Indiana Sand Dunes

“So where is your next park?” They ask.

“Indiana.”

There is always a pause before the inevitable next question, “what’s in Indiana?”

Having gone through this routine a few times, I have to think that Indiana has an image problem because what could there possibly be in Indiana worth seeing?  The answer is not much but to really answer that question we must turn to politics.  Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore was magically renamed Indiana Dunes National Park in February of this year making it park #61. No boundaries were added or changed with the designation of national park. Per the park newspaper, the funding remains the same as well.  But our president who appears to be no friend of the environment upgraded it, as if he has any idea what that means.

Indeed, I will wonder until my death what votes were traded to get it to pass. Was this just a thank you gift to Pence? If so it must be the equivalent of buying a snow globe souvenir at the airport because you couldn’t think of anything else. I mean it hardly seems like the Christmas present Pence has always wanted.  But someone in the state understood the significance. The national park encompasses the land surrounding the state park, which encompasses the most significant dunes. While the park is free, the state park requires a separate fee, a natural boon to business.  

I arrived to have all my worst expectations fulfilled. Yup, I forgot a rather long list of items. This includes warm up pants, sleeping clothes and thick socks to name a few. None of these things should really matter if I was visiting during the proper season, aka summer. But clearly this place was not designed with idea that guests might show up after Labor Day or when the temperature goes anywhere south of 60 degrees. Since this is a more urban park and I am “camping” in a beach house, I imagined myself replicating the sense of camping where you just have to make due. That is until the next day when I could hit up the outlet mall. Nothing says national park like a little consumer binge. In the mean time, I practiced at Walgreens. There I stood behind a man buying a gallon of vodka, a woman buying cigarettes and a man buying his children a pile of candy.  We all have our most urgent needs. I found a fabulous pair of socks (as seen on TV!) that are super fuzzy and have a sticky underside just like the ones at the hospital so that I don’t slip. I kept thinking the floors were covered in syrup. Turns out it was just the socks. They will be perfect when I move into a nursing home. 

Every park offers a few surprises, some I anticipate more than others. Obviously I went to this one with a bit more cynicism than the rest. Let’s face it, Indiana sand dunes and its cousin over in Ohio are the red headed step children of the National Parks. While Cuyahoga was a cover up job for an industrial waste site, this feels more like a rebranding project.  A massive power plant sits at one end of the park and giant power lines run over to the good people of Chicago so they can create light pollution and smog.  As if to say, industry and nature can go together! Look, all that discharge makes for better sunsets! 

The dunes were sandy. Yup, real sandy. But there were strict instructions not to climb on the dunes. Yes, hate to mess up the sand. There was no surfing the dunes. Very disappointing. I’m still searching for the joy in sand. They really tried to sell the beautiful views of the lake from the top of the dunes. As far as I could tell, it looked blue, wet and big from the top or bottom. At the top though, you could kill time dumping sand from your shoes. The real highlights are the marshes. I just didn’t know this on my first trip out to the woods. As the puddles got bigger and bigger, it got clear that water was a big feature of the park and the lakeshore had nothing to do with it.  If you are into bird watching, this should be on your destination list.

Perhaps the most fascinating finding is the houses from the 1933 World’s Fair. There was a competition to demonstrate new materials, building techniques and other future conveniences such as air conditioning and dishwashers. Five of them were preserved and transported by barge across the lake. In the spirit of all things old come back in style, these houses looked remarkably modern. It is my greatest disappointment that house tours were not available. I want to know if the clothes washer still works and if it is quieter than my new one or if the dishwasher takes less than three hours because that is progress I am still looking forward to. 

Fall colors were just getting started. Every day felt like it was changing a bit more. I talked to the ranger about various hikes. She strongly recommended one area for its “popping color”. Unless you are  colorblind and you can’t see the difference between red and green, this was incredibly disappointing. I saw a pretty but very solid mass of still very green trees. It reinforces my belief that the rangers spend way too much time behind the desk and rely on rumors about trail conditions that may be years old.

I saw many signs pointing to wineries. Since Indiana isn’t exactly my go to place for wine, I was curious. Sure enough, those good Christians are boozing it up. But better yet, they believe in cider. I went to Running Vines winery and Aftermath ciders. True to its name, Running Vines is all about running and whoever owns it is very proud of finishing all the Disney races. Given the lack of medals from higher quality races, I suspect that this person enjoys wine and happens to run. I spent a good deal of time contemplating the possible stories behind the name Aftermath. I imagine it involved heartbreak, hold ups, illicit rendezvous, moonshine and at the very least, a get away car. All I can say is that whatever came before, the result was very good. 

All in all, a fascinating weekend away but had little to do with the sand.  Mostly it has me very excited to plan next year.  Down to my final 9 parks and the big finale in Alaska!