Family Vacation

My family took our first vacation ever last week. On Monday we drove to Portage, Indiana to check into our hotel. I asked Siri for directions and she took us to a field with nothing but a railroad track running through it. It turned out we had driven right past the hotel, and my mom remembered seeing it so we headed there.

After checking in we headed into Portage to eat dinner at a Chinese restaurant, before going to have a peek at the dunes and lake before it got too dark. The place we visited was called West Beach. The view as we crested the dunes took my breath away. There was a nearly empty beach, beautiful water, and perfectly encased in a yellow glow across the lake was the Chicago skyline.

On Tuesday we drove to Chicago. We stopped at the South Shore area near the La Rabida Children's Hospital to take a quick stroll along the shore before heading to Navy Pier.

 It took us three trips around the Loop area before we finally made it to the Navy Pier parking area. We walked out to the anchor and watched boats and birds for a while. As we headed back to the car, Karissa and I decided to go up in the Ferris Wheel. We were terrified when the speakers crackled, because I thought it was the metal of the Ferris Wheel straining. Later we found out our parents had also gone up on the Ferris Wheel and rushed back to watch them.

We headed back to hotel, stopping for pizza for dinner on the way.

Wednesday we went to Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore where we went to a very popular beach. Karissa and I tried to swim in the freezing cold lake, but were alerted by a lifeguard that the section of the water we were in was closed during the week. After a mini tantrum we went to the open area of water. We spent a few hours playing in the water and building rock formations.

When my dad decided he wanted to leave I trekked off down the beach to hike to the top of Mt. Tom, the highest dune in Indiana. The map labeled the trail as "rugged" but I didn't think it could be too bad. I was mistaken. The trail was very steep and consisted of loosely packed sand. I had to stop four times on my way to the top to rest, but eventually I did make it to the top and took in the view. That night we ate tacos and watched the Blackhawks/Bruins game.

Thursday we went to see the Century of Progress homes and to Porter Beach. The Century of Progress homes were mostly being repaired, except for the Florida Tropical House. The house looks like it is from the 50s, so the fact that it was designed in 1933 is amazing to me. All five of the homes were created for the World's Fair in Chicago and later moved by barge across Lake Michigan.

At the beach we played in the water for a while. I walked down the beach to a little stream and the Florida Tropical House. Mom and Dad fed the gulls bread, which resulted in a flock hanging out around us and making noise.

Mom and Dad left to get dinner for us while Karissa and I drove to another area and hiked to the Bailly Homestead and Chellberg Farm. It was dusk when we got there and the hike was through mosquito infested woods, but it was worth it. Both places were beautiful and slightly creepy (we were alone and dark was falling). The Bailly Homestead was one of the first homes established in northwestern Indiana by a non-native. Joseph Bailly and his family moved to the area in 1822 and created a fur trading outpost. Just slightly behind and to the right of the brick house is the Calumet River, which was vital to trade. 

The Chellberg Farm is a reminder of what was once a thriving Swedish-American culture in northwestern Indiana. The Kjellbergs (Chellbergs) purchased the uncleared land from the son-in-law of Joseph Bailley when it was neither cleared nor had any dwellings on it. They built and expanded their farm for three generations before selling the property to the park service in 1972.