The last Indiana municipality before crossing over the border into Michigan along Routes 12 and 20 is a fascinating mixture of industry and art, of wealth and despair.
Driving along the lake shore toward Michigan City will take you through Beverly Shores, where the houses first displayed at the 1933 World’s Fair in Chicago reside and of which four of the five have been restored to close to their original glory. Their history, along with the houses built among the area’s sand dunes, make for a lovely and interesting detour.
Equally as interesting a historical detour comes when you’re in the city itself. Set off on the city’s west side is the former home of John Dillinger, namely one of the state’s oldest maximum-security prisons. Bystanders are not allowed to drive near it, of course, but driving around its perimeter at night is eerily beautiful.
Add in a giant power plant with a hyperboloid-shaped cooling tower on which laser shows were shown in the 1980s, and you have a quirky city that, with a push to create a vibrant arts scene, has become a place to be in Northwest Indiana. Following are some places you should definitely check out.
Morning/Afternoon
Much of Michigan City centers around its 140-acre crown jewel, Washington Park (6 On the Lake, 219-873-1506, michigancityparks.com/index.php/michigan-city-parks/washington-park). With two miles of beach, a marina, splash park, amphitheater and even a zoo, you probably could spend your whole day there without leaving its confines (not that you would, because there’s plenty more to do).
The three-year-old revamped pavilion provides a place you can clean your fish after you catch them, and history abounds with old WPA structures to look at. Seniors have a hangout of their own, and there’s a restaurant designed like a concession stand for those who aren’t there for picnicking. The park also does it up for the Christmas season during the Festival of Holiday Lights.
Before heading to the beach, visitors who love lighthouses and the lore behind them can hit up the Old Lighthouse Museum (1 Washington St., 219-872-6133, oldlighthousemuseum.org) in the afternoon between April and October. You can go in by yourself for self-guided, audio tours or hang out with a docent to give you the history, but those need to be booked.
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The museum’s also open during the city’s Uptown Arts District First Friday events, and during that time, people can go up into the 1858 Lighthouse’s lantern room and see the ship model collection the museum has been loaned. For the more morbid, there’s an exhibit on shipwrecks, including a picture postcard collection on the Eastland Disaster, where a steamboat heading to Michigan City from Chicago sank in 1915; for the shopping-minded, there’s a gift shop that has, among other things, the lighthouse figurines you need for your library shelves.
If you don’t stop into the museum, looking at it set against the mammoth Northern Indiana Public Service Company Generating Station from the Franklin Street Bridge over Trail Creek going into the park makes for a neat juxtaposition.
Tucked away at in a corner the very east end of the park sits Northwest Indiana’s only zoo, Washington Park Zoo (115 Lakeshore Drive, 219-873-1510; washingtonparkzoo.com), where visitors can see tigers, a bear and gray wolves as well as lemurs and an aviary full of free-flying parakeets. Additionally, there’s plenty of WPA buildings on the National Register of Historic Places to view, like the Rotary Castle. Admission is $7 for adults, $6 for Seniors and children, and free-of-charge for kidlets 2 and under.
Non-beachgoers can turn their sights toward the city’s Uptown Arts District, located in its downtown, of all places. Rebranded in 2010, the district is home to consignment shops, galleries and lofts where artists are encouraged to live and hone their crafts. Ballyea Jewelry Designs (519 Franklin St., 312-332-9307, ballyea.net), for example, is dedicated to handcrafted Gaelic jewelry.
Chef Bizzaro Millinery (717 Franklin St., 219-395-6266, chefbizzaro.com), hand-designs whimsical chapeaus and fascinators, and for the really crafty, shop owner Amanda Joyner also teaches classes on how to make your own hats. Make a day of it and hit the attached The Closet at Franklin Village/Nielsen’s Antiques (717 Franklin St., 219-561-0910; facebook.com/theclosetbyfranklinvintage) for all your retro/vintage wants.
Art aficionados have a few different places to get their fix. The Lubeznik Art Center (101 W. Second St., 219-874-4900, lubeznikcenter.org) currently has a Warhol exhibit going through October, and it features works by the artist himself as well as artists inspired by his ethos, while the Young Artists Expo is running concurrently.
On a smaller scale, frame shop SFC Gallery (607 Franklin St., 219-877-4420, sfcgallery.com) hosts a different local artist every month, and the Franklin Art District Artists (617 Frankin St., [email protected]; facebook.com/FranklinArtDistrictArtists) is an artist collective with creatives crafting everything from jewelry to photography.
Want to take in all the art in one fell swoop? Come during the Main Street Association’s First Friday Art Walk, where uptown businesses host “pop-up” galleries within their confines from 5-9 p.m.
After you’ve shopped and taken in the art, you can pop on over to Arturo’s Baked Goods (2613 E. U.S. 12, 219-874-2253, facebook.com/ArturoBakes/) for a fresh-baked goodie or sandwich. If you’re in the mood for smoked meats, hit up Lange’s Old Fashioned Meat Market (218 W. 7th St., 219-874-0071, facebook.com/Langes-Old-Fashioned-Meat-Market-220023294674914/) for one of its famous beef sticks, which have been reported to be used as teething rings for at least two lucky babies, according to its Facebook page.
Evening
Michigan City is home to Blue Chip Casino Hotel and Spa (777 Blue Chip Drive, 888-879-7711, bluechipcasino.com), which offers a smorgasbord of high-end delights with its gambling, like Spa Blu, with all manner of massages and treatments; a five-star steak house named William B’s; and three different entertainment venues: It’s Vegas, Baby! and Rocks Lounge for local acts, and Stardust Event Center for the really big names.
Those looking for a cozier place to hang their hats for the night, however, might find the Bridge Inn (510 E 2nd St., 219-561-0066, bridgeinnmc.com) more to their liking. Built adjacent to the old Amtrak swing bridge on Trail Creek, the colorful, two-building hotel has rooms for families as well as hot-tub suites for the romantically/relaxation-inclined.
All the rooms have at least a kitchenette, but why bring your own food when just across the parking lot is Bridges Waterside Grille, (508 E. 2nd St., 219-878-0227, bridgeswatersidegrille.com), a little pet-friendly place with an outdoor deck along the creek that would be right at home on the beaches of St. Kitts? They’re opened for lunch and dinner May to October.
Other places to eat around Michigan CIty include one of Northwest Indiana’s first brew pubs, Shoreline Brewery (208 Wabash St., 219-879-4677, shorelinebrewery.com
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), and Burn ‘Em Brewing (718 Freyer St., 219-210-3784, burnembrewing.com), whose motto is “Comforting the Disturbed, Disturbing the Comfortable.” You really want to try its Cocoanoats wheat ale with a coconut finish. It’s delicious.