Back to the Bend: My Time in Northern Indiana

Greetings from Pittsburgh, where I’m on extended Thanksgiving break. You might think with all this time off the bike I’d catch up on the blog. You’d be wrong to think that. I really have no excuse and am now officially 2 months behind. Somehow this feels fitting for my South Bend post as I spent the vast majority of college chronically behind on my school work.  

My first stop in Indiana was Indiana Dunes National Park. While this tract of land had not yet received national park status while I was in college, it was already a popular day trip destination for Notre Dame students as it is less than an hour from campus. I never made it there as a student though and regretted that, so I was excited to finally see what all the hype was about on this motorcycle trip.  

At Indiana Dunes, I immediately met with confusion, as I discovered there is a state park of the same name immediately adjacent to the national park, and was frustrated to find the state park charged its own fees. Figuring this out, I skipped the state park and did my best to see highlights of the national park.  

Indiana Dunes National Park is home to a beautiful lake shore, some unique historical houses, and an interesting looking bog. Despite these attractive features though, I was rather surprised this piece of land had been granted national park status as its hiking was very limited, it was small, and it was less impressive than many state parks I had been to. But I’ve been surprised by many beautiful areas of the country that haven’t been granted national park status, so I guess it’s probably more of a political process than a natural beauty thing that qualifies something to be a national park.  

Told you the bog was interesting looking

After 6 years in Cleveland, nothing makes me feel at home like trash on a lakeshore

The metropolis of Michigan City, as viewed from Mt Baldy (the biggest of the dunes from which the park derives its name)

The thriving metropolis of Michigan City from up close

A hidden rendezvous spot in the dunes I discovered on my hike down to a secluded beach

Cause one bog photo is never enough

Look closely - that's the Chicago skyline

One of the aforementioned old houses

The view from the best (only?) hike in the national park

The welcome center - I'll never pass up a photo op with a buffalo statue 

At the dunes, I went for a quick swim (it was a warm early October day and I couldn’t believe how empty the beach was given the great weather) and met Ray and his wife, Stephanie. Ray started a conversation with me after seeing my bike (his friend is looking to buy an Enfield), and we got taking about bikes, routes, and cross country riding, of which ray has done a fair amount. Ray now works in landscaping and had quite the repertoire of dad jokes - I think one may have been about memory loss, but alas I can’t recall it.  

After reaching Michigan City, I turned my headlight south towards South Bend.  

My first stop on campus, as per usual, was the grotto, where I lit a candle for everyone I’ve encountered on the odyssey.  

The Grotto is modeled off St Bernadette's Grotto in Lourdes, France. Outside of football weekends, it's probably the most peaceful spot on campus and you can find people praying there at any hour of the day or night. After late nights studying, I used to like stopping here to find some peace before going to bed at 3 am. 

As I was short on time, I made a beeline from there to LaFun, the old student union and home to Taco Bell. The Taco Bell in LaFun is unique. I’ve seen many combination Taco Bell KFCs in my travels, LaFun remains the only combination Taco Bell Pizza Hut I have ever encountered. With this review, it’s important to keep in mind that this Taco Bell is specifically designed for college students. This is also the Taco Bell where I tried (and failed) to get breakfast before my first college class my freshman year.  

The wallpaper may be new, but the nostalgia is as old as time itself

Food: The menu is extremely limited and I couldn’t even check in to get Taco Bell rewards. At best the cantina chicken taco I got was average, but that’s really all an inebriated college student is looking for at 2 am on a Friday night (the target market of this Taco Bell). As a student, I recall once being told that I couldn’t get a beef soft taco because their “meat hose” was clogged.  

Staff: It was a nice change to order from a person, no kiosks here, but my interactions with staff were minimal. In their defense, they’ve been trained for efficiency so that they can keep a 50 person line of drunkies moving on a Friday night.  

Facilities: Clean is not a word I’d use to describe this Taco Bell... or any of LaFun for that matter.  

Ambiance: The vibes here are unmatched - dimly lit, dingy - I don’t think the carpets, booths, or lighting fixtures have been updated since Rudy (or maybe even my grandfather) were on campus.  

On the whole, this was maybe the worst Taco Bell I’ve been to on this trip, but I can’t rank it as such as it holds such a sentimental place in my heart - it’s terribleness has become endearing to me.  

After Taco Bell, I boogied on downtown to meet my friend Colleen for mocktails at Hammer and Quill - a bar in South Bend that was probably there when I was a student, but that was probably out of my $3.75 for 32 oz of Yeungling price range. Gotta say the mocktails there were pretty dope - better than most cocktails I’ve had. 

Colleen is originally from the suburbs of Cleveland and rode her bicycle to Hammer and Quill in a show of 2-wheel solidarity. She’s been in South Bend for a number of years now and currently works at the homeless shelter. She’s become a big fan of Taco Bell as of late as they are one of the few fast food places with solid vegetarian offerings, and that’s come in handy as she’s been getting more fast food recently with folks at the homeless shelter as a way to motivate them to take positive steps like getting their drivers license or applying for a job. Outside of work, Colleen enjoys acting, and recently reprised the role of Elizabeth proctor in a community theater production of The Crucible.  

After mocktails with Colleen, I rode on over to The Outpost to see my friend Ben’s volleyball tournament.  

While Ben is also originally from the Pittsburgh area, we didn’t meet till college in South Bend. Ben still lives in South Bend and works in the investment office for Notre Dame. While he enjoys the work, increased travel and long hours in the past year have meant less time at home with his growing family than he’d like. His wife Soren, who he met at ND, is currently pregnant with twins, which will bring their tally to 4 kids under the age 5 when the twins are born. While South Bend’s often thought of as a college town (by those not from South Bend), Ben and Soren have found that it’s a great place to be raising a young family. Beyond the solid adult volleyball leagues (Ben was a pretty competitive volleyball player in high school), they’ve made a lot of friends who have kids of similar ages through the vibrant Catholic community in town. Ben and Soren also love living in South Bend because it’s a place college friends come back to visit for ND football games - this year, they had friends staying with them every single home football game (luckily my last minute visit was midweek, so they had space for me to crash).

The Champions - Kill the Keg couldn't slow down these competitors who made quick work of their competition. From left to right: Steven, Andrew (being held), Brittany (throwing the hook'em up front), Brady, Ben, and Lony

It was the last night of the season at the Outpost (hence the tournament), so there were plenty of cool people around to celebrate and help kill the keg, including: 

- Andrew: Andrew’s dad originally started the volleyball team, but the younger generation has since taken over. Andrew’s originally from South Bend and recently moved back to the area from Denver, as South Bend felt like a better place to raise a family. 

- Lony: Lony is deciding whether to send her daughter who is in 8th grade to Penn (the big public school) or St Joe’s (a Catholic school) for high school. Sports are very competitive at Penn, and can get political, which is complicating the decision. 

- Fred: While Fred plays in a handful of volleyball leagues, on this occasion he was just a spectator like me - there to cheer on his friends and help kill the keg. Fred is originally from California but grew up in South Bend because his mom, who was from the Midwest, missed seeing snow every year. He’s now got family in just about every state between Indiana and California. He’s ridden motorcycles all over the country and his biggest recommendations were the Tail of the Dragon (eastern TN), Devil’s Triangle (also eastern TN), and Colorado. Haven’t hit any of these spots yet, but am hoping to see them all before the end of the odyssey. 

- Steve: Steve owns The Outpost and was gracious enough to give me free beer and pizza, even though I wasn’t in any of the volleyball leagues there. Steve coached high school volleyball for 40 years and worked at The Outpost for 37 years before buying it a few years back. 

After the night at Ben’s, I left Harriet in South Bend and hitched a ride to Iowa with my parents for my brothers wedding that weekend - congrats to Chip and Kate!  

Outside of jetskis and helicopters, a firetruck has to be up there for the coolest way to get from your wedding venue to the reception

I’ll talk more about Iowa when I get there on the bike, for now I’ll leave it at Iowa was much more exciting and scenic than I expected. 

Upon being dropped by in South Bend late Sunday evening, I rode over to my friend Kevin’s (what a great name) place for the night. 

Kevin was an RA in my dorm my sophomore year and would often lead a group from the dorm to say a quick prayer at the grotto and grab smoothies at Recker’s (the only 24 hour food spot on campus that sadly closed my junior year - RIP) after Sunday night mass in the dorm. Since graduating, Kevin has worked for the graphics department at Notre Dame - following my visit, ND had 3 straight home games, making it potentially the busiest stretch of the year for Kevin. Kevin’s originally from South Bend and says sometimes it feels weird still being there with most of his friends long gone. But much like Ben and Soren, Kevin and his wife, Lindsay, enjoy being a place people stop at on their way back to campus or just as they are crossing the country, like me. Kevin, Naomi, and their 2 year old daughter, Naomi, recently moved into a new house. While they were originally interested in a fixer upper, seeing the issues their neighbors have run into with a fixer upper have them glad they bought turnkey. 

After breakfast with Kevin, mass, and a nostalgic walk around campus, I hit the road.

The courtyard of Dillon Hall, the dorm where I lived all 4 years of undergrad. During my time there it'd get so humid at the beginning and end of the year that floors got slippery and couches felt wet to the touch. They've since renovated it and put air conditioning in the hallways because they no longer value building character. As an RA my senior year, I frequently had to clean up bottles of malt liquor that residents of our neighbor and rival Alumni Hall would smash on the courtyard steps. 

Few people know that Notre Dame's full name is The University of Notre Dame Du Lac - which translates to Our Lady of the Lake - a reference to St Mary's Lake, pictured above. At the time the university was founded in 1842, the woods were so dense that they did not realize that there was another lake (St Joseph's Lake) less than 100 yards east. So it probably should actually be Our Lady of the Lakes - I don't know what that translates to in French. 

The House that Rockne Built. Fun fact, one of my friends from undergrad (who I was unable to connect with during my time in South Bend due to my tight schedule) recently moved into the house that Knute Rockne used to live in.

Stonehenge. On Veteran's Day, the ROTC cadets take shifts doing a 24 hour guard of honor here - each branch (Army, Navy, Marines, Air Force) takes one of the cardinal directions. 

Touchdown Jesus (or The Word of Life Mural) on the Hesburgh Library. While I never completed the Hesburgh challenge (a beer on each of the 14 floors in one go), I did get iced at 2 am on the 13th floor during finals week my junior year - contact Johnny Veschi for video evidence.

The dome (aka The Main Building). It's said that you won't graduate if you walk down the steps of the main building and that you'll fail your first theology class if you walk on the grass of God Quad. 

The Basilica. Rivals many of the great churches of Europe in it's beauty and houses one of the world's most extensive reliquaries. Like the Washington Monument in DC, there's a rule that no building on campus can be taller than the spire of the Basilica. 

While this blog post was extremely late, I regret to inform you that I’ll likely only be getting further behind on the blog in the next few weeks. On Thursday, I fly to Buenos Aires for 11 days in Argentina and don’t anticipate having time to blog down there. Maybe I’ll type up a post or two on the 10 hour plane ride (don’t bet on it). 

Better late than never, 

Chronically Late Kev