May 2023
When asking some folks from Indiana where to go, the universal response was don’t. I of course could not skip a state, so I needed to find something to see other than the many windmills along the highway. What I found was not much, but a few things. Just over the bridge from Louisville are the charming towns of Jeffersonville and New Albany. Further north there are some wineries. The wines (at least those with local grapes) were not California quality though the atmosphere was pretty spot on. The other place to go if you have to be in Indiana are the neighboring Indiana Dunes National Park and State Park. These two parks have miles of sand dunes (hills of sand formed by wind and water) which came into being with the glaciers that moved north forming Lake Michigan. While the dunes themselves are impressive and fun to scale, from any point while I was on the beach I could see and hear large mining, or something like mining, operations. It was on a nature trail in the national park where I heard a couple speaking French and stopped to ask why they were in Indiana (making sure they were not lost as if you come to the U.S., Indiana does not seem like the spot you would pick to tour). Turns out they were from Montreal, driving to Alaska, and this was an enroute stop so my concerns that they had landed in the wrong state were alleviated. Indiana is up there on the religious scale and the hell and damnation kind, not the positive messaging type found in some of the neighboring states. The Jesus signs become ominous with tears painted red pouring from Jesus, grave markers for aborted fetuses, and warnings of eternal hell if you do not strictly obey Jesus (the question being, whose version).
JEFFERSONVILLE. This is a cute small town just over the Big Four Bridge which connects Louisville, KY and Jeffersonville, IN. I should have made the trek on Sunday instead of Monday as they were breaking down from a festival I missed and the town was mostly closed. On the plus side I was able to get an amazing California worthy Campechano Torta (chorizo and asada) at a food truck, Taqueria El Gran Tako Estilo Mexico (the 30 minute wait for my food was worth it though I had to wolf it down on a ledge in front of a storefront as it is a roadside truck) and check out a very large candy shop in town which was one of the few open places. People were not overly friendly but cordial – they seem suspicious of non-locals.
NEW ALBANY. This town is also just over a bridge (not the walking bridge) from Kentucky and looked cute though had a lot of construction in progress so I moved on.
BARGERSVILLE. Nice area and stopped in to try local wine at Mallow Run Winery. The whites, though on the sweet side were not bad but the reds were not very drinkable – I only tried wines made with the local grapes as no point in drinking a California based grape in Indiana, so it may be they had some better reds with out of town grapes. There are other wineries in the general vicinity as well.
CHESTERTON. This town looked a bit more upscale and had the only stylish coffee shop I found in the state, Joe’s Bread, which was housed in a converted Victorian. Great coffee as well. This town also had some interesting grave markers in the cemetery as you can see below.
INDIANA DUNES STATE PARK. I was a bit disappointed in this park as I had high hopes. The problem is you cannot escape the factories, mining (or whatever it is they were doing) activity, the loud loading onto railcars, and the pounding sounds associated with this all. Seemed that any direction I looked down the beach from both ends of the park (which is miles long) I saw smoke towers and heavy industry. Walking up and down the one dune though was fun and a good workout and there is a small section on the Cogs bog trail where you can hear the birds and not the industry before arriving at the beach where you look out at Gary, Indiana, the birthplace of the Jackson 5. I camped here one night and unlike most federal campgrounds I have stayed in, people were partying late into the night (on a Monday). I could also hear the din of road traffic.
