

This bed was not for the vertically challenged. It was a bit tough getting in and out with the tall log rails protruding.

I read that in the US the design was based off the original Nissen design but was named Quonset after their first use at Quonset Point for WWII. The Great Lakes Sreel Company made 150-170,000 units during the war as they were easy to make, ship and could be assembled by unskilled workers making them ideal for any and every use during the war from barracks, latrines, mess halls to hospitals or warehouses.

My friend from Australia, Lizzy, shared with me that these were known there as Nissen or Romney huts and were used in the migrant camps near her to house all the European and Baltic country folks who fled their war torn homelands or to get away from after war rationing restrictions. They housed full families with multiple generations. After 4 (?) years, if they had learned English, secured permanent work, learned to drive then got a block of land where they transported their hut to and continued living in it until a new home was built. 300,000 of these had been in use there from 1947-1971.

I’m really glad we stayed in this piece of history. It was a unique experience and it brought about some great learnings of history gone by.

This was an AirBNB in Gary, Indiana near the shores of Lake Michigan, the Indiana Sand Dunes National Park, and not far from Chicago. If you need a quaint place to stay, I recommend it!

Do y’all have any Quonset hut memories to share? If so, comment below. I’d love to hear more tales!