Hidden Treasures in Northern Indiana

Oftentimes, Northern Indiana is just a place to drive through on your way somewhere else. Not to insult the residents of these parts, but being nestled between three states and fairly flat has left Northern Indiana off of a lot of travelers’ radars. However, if you find yourself traveling east or west along Interstate 80/90, you may want to take a detour and discover some pretty lovely sites, old and new, that sit along Indiana’s Lake Michigan shore.

If you are leaving Chicago, consider taking the Dunes Highway for a while before hopping back on the interstate. Dunes Highway not only has a great name, but it will give you a sense of the Midwest, strip malls, yes, but 19^th-century farm houses, too, and stretches of fields that give you a taste of the beautiful prairie melancholy that blows up from the southwest. This highway is one of the earliest in the area and connects the outer edges of Chicago to the Michigan shore.

Keep riding east and you will soon be in Gary, Ind. The most famous residents of this town are the Jacksons, and, in particular, the King of Pop, Michael Jackson. You can pass by the Jackson family home, visit the Gary Aquatorium and catch a minor league baseball game at the Steel Yard, home of the Gary Southshore Railcats. Keep driving and you will pass through the Miller Beach neighborhood, a quaint beach town where you can grab a slice of pizza at the Flamingo Lounge located on Locust Avenue. Outside of the city you can visit the Indian Dunes National Park and enjoy 15 miles of pure lakefront. Before you know it, you will be in Michigan or Ohio, so why not take a day to savor a little bit of what Indiana has to offer.