Indianapolis, IN

What is Indiana best known for?  The Indianapolis 500 of course!  While we were in Indy, we made sure to tour the Brickyard.  Extra points for touring during May.  :)  For a nominal fee you can take the tour onto the track and get to stop at the famous bricks.  Of course Gary had to kiss the bricks.  After the tour we visited the museum, which is full of cars from various race eras.  It's a great way to spend an afternoon and learn all about racing. 

We also toured the Benjamin Harrison House.  He was the 23rd president of our great country and the grandson of William Henry Harrison, who was the 9th president.  The house is full of many personal and historical things like a letter written to him by Abraham Lincoln.  It is definitely worth seeing if you are ever in the area. 

The last day we were there we drove out to see our country's newest National Park.  It was a National Seashore until February of this year.  It is called Indiana Dunes.  It runs along the shores of Lake Michigan.  Very pretty area!  If you climb to the top of one of the dunes you can see across the lake and see the outline of downtown Chicago.  Pretty cool!  A lot of the areas are closed for now due to the crazy winter the area experienced.  Unfortunately, some of the dunes have been washed out or damaged.  On the way back from the dunes, we drove through Gary, Indiana.  Let's just say it should be renamed Scary, IN.  Yikes!  I think there was a 3 block radius where there was not a single building fully intact.  I was never more thankful to find the freeway entrance to get out of there! 

On to Cleveland!