US

July 30th, 2023

We decided to drive up to Michigan City.  It took about an hour to drive from Hammond.  I had to keep reminding myself that although the dunes, sandy beaches and waves made me thinking I was visiting the ocean, this was a lake.

I grew up around the great lakes.  Winters were long and it felt like summers came and went far too quickly.  I loved summer, there was nothing better than wearing shorts and a t-shirt and being outside.   When you only had a couple of months of warm weather, you took advantage of it and got out of the house and did things.

The beach was crowded and there were plenty of people grilling their favorite cookout foods – hot dogs, hamburgers, and BBQ chicken served with chips, baked beans, potato salad and watermelon. I have often wondered, did I like the food because it was associated with summers, picnics and family reunions or did I like it for other reasons.   As I walked through the grilling pavilion,  I was glad to see that things haven’t changed much but I did notice that I didn’t see any Jell-O dishes!

We walked out to the lighthouse and on the way back, I noticed a sign warning about the danger of walking on the ice. Hard to believe on this warm sunny day that in another few months it would turn cold again.  Continue reading →

July 29th, 2023

Off we went to explore Indiana, our first stop was the Indiana Dunes which is a national park.  I grew up close to Lake Ontario and I went to college in a town close to Lake Erie. I have fond memories of heading to the lake on hot summer days but I have no recollection of sand dunes.   I was impressed with the lake Michigan and the Indiana dunes.   There was plenty of hiking and beautiful beaches.

While growing up, my parents threw all us kids into the back of the family station wagon and we drove to Cape Cod.   I kept reminding myself, this was not Cape Cod, this was not the Ocean, it didn’t have the salty smell, it smelled earthy and yet, the dunes and the beaches reminded me of Cape Cod.

I realized that across the lake, we could see Chicago! Continue reading →

July 29th, 2023

After we landed in Chicago, I picked up a rental and headed to Hammond, Indiana.   As we drove, I realized that I had not been to Indiana before and realized the only thing I knew about it was that the Music Man, was from Gary, Indiana (which was repeated over and over again in the song).  When I booked the trip, I thought I would spend my time at the festival and revisiting the places that I used to go when I worked outside of Chicago.  Maybe I should explore Indiana to see what it has to offer.

It turns out that the hotel is next door to the Indiana Visitors Center which again, got me thinking that I should explore Indiana.   I stopped by after the we went to the festival and it was a very nice visitors center.   I was immediately confused, just outside the front door was a statue reenacting the triple dare from a Christmas Story. Inside there was a place to take selfies next to the leg lamp in the front window of the house, the gift shop was filled with magnets and souvenirs from the movie.

I am not a huge fan of the movie but not too long ago, I saw a news story about the house which had been converted into a tourist attraction.  The house was located in Cleveland, Ohio.  I grabbed my phone to make sure I remembered it right.   It turns out, Jean Shepard used the fictional town of Hohman, which is Hammond and where she grew up.

My next question was “What is Hoosier”.   I guess people from Indiana call themselves Hoosier.  You should google it, some of the theories as to how that name came to be is pretty entertaining! Continue reading →

July 28, 2023

A few years back, I was working in the Chicago area and saw a TV advertisement for the Pierogifest in Whiting, IN.  It looked fun, This was one of my favorite foods and I have met so many people who have no idea what a pierogi is.  I knew that pierogies were popular with people who knew about them but a festival?  How cool is that?  I wanted to go but I couldn’t change flights around so that I could be in the area for the festival.   Things came up, the pandemic happened and I wasn’t travelling during that time and five years later, I decided that I needed to make the time to attend this food festival.

As I drove from Chicago into Indiana, I began to wonder, have I been to Indiana?  I am pretty sure that I haven’t.  I like to travel and am proud at the list of states that I have seen but I have a ways to go to say that I have been to all 50.  This was another state that I could add to my list of places I have been and what better reason to go to Indiana but to celebrate the pierogi!

I grew up with pierogies, to me it was the ultimate dish, a potato dumpling, sometimes potato and cheese or potato and onion. It was sauteed in butter. It was considered a side dish but growing up, I would be more than happy to give up a steak or piece of chicken to have more pierogies. I could make a meal out of it.  At the festival, they had pierogies filled with potato, potato and cheese, sweet cheese, mushroom, mushroom and sour kraut, cherry, strawberry and plum.  The had sauteed pierogies and deep fried.   They even had a Pizza-rogi.   The only thing I didn’t try was the strawberry pierogi.

I loved them all!

Continue reading →