Culver, IN and the lake

My stepdad Tom is staying in Culver at his cousin's house off the lake, hoping to hear that he gets the all-clear to come up and see Erin and the boys.  He has to drive back to PA by the end of the week. We still had no word on Monday about Nick and his coronavirus test results and I didn't want to disappoint him, so I made the drive down to Culver instead.  I drove the route as I did last summer, taking US231 South, then IN2, IN8, IN10.  It's a drive I always enjoyed, driving through small farming communities, passing over the Kankakee River and seeing corn and soybeans on either side of the road.  It's Indiana farmland so typical of the northern half of the state. People in this part of the state would rather hunt and fish than hike. When Tom moved to Lititz to live with my sister last fall, I never expected to ever go back to Culver and yet here I was.

I had no trouble finding Lois' cottage near the lake.  It was visible from IN117, with Tom's red Volvo parked up front.  She has a babbling brook run through her property, from which Zeke could drink. I had barely gotten out of my Honda and made Zeke comfortable parked in the shade when Tom asked me if I wanted to see Greg Pence's (older brother of the current Vice President) house on Lake Maxinkuckee.  Mike is in town visiting his brother and Secret Service agents are in the area.

While I'm no fan of the current administration, I like all things presidential, so we took a drive down IN117.  It was a few miles before we hit a roadblock and were stopped.  Tom had to open the trunk to let a Secret Service agent inspect it.  We were asked if we had any weapons, and we were let through.  It was a very quick inspection. All the agents were wearing black t-shirts with SECRET SERVICE on the back, de facto making them NOT SO SECRET ANYMORE SERVICE agents.  They were polite and professional.

Finding out which house was Pence's was easy.  His was the one with all the black Cadillac Esplanades and Law Enforcement vehicles in the long driveway.  We couldn't stop, so we just drove down IN117 until we turned on another farm road and Tom showed me his old childhood home, his grandparents' home and his cousin's home.  We turned again to make a full loop and were back at Lois'.  Indiana farm roads are narrow and have no shoulders and are often badly potholed.  The ones around the lake are hilly and have blind spots where mature trees block any views.

We all sat in Lois' cute living room.  She made a good living remodeling homes and reselling them., living in smaller homes herself all over Culver in the summer months when she's not wintering in Tucson.  She's 80 years old now and broke her hip and needs to rest, but she's still very ornery and speaks her mind.  After an hour of chatting, we all drove into town to have lunch at Cafe Max.  The place is normally closed on Mondays, but I suspect because Secret Service were in town, that the place was open.  The interior is completely decorated with Culver Military Academy memorabilia, including graduating Seniors yearbook photos.  My stepdad graduated from the academy in 1962 and his photo is on the wall. The place was crowded for a Monday and our simple meals took a while. My Taco Chicken Salad was quite good.

I said my good-byes at 4:30pm.  I'm sure Zeke was happy to leave, as he was tied up on the patio and not allowed to be inside for the entire visit.  I let him drink from the brook before leaving the area and didn't even stop at the lakeside park.  I just left.

I had a sudden idea to hit Michigan City and hang out at the Zorn Brewpub, the one I enjoyed so much last summer as it made some tasty witbiers out of what used to be an old warehouse.  Perhaps Danielle was still working there.  I was sadly disappointed when not only does Zorn no longer make witbiers, Danielle no longer works there, dogs are only allowed on the patio with the smokers, and we both were uncomfortable at our table.  I like classic rock music, but the music was too loud over the speakers.  I did have a decent Blueberry Lemon Ale (5.6%ABV), but it's not so good that I would drive there from Crown Point. I left disappointed with the bill, too.  Zorn no longer has $1 off nights on their house beers on Mondays.  I don't have any reasons anymore to go back there.

Disappointed in my updated experience at Zorn, I cheered myself up by stopping at Kemil Beach for a quick stroll along the beach.  There were quite a few people still on the beach for an early evening, including dogs.  Zeke ran into the water and drank. This is what Zeke needed, as he dived into the water several times to cool off.  I walked a mile out, just enough distance to see the sun fade into the water at sunset,  sharing the view with a few other beach combers before finally making it back to Crown Point.