A Day at the Beach--& the Beverly Shores Summer Madri Gras

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note--read parking instructions carefully. unfortunately you will not be able to park in our driveway because you may get blocked in and be unable to contact me to sort it out, since cell phone coverage is poor to non-existent on the beach. remember, we are a hiking group--if you have to park a mile away and hike to the beach, we can do that because we are hikers.

to avoid being stuck in the parade, come at 11:30, not too much before.

dear friends--

i invite you to a summer's day on the sand in beautiful Beverly Shores. this will essentially be an open house at the beach. stay 30 minutes, or stay 8 hours--you can come and go as you please, but be warned that i will also. i will be at the beach at opening time, and will stay for a few hours, but won't guarantee how long i will be there after that. we will set up on the beach at a spot where there will be bathrooms, water, and food nearby, plus access to the lake, 11 miles of beach, and the trails of the Indiana Dunes state park if you wish.

to find us, take Broadway to the lakefront, turn right on the shoreline, walk a few hundred feet, and look for our sign

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this is an experiment in creating an event that essentially runs itself, a sort of meetup stone soup. i picked this date because it coincides with the Beverly Shores Summer Mardi Gras http://www.absr.org/ , when food and drink will be available at the Broadway beach pavilion. bathrooms and water are available at nearby Lakeview Park, a few hundred feet to the west of Broadway Beach.

the weather looks good right now http://www.weather.com/weather/tomorrow/Beverly+Shores+IN+46301:4:US , but i would check it tomorrow morning and bring clothing and gear appropriately.

feel free to join in on any of the Beverly Shores summerfest activities you'd like. if you'd like to see the parade, i'd suggest be to my house by 10:45. if not, you probably should wait till after 11:30.

bring your best beach manners--no audible music, no smoking, no littering, control your dog--and also bring sunscreen, a hat with a brim, sunglasses, water, some substantial food (never can be sure when the food stands may run out), money, beach towels, beach games, umbrellas, sun shelters, etc. be sure to check the weather before setting out, and have appropriate clothing..

parking is the Achilles heel of this event. summer parking in Beverly Shores is deadly serious business. this is not horseshoes or hand grenades, if you are not in a legal spot, you will be ticketed and towed. i expect to have my neighbors 7-8 spaces available, but we will not be able to use our driveway, because we can't have valet style single-file parking when people will be coming and going, cell phone reception is sketchy on the beach, and the rest of my family need to get in and out of the garage.

i suggest people try to car pool as much as possible. 8 spaces will bring 8 people one to a car, or 40 people 5 to a car. try to get together and leave your car at someone's house in Valpo, or Chesterton, or Michigan City and drive over together. people coming from Chicago or Michigan, try to get together with others at the far end too. i would like to give preference for the spaces across from my house to car pool vehicles.

what if those spaces are gone? you could try to get a spot in the public beach parking at Lakeview (a few hundred feet away), or Dunbar (1/2 mile away) or Kemil beach (1 mile away), but these go very quickly.

a better strategy is to find where it's legal to park, tho not necessarily for the beach. in this scenario we have an advantage--we are hikers. we can park a distance away from the beach and walk there. if you are with someone else, standard procedure is to drop all but the driver off at the beach with any gear, then the driver can park and walk.

more details will follow,

hope to see you there,

Rick

directions & parking instructions:

note: since it is summer, the police are enforcing the no street parking laws more stringently. if all parking in our neighbors spaces is gone, the safest thing to do is probably to park at the train station and walk 25 minutes down Broadway to the beach. This is not strictly legal unless you are taking the train, but i've never heard of anyone getting a ticket, whereas if you park on the street, you are likely to get tickeed and towed. if you have things to bring to the beach, and are with another person, drop them off first, then go back and park and walk.

by car from Chicago: (driving time from downtown is about 1 hour 15 minutes) follow I-90 (Kennedy-Dan Ryan) East; at exit 59A, be sure to follow signs to "Chicago Skyway/Indiana Toll road"--the Skyway will turn into the Indiana Toll rd at the state line: tolls can be paid with I-pass or cash; at I-90 exit 21, get onto I-94, be sure to go East (marked Detroit); exit I-94 at exit 26 marked IN 49 north; continue to US 12 east, continue on US 12 about 4 miles to Broadway (traffic light opposite National Lakeshore campground, gas station & liquor store on corner) and turn left; continue about 1/2 mile past Beverly & Bellevue, and turn left at Marne, continue to 11 w Marne near the end of a cul-de-sac; our house is on the left, and is a gray, three story house set back rather far from the road; street parking is not allowed in Beverly Shores, especially in summer, but our gracious neighbors, Henry & Mary are allowing us to use their parking spaces across the street (don't block their driveway!); if these spaces are taken, see suggestions above; please try to arrive by 11:30, and proceed to the beach down Broadway. when you reach the shoreline, turn right--we will be on the beach within a few hundred feet or so. look for the sign above (see announcement).

from Northwest, West, or South suburbs: follow the TriState tollway (I-294) east until it merges with I-94 east; exit I-94 at exit 26 marked IN 49 north; go north to US 12 east (exit on left), continue on US 12 about 4 miles to Broadway (traffic light opposite National Lakeshore campground, gas station & liquor store on corner) and turn left; continue about 1/2 mile past Beverly & Bellevue, and turn left at Marne, continue to 11 w Marne near the end of a cul-de-sac; our house is on the left, and is a gray, three story house set back rather far from the road; street parking is not allowed in Beverly Shores, especially in summer, but our gracious neighbors, Henry & Mary are allowing us to use their parking spaces across the street (don't block their driveway!); if these spaces are taken, see suggestions above; please try to arrive by 11:30, and proceed to the beach down Broadway. when you reach the shoreline, turn right--we will be on the beach within a few hundred feet or so. look for the sign above (see announcement).

by the South Shore line: get the South Shore at the Metra Electric stations at 8:45 AM at Randolph, or at Van Buren, Roosevelt rd, Hyde Park, etc; take the train to the Beverly Shores station (you will have to tell the conductor you're getting off because it is a flag stop); train arrives at 10:09; walk toward the lake (away from US 12) on Broadway thru the wetland; please try to arrive by 11:30, and proceed to the beach down Broadway. when you reach the shoreline, turn right--we will be on the beach within a few hundred feet or so. look for the stick with a flower on it (see announcement). check the website below for trains returning to Chicago; you also may be able to get a ride back to the city from someone else

here is the South Shore website: http://www.nictd.com/... (http://www.nictd.com/).

The Dunes are to the Midwest what the Grand Canyon is to Arizona and the Yosemite is to California. They constitute a signature of time and eternity.

--Carl Sandburg