Amish, Gary and The Windy City....

I didn’t have time previously to include the video I made when riding around Middlebury in Indiana, which is Amish country. I found the area very interesting, but I knew little of Amish ways and culture, so I read a little on the web and looked forward to seeing some of the ways of the Amish people. Rather than write about this, I have included the highlights of what I saw riding through Amish country in the video below....



Yesterday I was both disappointed and very pleased. I went to Gary, Indiana and was hugely disappointed. I then went to one of my favourite cities – Chicago. I also added another 2 states to my growing list – Michigan and Illinois.

I started the day in an funny way. I was loading up my bike and got into a discussion with a guy and his wife from Georgia. They were looking at the paint job on my bike, playing a guess-who-the-pictures-are-of game and they complained about the “drought we are having in Georgia”.

Having seen so many ridiculous sized pick-ups around I said that is probably the global warming we are all now seeing and that people should stop driving such huge cars for everyday journeys like shopping and taking the kids to school. I continued by saying that I didn’t really understand why people thought they needed such big vehicles and the woman berated me saying that people had the right to have them if they wanted, and they need them to go off-road, to haul the grandkids around etc etc. I told her I didn’t agree they needed to be so big and the rest of the world seemed to get along just fine without them. She was getting quite upset and my stance and walked away shaking her head. He husband just gave me a knowing smile and walked off in her wake. I could tell who wore the trousers in that marriage! I watched them go across the car park and climb into the biggest pick-up I have ever seen! I waved as the pick-up drove passed me, with just the two of them inside....

I spotted this Plymouth on the side of the road – a lovely old car....





















Some severe weather had gone through the area in the past few days, mainly at night. I saw the evidence of it along this road with a whole line of trees blown down....

Soon I entered Michigan. My step-daughter is called Michele, or Mish for short and was named after this state....

I had intended to go into Warren Dunes State Park on the edge of Lake Michigan, put the queue of cars waiting to get in was so long, I decided against doing so. Instead I just found the road along the lake edge near Michigan City called Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore, which was stunning....

I had no idea that there were dunes along the southern edge of Lake Michigan....

If you click on this picture to enlarge it, you can just make out the skyline of Chicago across the lake.... it was quite spectacular....

Right in Michigan City, I rode over a bridge and saw this.... it would be a fantastic place to live....

This gas station sign made me laugh....




























I was then riding towards Gary, Indiana and I was keen to see what the city that shared my name was like. I was sure it would be a splendid place. It wasn’t. If I can be blunt, it was dreadful and was so run down with dilapidated buildings that were a poor reflection of its past. I think Gary had a big steel industry that has probably now diminished and it seems the heart of the city went with it. I have to say it was a very depressing place and sadly, probably the worse I have seen so far. But in honour of its name, I did stop and take a picture of the statue of Elbert H. Gary who founded the city in 1906....




























Soon though I was headed towards Chicago, a place I have been too a few times before. I love Chicago, for its vibrancy, its parks, its cleanliness and its drive to succeed.

Despite the traffic, Chicago is a very welcoming city....

I just love the view from the Observatory area. Absolutely stunning....

One of Chicago’s many street canyons....

A couple of the roads near where I was staying were closed as filming of the movie “Transformers 3” was happening there. The public were kept well back and from what I could see, the scenery was quite amazing....

The hotel I checked into, The Wit, was recommended as being a new funky hotel and it certainly was. Very modern, very chick, very cool. Here was my bedroom before I messed it up with all my gear

A very strange, but good decoration above the bed...

Here is my friend Jack as we shared an after dinner drink. Jack and I worked together at the time of Chicago’s bid for the 2016 Olympic Games....

Here is a shot of Jack talking to an about to be elected Barack Obama....






















After dinner I went for a short walk and took a couple of pictures of the theatre next to the hotel....

I love Chicago!!

By the way. Chicago has the nickname of “the windy city” and some like a lot of people, I originally thought that was because of the wind that blows across Lake Michigan into the city. I did find out many years ago that is not the reason it has this name, but instead it is thought to originate from Chicago’s rivalry with the city of Cincinnati, when Politicians possibly referred to Chicago as the “windy city” in order to convince some that Cincinnati was superior.