Driving through Indiana
 

For our vacation this fall we are driving from Chicago to Nashville. We want to spend some days in Indiana (how many depends on how much we want to do in Indiana).

We will spend 1 day in Indianapolis. Also we want to visit a vineyard/winery on the way. Are there any nice small towns to stay in while we visit a vinery? I've been looking at Madison, and it looks quite nice.
We are also considering visiting the Holiday World & Splashin Safari and the Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore. Any thoughts?

It doesn't matter to us if we drive zig zag and spend more time in Indiana, we just need some tips about where to go.

We love scienic views, cozy small towns, both big known tourist attractions but also the small weird ones, good food (if there is a must visit restaurant somewhere, we will go there, I presume there are many:P), places to stay (a nice B&B for example) +++


We are a couple in our 30's

We appreciate all your help!

We took a tour at Fair Oaks Dairy. It was interesting to see their massive production....they have 30000 cows.

I am in love with covered bridges and Indiana is the mother lode. So charming.
I knew about Brown County but Parke County also seems to be a good place--near Indy.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of...overed_bridges

The Dunes make for a nice visit. For a winery, you might look at Oliver Winery. From there, I'd consider stops in Brown County State Park, Nashvillle (also in Brown County) and Bloomington (home to Indiana University). I like Madison well enough, but it's pretty small and the restaurant selection isn't great. We usually pair it with a visit to Clifty Falls State Park.

Bear in mind that there is major construction on I-65 near Lafayette. Even without construction, that area can be a big headache. The construction is going to make it much worse, at least at peak times. You might look for a detour.

For dining in Indy, look to the restaurants on Massachusetts Avenue downtown. I'd stay downtown if you can. Rent one of the bike share bikes.

If you like interesting architecture, go to Columbus.

A leading family agreed to pay design fees to famous architects to design public buildings and churches. As a result, it has an amazing collection of architecture, and architects and students come from all over the world to see it.

We took our kids to the beach at Indiana Dunes every summer, and now that they're grown up I'm thinking of going by myself because I miss it!

The dunes actually are a state park that covers several miles of the coast and has many different beaches. Check out this website or the official state park website for info on the beaches.

http://www.indianadunes.com/indiana-...higan/beaches/

We always skipped the first one you come to when exiting the highway from Chicago. While it does have ample parking, concession stands, and rest rooms, the drawback was that it has life guards who limit when and where you can swim.

We preferred unguarded beaches where we were allowed to bring inflatables into the water, even though they had no amenities and parking was difficult to find.

You should also be aware that the beach at Mt. Baldy remains closed this summer after a child was trapped under the sand when a sinkhole opened under him. They're surveying the beach there and have found several more of these holes in the sand.

Enjoy!

Geez, that "Enjoy" sounded weird after talking about a child trapped in the sand - sorry! He was OK, by the way.

"the drawback was that it has life guards who limit when and where you can swim.

We preferred unguarded beaches where we were allowed to bring inflatables into the water, even though they had no amenities and parking was difficult to find."

SusanM, I hope you are only kidding with these comments. You should ONLY swim when and where there are lifeguards on duty. Practically all of the other beaches have "NO SWIMMING" signs posted - and for a very good reason.

www.nps.gov/indu/planyourvisit/safety.htm

Lake Michigan has the largest amount of drowning fatalities every single year. Although you find rip currents all along the shoreline of Lake Michigan, the Indiana and Michigan sides are particularly prone to these.

I urge everyone to read the Great Lake Surf Rescue Project website: glsrp.org

The parents of a teen from Tinley Park who recently drowned in Lake Michigan near New Buffalo are working with the Great Lakes Surf Rescue Project in order to educate the public about the dangers of swimming in Lake Michigan.

At that time of the year, there would be no lifeguards on duty at any of the beaches. Of course, you could walk on the sand, if the weather permits.

Getting back to the inquiry, there are some very good suggestions above.

Parke County and the area around Rockville gets extremely crowded during the Covered Bridge Festival. I would NOT recommend going during that period of time - especially on the weekends.

You might want to drive through the Hoosier National Forest down to Madison - perhaps go to Clifty Falls State Park while you are down there.

The Amish communities in Indiana are located around Goshen, Shipshewana, Nappanee.

If you are going on the first weekend of October, the Feast of the Hunters Moon occurs outside of West Lafayette (home of Purdue University): www.tcha.mus.in.us/feast.htm

Do you have any interest in classy, vintage automobiles? Auburn, IN is just to the north of Fort Wayne: automobilemuseum.org
The need for speed? The Hall of Fame Museum at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway: http://www.indianapolismotorspeedway...e-track/museum

Just a clarification: When I say that Lake Michigan has the greatest amount of drowning fatalities, I mean of the Great Lakes.

You can take a look at the real statistics on the Great Lakes Surf Rescue Project's website - note how many more Lake Michigan has than the others - nearly 1/2 of the total each year.

No, Exiledprincess, I'm not kidding. Prior to our trips to the Indiana Dunes we spent summers visiting friends who have a lake house in MI. Are you suggesting that anyone who owns property on the lake should refrain from swimming unless they hire a lifeguard to watch over them?

The government website you posted has this to say about swimming in Lake Michigan:

"Do not swim when Rip Current warnings are posted or in large crashing waves, which can cause rip currents....
Lake Michigan is generally CLEAN AND SAFE FOR SWIMMING but it can become contaminated with harmful bacteria. Do not enter the water when a health hazard warning is issued or posted"

Of course, everyone should decide for themselves what they are comfortable with.

Well, I guess it depends on how much their safety (and life) means to a person. How they feel about the words "swim at your own risk".

No matter what your personal thoughts and feelings may be, however, it is imperative that if a dangerous situation/condition exists others be informed of it.

Please remember that those statistics on the Great Lakes Surf Rescue Project website are only for the actual fatalities. They do not include the scores of near drownings/accidents with rescues which nave occurred throughout the years at the various locations on Lake Michigan.

SusanM, since you didn't apparently read any more of the National Park Service website re: the Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore beyond that single page I provided - which explained what a danger rip currents are in Lake Michigan, particularly the area you mention - here is another page from the very same website for you to view:

www.nps.gov/indu/planyourvisit/swimming.htm (Very bottom of the page). Please particularly take note of the information given about what causes rip currents in these areas.

In addition, you might take a look at the websites of the municipalities along the Lake Michigan shoreline and see what they indicate about swimming. Here are just a few:

Chicago, IL: www.cpdbeaches.com/pages/whats_new/
Michigan City, IN: http://www.michigancityparks.com/ind...park-and-beach
New Buffalo, MI: www.newbuffalo.com/newbuffalo-beach-parks.shtml (See beach restrictions)
South Haven, MI: south-haven.com/pages/beaches/beach_pier_safety.html

You'll see on the South Haven website that they not only discuss natural rip currents but structural ones as well.

Or you could have done a quick web search and view the 1000s of articles (many about the fatalities themselves) and warnings from authorities (i.e., the Coast Guard) about swimming in Lake Michigan.

Now, I've only mentioned a few websites about the extent of this hazard. But I'll mention one more:

www.miseagrant.umich.edu/dc - and you might want to specifically read the water safety tips section of the Be Safe at the Beach area.

P.S. To answer your question about your friends who own the lake house in MI, I suppose they might contact their personal attorney to see what they need to do to protect them re: their liability exposures. Perhaps "No Swimming" signs are necessary or verbal/written warnings to any guests.

Don't miss northeast Indiana. Shipshewana and surrounding area has a large Amish population. Although Ship proper is kind of touristy, it's still a great spot to catch a buggy ride through the countryside. Did you know the Amish plant their gardens in the front yard? You can also book a meal in an Amish home and check out Menno-Hof, a museum-ish place that tells the story of the Amish and Mennonite religions.

Just 20 miles east of Shipshewana is Angola and its great state park, Pokagon. There are trails, horseback riding, a nice sandy beach where you can rent paddleboats. The inn in the park is quite nice and there are plenty of good restaurants nearby. I like Tim Buk Too in Fremont (just a hop, skip and jump away). Also close by are three wineries. My favorite for tasting is Satek's (pronounced like attic). The people there are so friendly and the wine is mmmmm.

20 miles south of Angola/Fremont is Auburn. Someone already mentioned the Auburn Cord Deusenberg classic car museum but its little sister, the national auto and truck museum is pretty cool too. Drive through the Brown House for coney dogs on your way to or from. Yum. Except for Labor Day, there are usually lots of hotel rooms available in Auburn. There's a real, old fashioned drive in movie theatre just a couple of miles away in Garrett. Stop at the Blue Moon for ice cream (and another decent coney). It makes for a great night. If it's raining while you're in town, go to Shorty's in Garrett for a surprisingly sophisticated menu.

Then head to Kendallville (10 mile or so SE of Garrett). You can catch a movie in a classic theater, and it's super cheap too. Where in Chicago can you get two tickets to a first run movie, a big ole bucket of popcorn and refillable sodas for $20 bucks? BTW, we have the best Pizza Hut in the world here too. (No kidding.)

Fort Wayne, just south of Auburn and Kendallville, is a large city with a lot of fun festivals all summer long and a lot of good restaurants too. (There's another winery on the way too.) If you have not already had your fill of coney dogs, Coney Island, in downtown Ft. Wayne is a classic coney dive. For something more (way more) upscale, try Cork 'n' Cleaver, The Trolley Bar, or Eddie Merlot's.

Fort Wayne is also home to a great zoo, an excellent children's science museum (fun for adults too!) and a first rate botanical garden. The second largest mall in Indiana is there too if you're into that kind of thing. And there's an actual fort in Fort Wayne that sometimes has historical reenactments.

If you time it right, you might be able to catch a county fair in one of the small communities in the area. It's a slice of Americana that shouldn't be missed.

On the other side of the state, in west central Indiana, is another fabulous state park. Turkey Run. The hiking and tubing there are loads of fun. Oh wait, I forgot, if you think you might like tubing, you can do that up in NE Indiana too. Rent your tubes/canoes in a little town called Mongo. Buy some beer and a cheap cooler and enjoy a nice, relaxing float.

But back to west central Indiana, Covington, to be exact. It's not too far from the Parke County covered bridges and it's a terrific place to stop for dinner as there are two great choices there. One is Maple Corners, famous for their fried catfish. Delish. The other is The Beef House. The steaks there are great but it's the salad bar and the rolls (oh my god, THE ROLLS) that are simply divine.

Let's see, what else? You mentioned Holiday World and Splashin Safari. Maybe you'd like to try Indiana Beach in Monticello? There's a freshwater beach, a water park, a good selection of rides, an arcade and a separate little building that they keep ice cold on steamy summer days where you can play Skee Ball. And there's a water ski show! And you can feed popcorn to fish. BIG fish. Great goofy fun!

I hope you enjoy your stay.

One more thing. If you like beer, stop in at The Heorot in downtown Muncie on your way from northeast Indiana to Indy. They have a terrific selection of brews (one of the top 100 beer pubs in the USA) and it's fun to read the tiny plaques awarded to the college students (and townies) who complete the 100 beer tasting challenge. You can take a quick stroll down Dave's Alley too, named for alum, David Letterman.