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Posted by: southsider2k7 Jul 11 2008, 01:17 PM

Well summer tis the season for vacations. With $4.30 gas and the demise of the airline industry, many people are either opting out of vacations entirely or finding stuff closer to home. Let's hear people's favorite nearby vacation spots and favorite getaways that won't break your pocketbook!

#1 on my list is a train trip to Chicago. So much is within reach of just a South Shore fare, including Millennium Park, Grant Park, and the many great Museums of Chicago.

Posted by: JHeath Jul 11 2008, 02:11 PM

Our family just spent the day at Six Flags Great America. Didn't do the water park, but the kids loved the rides & roller coasters. Helps if you have discount coupons, too.

Posted by: Ang Jul 11 2008, 02:20 PM

Camping at Potato Creek

Posted by: Michelle Jul 11 2008, 09:52 PM

Have you ever gone to Holiday World in southern Indiana? I can't make it this year with the gas prices, but it's frickin fabulous. Short lines, free parking, free cola, free rafts for the water park, free sunscreen. The water park is top-notch, and all the rollercoasters are wooden (yay, tradition).

Posted by: ChickenCityRoller Jul 12 2008, 08:31 AM

I agree with SouthSider about Chicago. GO!
Around here, it's cheap and fun to explore the Dune's Nat'l Park. Lot's of trails and beautiful places to explore.
The old 49'er drive in in Cheese Town is a cool and affordable throwback.

Posted by: Roger Kaputnik Jul 12 2008, 06:00 PM

Michelle, is that the joint by St. Meinrad?

Posted by: Michelle Jul 12 2008, 10:13 PM

Yes, right by there.

Posted by: Ang Jul 13 2008, 05:00 PM

Holiday World in Santa Claus, IN.

I've not been there, but I know others who have and they say it's better than Great America

Posted by: southsider2k7 Jul 14 2008, 06:07 AM

A personal favorite of mine from college is Salamonie State Park

http://www.stateparks.com/salamonie_river.html

Posted by: ChickenCityRoller Jul 14 2008, 10:59 AM

You've been "busted" for posting before reading the thread!

Posted by: Ang Jul 14 2008, 12:05 PM

I read! Michelle said this:

Then Roger:

Then Michelle:


Then Me:


I was confirming for Roger what town it is in and agreeing with Michelle that it is indeed a great place based on words that I've heard, but not from personal experience.

Posted by: mcstumper Jul 14 2008, 10:37 PM

No love for Indiana Beach?

Other obvious ones:
1. Michigan City Zoo
2. Antique shops on Red Arrow highway (make sure to bring 4 kids under the age of 9 like my wife and I did last week. The shop owners love it.)
3. East Race in South Bend
4. Connor Prairie just north of Indy (the wife's favorite)
5. Cedar Point, OH. They just built a Kalahari Waterpark. Haven't tried it yet, but we love the one at the Wisconsin Dells. Plus its a hundred and forty miles closer than Santa Claus, IN.
6. College Football Saturdays - Indiana U., Purdue, Michigan State, Michigan, Northwestern and Notre Dame are all close enough for day trips.

Posted by: Michelle Jul 14 2008, 10:43 PM

This is a super-longshot, but has anyone been to the race tracks in Medaryville or Schererville? I like car racing, but I don't want to spend the bucks for Chicagoland or Indpls. Just curious if it's worth the trip.

Posted by: Michelle Jul 14 2008, 10:50 PM

Ah, but Holiday World has owned the Travel Channel's top 10 water parks for the last few years. Haven't been to Cedar Point's water park; can't comment. HW's distance does disqualify it for this thread, but I love it so. Following directions is overrated.

Posted by: Roger Kaputnik Jul 15 2008, 08:03 AM

Canoeing on the Tippecanoe. Liveries are in Winamac on 35.

Posted by: Ang Jul 15 2008, 09:40 AM

If you take Michigan Blvd out of town and keep going straight until you almost get to South Bend you will see the South Bend Motor Speedway on your right. It's a really cool dirt track. Actually, that was the last thing I did with the kids before we moved away. I went to races Saturday night and hit the road Monday morning.

Oh, and it's only about 20 minutes from MC

Posted by: CaddyRich Jul 15 2008, 01:55 PM

South Bend Motor Speedway is closed and the property is up for sale...but Illiana Speedway in Schererville and Plymouth Speedway in Plymouth offer some great racing.

Posted by: Michelle Jul 15 2008, 07:42 PM

I didn't know about the one in Plymouth, thanks. I'll try these out sometime soon. Just didn't want to drive an hour if it's not worth it.

Posted by: Roger Kaputnik Jul 16 2008, 11:02 AM

Oh, what language!

Posted by: Ang Jul 16 2008, 11:16 AM

WHAT?!?!?!?!

Okay, now I'm really depressed and sitting here almost in tears. I wish I would've known that would be my last visit to that place-ever!

Posted by: ChickenCityRoller Jul 17 2008, 02:53 PM

I don't know what I was thinking considering I'm a lifetime member and a donate a lot of material. HESSTON STEAM GROUNDS! If you have kids and you haven't or don't take them there, you're... well.. you should take them! It's the coolest place in the world, especially if you're a kid (or a grown up kid ). Please, do yourself, your family or your out of town visitors a favor and visit Hesston in Heston. Just take 1000 North from Highway 12 and go out about 12 miles, it's on the left past highway 39.(There is a lot of debate on how it's spelled, lol. The town spells it Heston but the museum spells it Hesston)
When you go, make sure to check out and ride number 7, the finest restored Shay locomotive in the country! It's an all wheel drive train with a series of complicated couplings giving power to the train to allow it to go up steep switch backs and haul logs. They're open Saturday and Sunday. www.hesston.org

Posted by: southsider2k7 Jul 18 2008, 07:38 AM

One of my favorites is Bailey Homestead during one of their fests... The Harvest Fest and when they tap the Maple Trees to make maple syrup are the best.

Posted by: Michelle Aug 3 2008, 09:47 AM

http://www.shadyhillspeedway.com/ trip report--Medaryville, IN

This is the first area track I've visited, so I don't know how it stacks up against Illiana or Plymouth. I've passed Shadyhill's sign several times, though, so I thought I'd head down there last night for some Saturday night racing.

Ooh, it was five hours of some good racing! Lots of fun and lots of action. Racing started at 6 pm Central with qualifying heats for a couple of hours. There was a bit of a break to get the track in the right condition, and then five feature races of 20-30 laps. Loud, crowded, and fast. Pretty good amount of side-by-side racing. There were a few newbies just making laps, but also a few guys who pulled off passes straight out of the pro playbook.

It's a 1/4 mile clay oval, some banking. It's out in the middle of nowhere, like it's from Field of Dreams. Just cornfields for miles. They had a big crowd, so everyone in the area must go. Not much else to do there, really. They ran street cars, a couple different kinds of modifieds, and minis.

$10 general admission, $2 for kids (can't remember if this is under 10 or under 12), free for under 4. Pit passes available for more money, but meh, I don't know these drivers. The crowd was friendly, and there were a lot of kids running around. No playground, but some open grassy areas to play. They had a nickel hunt for the little kids during the break for track cleanup. So feel free to bring the family.

Lots of parking, no problem getting in and out of the park. Reasonable concession prices, pretty good selection. Bathrooms were clean and in better shape than I was expecting. Seating is either bleachers or a tiered section for lawn chairs.

I'll go back again.

Posted by: Dave Aug 3 2008, 03:33 PM

Hmmm... Shadyhill might be worth a roadtrip on September 13th for the figure 8 trailer race....