Sunday Adventure - and I saw the sun!

Had a lovely Sunday Adventure and, as the title says, I actually saw the sun. Mind you, we had to go to another state to see it. As soon as we started heading back home the clouds rolled in and well, it was cloudy by the time we got home. 

We decided to go south today. We ended up going down to Michigan City to take a walk along the beach and then on to the Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore. I think I've mentioned this before, but because husband is a veteran we get free admission to National Parks. We decided to check out an old homestead that is included in the National Park. It's strange to call it a park as it is about 20 miles long and encompasses over 15,000 acres. It really is a massive area to explore. There are so many trails and areas of interest. 

We decided to look at the Bailley Homestead. Below is a little information from the website about the homestead history. 

The Bailly Homestead, a National Historic Landmark, was the home of Honore Gratien Joseph Bailly de Messein (1774 - 1835) and Marie LeFevere Bailly (1783-1866). Bailly played a role in the development of the Calumet Region of northern Indiana. He was an independent trader in the extensive fur-trading network that spread from Montreal to Louisiana, and ultimately to Europe. Joseph Bailly was one of the earliest settlers in northern Indiana. In 1822 Bailly set up his fur trading post at the crossroads of several important trails, including the Tolleston Beach and northern branch of the Sauk Trail. He provided a meeting place for Native Americans and Euro-Americans. Except for White Pigeon, Michigan, Bailly's trading post was the only stopping place for travelers and missionaries between Chicago and Detroit. The Bailly Homestead complex is the last remaining site of its nature in the Calumet Region, both in its capacity as a fur trading post and in its vernacular architectural features and construction types. The Bailly Homestead was authorized as a National Historic Landmark in 1962.

It is currently undergoing renovations so we couldn't go inside, but the area was absolutely beautiful. 

Some phone photos

Reflection in the river. 

The main house. You can see where there are supports. 

The middle house was my favourite. It seemed to have a lot of character.  I was glad we were there in the daytime. I think it might have been a little creepier at night lol. 

We didn't get home until later in the day. I did manage to finish up December photos for my project so now onto the next stage!  I am going to give it a rest for a couple of days and work on something else. I have photos from my camera that I took today on our beach walk that I want to get sorted too. 

I have completed a meal plan for the upcoming week (through Sunday). I do have to check the cupboards and freezer as I am sure I have most of the items needed, part of the reason I chose the meals planned lol. 

Hope everyone had a good weekend!

Sunday Adventures - Indiana Dunes National Park - A Day Out

Thanks for the well wishes on the migraine. Much better today. It's been a while since I've had one that bad. Even husband said the same. Back to normal today. 

It was another beautiful day here in Michigan today. I can't believe how warm it was! I actually opened a couple of windows today! I sat outside on the back porch after we got back from our Sunday Adventure. It was just too nice a day - and I know there will be so few on them from here until about May - so I took the time to just sit and enjoy!

We got up early this morning and decided to head out to Indiana Dunes National Park. We've never been there before. It's in another state but only about an hour and 15 mins drive from us. Believe me, in the US that isn't a far distance to travel! There is a charge to get in, but as husband is a Veteran, we discovered on our last visit to a National Park that he qualifies for a free pass! We stopped at Michigan City Lighthouse on our way. 

The park is huge - 15,000 acres - and has 15 miles of Lake Michigan Shoreline. There was absolutely no way that we could explore all the areas today. We stopped in at the Visitor's centre and talked to a lovely lady who shared lots of stories of the trails and a few maps as well. She was really very helpful. I did take some leaflets so that we could see which trails we'd like to walk another time. We walked one trail that was really nice and drove down a few other areas but it really was too big to just explore this time. 

These were at the visitor's centre. I actually forgot my phone and left it in the car for our walk! I did take photos with my camera that I will try to share another time. Here are some more phone photos from our visit. 

Not sure if you can read the above, maybe if you click on the photo, but it gives some information about the Great Lakes. 

The views were really spectacular. There was so much about today that made me smile, but one particular view just made me take a deep breath, look out, and appreciate all the beauty of nature. 

We stopped at a beach, walked through the woods and came out to almost a cliff top where the sands dropped down and the view on Lake Michigan was gorgeous. 

Day 296