exiledprincess

Lauren27, You've gotten some excellent advice for the Indianapolis leg. If you do a search for Chicago here, you'll see all sorts of advice - check out the recent threads.

I'll give you a couple of recommendations about things (somewhat)in-between:

If you merely take I65 up to Chicago, you'll see not much more than flat, flat farmlands along the interstate and then urban sprawl. (It will take you about 3.5 hours to get to the city, depending on the traffic). So my recommendation is to get off the interstate.

I agree with taking US #36 over to Rockville - the covered bridges are worth the trip. You can pick up a map of the driving directions for them in Rockville. If you wanted to take just a little detour from there, taking #41 south from Rockville towards Terre Haute is a lovely winding drive. In the fall, it has great colors. Don't go too much out of your way, of course.

If you are talking about the last weekend of September, Feast of the Hunter's Moon is also a great suggestion, but it would take most of a day to enjoy all the activities from the parade and musket firings at the fort, landing of the Voyageurs, Native Indian dancing, the canoe races, etc. If you go to Rockville take #41 north, you can pick up #25 which goes into West Lafayette/Lafayette. If you are in Indy, just take #65N (about an hour's drive). Check out Feast of the Hunter's Moon website for details.

If you wish to forego this area and go directly north, the Indiana State Dunes National Park, 2 miles north of Chesterton, IN, is also a fine suggestion. If you wanted to take a short detour when you are in the Chesterton, IN area, take US #12 (just south of the national park entrance) east about 1 mile - you'll see the sign for Kemmil Beach (sp?) - there is a left turn lane on #12 which signifies where to turn. You'll go through a canopy of trees and then the road turns right and travels along Lake Michigan (the beach is 1/4 mile to the east). Any of the through roads will take you back south to #12.

Have fun in your travels.

JJ5

Route 12 is quite worth the detour. I take it east now all the time to 60.

The trip in from Michigan City to Tinley Park on I-80 / Borman was solid and mostly stopped all the way east to I-65 in Indiana, again last night. I went South on I-65 to Rt.30 and then south again to Sauk Trail (IL) and took that home. I beat the people sitting on I-80 (friends, and I told them not to stay on)by an hour.

It's not just the sitting, it's the trucks/fumes etc. If you in a car you literally can't see much beyond tires, rims and undercarriages.

FYI I-80 IND/ILL be aware: All west bound traffic is being merged into 1 lane at points and/or two very narrow lanes. Also, some of the exits in IN are closed and most traffic is exiting in Gary if they do try to stay on. This is much worse on weekends, but it is has been that way on weekday nights as well. I went through Gary last Wednesday night.

To the OP:
The best Amish areas in the country, IMHO are in IN and MI. They are scattered near Plymouth IN and just North of Shipshewanna, as mentioned. There are numerous Amish near Mendon, MI. If you go to a Shipshewanna auction or flea market on Tuesday /Wed. you can really talk and buy from the Amish their way.

indytravel: I don't commute to work like this, thank God. I have a peaceful country ride filled with forested beauty and wildlife. That's why I'm out too, I'm with you there 100%.

swalter518

JJ5, Ah, we left MI at 11:00 yesterday just because we couldn't bear the thought of sitting in that mess. Flew right through then but my bro. left at 4 and it took him 2 hours from New Buffalo! We've been going ever summer since 1980 and that d!&* road has been under construction every year. I don't understand it! We've been taking the Dixie Hwy exit to Ridge to Cline Ave. and that seems to miss most of it going eastbound.

JJ5

Yes, I hear you. It has been under construction literally and continually since I was a young adult. It is NEVER wide enough.

We have tried your way, as well. Ridge Rd. is actually by far the closest to the expressway, but we have had grid-lock that way a couple of times too, so we don't do that coming back west- only going east. But this year, so far, we have not had a fraction of the troubles going East as coming back. DO YOU KNOW, that they are going to shut the entire thing for 8 hours or so on or around July 28 to put in a beam that is sooooooo long over & quite near the Torrence area? We also check on the cameras via internet too, but by the time you get there it is often different. But for all who travel I-80 IN/IL going west is much worse now and will be, because of lane shut downs.

Our two seasons Winter and Construction. Actually, I mind the weather much less than the traffic.

Swalter518, it's still way way worth it to go to the lake. I'm off again Thurs. If we leave at 8 pm Michigan time at night to come back to IL we usually do not hit the mess quite the same way. I'm resigned to getting home very late most of the time now.

Vittrad

I honestly think the traffic has gotten significantly worse in the past 10 years. My parents moved to northwest Indiana 15 years ago from the south Chicago burbs and I find it more and more difficult to go visit them because of traffic issues. I don't have a car and often take the south-shore (which is never on time) to avoid the headaches of driving, but on the days that I have rented a car for the trip it has been nightmarish (I once spent over an hour just trying to get from the LOOP to 95th street, and there was no apparent reason why, and that was just the beginning), it is enough to make me second guess leaving town except by airplane. I actually had two students who commute in from the suburbs report to me that they got so frustrated trying to drive downtown to class that they literally abandon their car at the first train station they could find and hopped on the next train into town because traffic was so out of control. Sometimes I wonder how bad it is going to get, and it disturbs me.

exiledprincess

Lauren27, I'm sure you are getting a little anxious after reading the above posts about the traffic congestion into Chicago.

That's why I recommend to visitors to stay in Chesterton, IN and take the South Shore Railroad into Chicago. (The Dune Park station is 2 miles to the north of Chesterton.)

There are other stops closer to Chicago (Miller, Gary, Hammond, etc.) however, IMHO, why even get into that congested area at all if you don't have to? Plus, leaving your car at Miller or Gary is an iffy situation (although some people who commute in do every day).

Another big plus for staying in Chesterton is that the cost is usually much more reasonable than downtown (Priceline notwithstanding). Chesterton has a couple of B&Bs as well as the usual chains and a Hilton Garden Inn.

If you are interested in this option, the website you want for the South Shore is under NICTD.

Hope this information helps a little.

Vittrad

However, the trains don't run from Chicago to Chesterton that often after rush hour and on the weekend they only run once every two hours (and the past two times I've taken them have been signicantly late due to technical problems (e.g. 40minutes to almost 2 hours).

exiledprincess

Vittrad, that's unfortunate about your experiences on the South Shore when you were riding it. However, that isn't the norm--quite the opposite. I used to commute in daily on it and still often use it to visit friends/family; and quite a few people at work still use it to commute. It serves hundreds of people daily and has a very good on-time record.(However, there was a rough patch when they were working on the rails south of the city - but that affected METRA as well).

I specifically mentioned the NICTD website so that Lauren27 could see the timetable to determine if this would be a viable option for them.

I personally think this is definitely an option for people unfamiliar with driving Chicago traffic and one which should be mentioned.

I used to drive in Chicago traffic all the time. If I could use the South Shore instead of driving, I chose it every single time. IMHO, it's not worth the hassle, time and expense (of parking in Chicago downtown) if you can avoid it.

Now, I WOULDN'T recommend taking AMTRAK from Indianapolis to Chicago. That train only has ONE departure daily and often has very substantial delays (due to freight rail traffic on the southside of Chicago).

JJ5

Ditto. I've also looked into, and tried once, taking the train to Lawton and/or Kalamazoo from downtown Chicago, regardless of the extra time for me (and it adds 3 hours for me exactly). The same problem as stated by Vittrad.

About 5 years ago I tried the train to Kalamazoo and it was stopped for over 2 hours about 1-1/2 miles from downtown Chicago because of debris laid on the track by "kids" (it was wood/ties, car shell etc. all in a row) and they would not let us detrain. Talking to the people on the train they said it was "gangs" and that it was something that happened about 4 or 5 times a year.
Of course, I hit one. Now with security problems there has to be an inspection that will last longer as well.

And it leaves me with the problem of having to have someone pick me up in Lawton or Kalamazoo, and no car in MI.

For the OP to take the Chesterton train straight into downtown may be better now than it was then, but I would really check that out with the railroad stats before I would do it on this visits time schedule.

One reason our IN and MI lakes have remained as they are, is that these areas NE of Chicago are extremely harder to access than a map would suggest.

exiledprincess

JJ5, the South Shore doesn't go to Kalamazoo. You must have taken AMTRAK.

What I am trying to impart is that the South Shore is a reliable, (usually) on-time alternative to driving into Chicago.

Let's put it this way: I have used the South Shore 100s (if not 1000s) of times in all types of weather during all times of the day, and very seldom was it not on time. That's a pretty good record.

Vittrad

I've had more good experiences on it than not. But it seems like recently they've had some problems (either that or it is just me

That being said, my many many years of using the CTA haven't been a walk in the park either.

JJ5

Thanks, exiled princess, and I do believe you.

If the OP does this, please give us a trip report with details. I can't access Chesterton easily from either direction, but it might be worth it for picking up guest if they are coming from the city direction.

exiledprincess

Thanks, Vittrad and JJ5. Appreciate your input. I think that it's definitely a plus for a traveler who is not familiar with an area to get info (both good and bad) from people who know, so they can do some further research to see what's best for them.

Might be that Lauren27 needs to return a rental car to one of the Chicago airports and this is all a moot point and she has to drive it anyway, but you don't know.

swalter518

I don't know, maybe it's me but I would never recommend someone who is a first time visitor to Chicago staying in the suburbs. You are just losing the whole feeling of the city, not to mention having to run back for the train every night, but that's just me. Chesterton is a haul away-coming from Indy you could take I-65 to the Skyway to the Ryan. The Ryan inbound should be fine, the Skyway (I-90) may be backed up but the OP will not be hitting any of the truly awful traffic that we are griping about at the Indiana Illinois border by taking this route.

JJ5

Yes exactly, swalter518- I know it, but I can't relate it as kindly as you or exiled princess can. And I feel just the same about staying in the city, for a first time visit or anytime visit, but that's just me as well.

Skyway from Chicago is never a fraction as bad as "the everlasting mess"- and if you access that far east and Dan Ryan to downtown, you will always have less of a challenge.

Vittrad

I can't imagine someone wanting to stay outside of the city on their first visit. On my first visit to New York I stayed right in the heart of the East Village, I can't imagine how much poorer my experience would have been if I choose to stay in a suburb 30 miles away.

exiledprincess

Gosh, I didn't mean to create a controversy here...just give Lauren27 an option to consider.

Some people just don't want to deal with the traffic driving into Chicago--especially when there is a major amount of construction and/or detoured traffic due to that construction. I've seen some recent posts here of people who want to stay out in the western 'burbs (by O'Hare) because they don't want to drive in.

The only difference here is that due to the south side of Chicago/Lake County IN, it's a slightly longer trip in because Lauren27 is coming in from the southeast.

Even if Lauren27 wants to drive in, I think it would also be a good thing to advise her of what time is NOT considered rush hour or lunch hour in the Chicago metro area. It's my understanding that the worst of the morning rush is 6 am-10am; lunch rush is 11am-1:30pm; and evening rush is 4pm-7:30pm. If I'm mistaken, would someone please comment.

I was also taking into account some of these suggestions to Lauren 27. All of them (except maybe the ones for Lafayette) will create an additional 1.5-2 hrs. of driving time into Chicago.

Vittrad, I appreciate your comment about staying in East Village. I hope that you don't take this kindly-meant question the wrong way: Did you have to drive 3.5 hours to get there through construction (and possibly rush-hour traffic) to stay there? Or did you just fly into NYC? If you would have had to, would it possibly have changed your decision?

Lauren27, whatever you decide is up to you. Perhaps, you don't mind driving in city traffic. If so, welcome to Chicago, your new hometown for 2 days!

If you do mind driving in city traffic, and want to take some time seeing other sights in the midwest besides Chicago, think about staying in Chesterton. It's pretty centrally located so you could come into Chicago for a day (or two) but also go up the Michigan western shore of Lake Michigan through all the little towns or go over to Shipshewanna and Nappanee (Amish country). Actually, you could do both in a single day because you could do the Michigan shoreline in the morning, and swing down to the other in the afternoon.

Whatever you decide, I hope you have a wonderful time in the midwest!

P.S. One last thing: if Lauren27 is talking about Labor Day weekend, all driving times will be considerably lengthier.

lauren27

Wow, I really started a discussion here! Actually, it is Labor Day weekend that we're going to be there. I think this is our plan--we arrive on Friday morning and we'll explore downtown Indianapolis. We might also go into the city (we're staying 6 miles east of the city center) on Saturday morning if we get up early enough. The wedding is at 1 pm, so I'm thinking that we will be on our way to Chicago by 5 or 6pm. If it's not too far out of the way and traffic isn't awful, we may stop at the Dunes States Park that some of you mentioned. Then head on to our hotel in the Magnificent Mile area of Chicago. I'm pretty used to bad traffic since I live right outside of DC, so I will be ready for it. Thanks everyone for your great suggestions!