Indiana – Gold Sand

August 31st, 2015

Saying goodbye will never be easy, especially with such short visits and long stretches between them. But, it was time to move on, and even though I’d only spent a few days in Illinois and only one city, time restrictions sent me to Indiana. The first destination was to see the Indiana Sand Dunes. A great beach area on the north coast of the state that has a beautiful view of the Chicago skyline….when it’s a perfectly clear day out. Today, was not one of those days unfortunately. Looking off into the horizon, either end of the infinite beach was capped with smoke stacks. Billowing a continuous dark cloud out of them in the pale blue haze. I’ve never been much of a beach bum, but it was fun to wander around the dunes and explore a bit more than a traditional beach. A huge park went right up to the beach instead of cities, so it was mostly rugged terrain. Huge piles of sand, dunes, rose up, densely covered in vegetation of all sorts and the wildlife that goes with it. The view from up here, though shrouded by the trees, was quaint. It was a paradise of solitude a few feet off the main path, but it felt so far removed from it all. I spent some time just enjoying the view, taking in the beauty, and enjoying the first quiet in a few days. The hustle and bustle of the Chicago sound still rang in my ears, and the escape to nature was much appreciated. Close by is the university of Notre Dame, and part of it, the Basilica of the Sacred Heart. It repeatedly popped up on stuff to see in Indiana. But I had no idea what I was about to see. Churches in America can range from a basement at a community center, a high school cafeteria, to elegant masterpieces kept from an era when they were the centerpiece of town. Even the most elegant and “high class” churches are large auditorium style layouts. This was nothing like that. Imagine if the architects of European churches came over, and decided to replicate the beauty on this side of the pond. That’s basically what happened, and they built a school around it. The Basilica was stunning. With lavishly decorated ceilings, gold highlights on everything, and towering stained glass pieces with such detail, that the calf muscles of a person were distinguished. To see such attention to detail in a church in America was amazing. Flashbacks of my time abroad flooded my mind. It’s just a church, and I’m not a religious person, but the beauty and joy it brought me were a pick me up that was not only needed, but greatly welcomed. I spoke with a guy who looked fancy and bored, and he told me the history of the church, celebrating over 140 years of continuous use. More than happy and excited, I wandered around the campus. Though, I made the curtail mistake of just wearing my normal clothes, which happened to be a blue shirt, instead of a green one. So much for trying to blend it. At least I was in flip flops. I continued on to Indianapolis for the evening as my destination for a few days, and the biggest city for a few hundred miles.