A Weekend Trip (in the Middle of the Week)

So Eric and I had planned to take a trip to northern Indiana on Thursday, just for a short overnight stay and visit. We both just needed to get away. So you can imagine my surprise when I got a phone call at 8am on Wednesday (the morning after Buffett) from him wanting to leave that morning - there was rainy weather forecasted for Indy on Wednesday, so why stay in the dreariness when we could head north and get out of it? So we did just that.

Eric got to my place just before 9:30am - I hadn't even made it to the shower yet. But I quickly got ready and stuff packed for overnight. We were off pretty close to 10:30am. The drive wasn't too exciting, as US 31 rarely is.

We hit LaPorte, first - that's where Eric grew up. He showed me around a bit; the house he grew up in, the old bakery his family use to run, the bar his parents used to own, etc. It was a neat glimpse into 'him'. From there we headed a bit north to New Buffalo, MI. Why, you ask? To go to Redamak's - Home of the Legendary Burgers that made New Buffalo, MI Famous! And they were good! I can see how that place draws such a huge crowd!!

After we had our fill of burgers and fries, we headed down the coast of Lake Michigan (that sounds so weird to me since I'm used to to 'the coast' referring to an ocean) back into Indiana to go to Indiana Dunes and see Mt. Baldy. For those who don't know, Mt. Baldy is this HUGE sand dune that is actually moving inland slowly. It was pretty cool to see - they don't have dunes like that in FL. It was pretty hot, so we didn't stay long. As much as I love to go to the beach and would of liked to enjoy it for what it was (a beach), Eric's not much of a beach person and we still had lots to do.

We headed into the heart of Michigan City and hit the Shoreline Brewery (which is right next to the power plant, oddly enough). We cooled off with a couple of drinks and then hit the outlet mall for a bit. After that, I got to experience Carlson's Drive-In - a true, old school, root beer and hot dog drive-in where they come up to your car to take the order and hang the trays on your windows to eat. They even make their own root beer! It was pretty cool. I never knew you could dress up a hot dog in so many ways! The the root beer was spectacular!

The sun was starting to go down at this point, so we went to Washington Park. What better way to end the day then to watch a gorgeous sunset on the beach?!? As an added bonus, Washington Park also serves as a pretty large boat harbor, complete with large yachts, so there's a functioning lighthouse to add to the scenery. We couldn't have asked for a better sunset - beautiful coloring and just the right amount of breeze. It was awesome!

After we enjoyed the sunset, we went back up into New Buffalo and hit the Stray Dog for a few drinks. Only stayed there for a bit before we decided to walk down to the beach (this is yet another beach - three in one day!). We sat down in the sand and just listened to the night. Not quite as good as an ocean - not the same smells, no crashing waves - but it was still nice. We finally got to the hotel close to midnight.

Thursday morning we got up and decided to check out the new Four Winds Casino Resort for breakfast. It just opened up within the past year and since it's on an Indian reservation, it's massive (by other Indiana casino standards)!! They did an awesome job with it, too - absolutely gorgeous detailing in both the interior and exterior architecture. So we grabbed a bite in one of their cafes and walked around a bit. We threw away about $20 in the slots, just to be able to say we gambled a bit. But it wasn't in our plans initially, so neither of us had any desire to stay.

After we had our share of the sights and sounds of the casino, we headed back up to New Buffalo to do some final 'touristy stuff', like buy souvenirs. And we went to Redamak's for lunch again. (It really is a good burger!!) Then we got back on the road and headed to Blueberry Dune Farm and picked our own blueberries. It's the perfect time of year to get some great blueberries!! We only picked about 2 lbs., but we didn't know what we'd do with too many more! After picking our share of blueberries, we headed a bit south to Garwood Orchard in hopes that we might get to pick some early season apples. But we were still too early. So instead, we bought some really fresh and really good farmer's produce.

At this point in the day, we still had plenty of time before we felt we 'needed' to be home. So we headed over to Merrillville to find some good Cubs apparel. There just isn't a good selection in Indy. And we found what we wanted and then some. It worked out good to be inside while a pretty bad rainstorm blew through, too! We finally got back on the road and headed south on I-65.

One more stop had to be made - we felt the hunger pangs a bit right before we came to Fair Oaks Farms. So we stopped and had ourselves some grilled cheese sandwiches for dinner. Nothing like truly fresh grilled cheese sandwiches! I had the ice cream there before, but this was the first time I did the grilled cheese. I highly recommend stopping in for either/both if your cruising between Indy and Chicago sometime. :)

And that was the end of our excursion. We made it back to Indy around 8pm, both of us just exhausted from all the activities. But it was so much fun and needed even more so! And since it was mid-week, we didn't have to deal with any weekend crowds you'd normally get. So it was relaxing, to boot. You can check out more pictures here. Couldn't have asked for a better 'weekend' trip. :)