May 2003 .............
Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore: The Lakeshore area is off of I-94 between Gary and Michigan City. We were looking for Indiana Dunes State Park, missed it and ended up at the National Lakeshore. The State Park is actually part of the National Lakeshore. We stayed at the Federal Campground, dry camping only, but very nice. Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore is a 15,000 acre preserve along Southern Lake Michigan. There are stretches of uncrowded beaches, bird filled marshes, oak and maple forests, and towering sand dunes. Shoreline dunes are created when the wind off Lake Michigan lifts grains of sand and transports them inland until plants and hills slow the wind and it drops its cargo. The sands of Indiana Dunes have a special quality that makes music for those who listen. The combination of quartz, crystals, moisture, pressure, and friction from you feet creates a musical tone - a clear ringing sound of singing sand. Only a few beaches worldwide are known to sing with this same tone. There are many trails to hike. We chose one that went over three large dunes, 176 ft, 184 ft and 196 ft. The sand is very soft and it's a difficult climb, however with all the trees and wildflowers it's worth it. What a view of Lake Michigan from the top of the dunes. First Photo is view of Gary Indiana, next photo is Laurel walking in the dunes (not our dog).
May 2003 .............
Next Stops in the park was the Bailly homestead and the Chellberh family farm. In 1882 Joseph Bailly, a fur trader who exchanged blankets and guns for furs, established a trading post and raised a family at the Bailly Homestead. The house and some outbuildings are still standing and the hike back to see the farmstead is beautiful. Had a neat experience on the hike, met a lady, probably in her mid 70's, walking her dog. We visited with her and when she found out we were traveling in a motor home she told us she and her husband had one and traveled whenever they could get time. When he retired they were going to see the country, however he passed away before they had a chance. She told us to "go for it".As we were going across the parking lot, she stopped, turned around and said, "You don't have room for an old lady and a dog do you?" Think we would have taken her if she had of asked twice. Next we hiked to the Chelberth farm, which is within walking distance of the Bally farm. The Chelberth farm has animals, a garden and some row crops and is maintained by the Park Service. Visited with some people from New York, they didn't know which were hens and which were roosters. While in the area be sure to pay a visit to the Bailly family cemetery. They started the plot in 1827 and in the 1870's they claimed the cemetery as their personal burial ground. The wooden fence constructed in 1866 was replaced with a six-foot limestone wall topped with iron spikes. In 1914 the present concrete block wall was built with coping around the old wall, pouring 6" to 8" of concrete in the space between. At that time the top spindles were added. The interior of the burial space was filled with sand and they constructed a new stairway leading to the top. Then they built a concrete retaining wall, then placed another retaining wall nine feet beyond that. There is a 15ft Spanish Pine cross atop the enclosure facing the North. The cemetery is 3/4 mile from the homestead.
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