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A run to the borders
Hey, we're no Jamaica, but Indiana has some worthwhile spring vacation destinations.
Hear her roar: Reporter Meghan McCormick celebrates after reaching the top of Mt. Baldy, the largest moving sand dune in the nation. -- Michelle Pemberton / INtake
Friend of Bill Monroe
James Peva, a retired colonel with the Indiana State Police Department and an Associate Professor Emeritus at Indiana University, was at Bill Monroe's concerts even before the inaugural Bean Blossom Bluegrass Festival.
In 1961, Peva brought his family to Bean Blossom to see Monroe and his Blue Grass Boys band perform.
"They came out on stage and played a song that was their theme at the time called 'Watermelon Hangin' on the Vine,' " Peva said. "Something about the music just grabbed me. It made the hair stand up on the back of my neck."
Today, Peva is working on a Bill Monroe book and getting Monroe's image on a commemorative U.S. postal stamp.
Outlet mall shopping tips
If you're going to hit Lighthouse Place or Edinburgh Premium Outlets during your vacation, here are a few shopping tips, courtesy of Flo Fulton, senior account executive with Nike Communications, which represents Premium Outlets.
Consider yourself a VIP. In addition to announcing sales, the company's Web site, www.premiumoutlets.com, features a special VIP Shopper Club. Sign up and you'll receive a voucher for a VIP coupon book that could save you hundreds once you hit the stores.
Shop during the week. Doing so can eliminate any bothersome waiting in line. If you must shop on the weekend, try going early, from 10 a.m. to noon, or late in the day, 6 to 9 p.m., when it's less crowded.
Buy what you love now. Outlet merchandise sells quickly. Unlike most retail stores, there's no guarantee that an outlet item will be restocked once it's gone.
Use it or lose it. Are you a AAA member? Show your card and get a free VIP Coupon Book. Shoppers age 50 and older also save an additional 10 percent at participating stores.
Know your prices. Knowing which items from your favorite store are from the current season and seasons past can help you to determine the type of deal you're getting.
For most 20- and 30-somethings, spring break is but a distant memory.
Today, spring break sounds more like "spring broke."
But if you're strapped for cash or simply refuse to spend a lot of it, you're still in luck.
We devised a spring break guide that won't delete your 401K.
And you can stay right here in Indiana.
Yes, Indiana.
From places to learn, play, dine and shop, Indiana has much more going for it than one might think.
Northern Indiana
RV/MH Heritage Foundation
"That there's an RV, Clark."
Randy Quaid knew what he was talking about in "National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation," and employees as well as guests, antiques collectors and RV fanatics at the RV/MH Hall of Fame museum in Elkhart can relate.
But the 15,000-square-foot museum doesn't hold just one stellar RV. Instead, it features dozens of them.
Founded in 1993, the showroom unveils recreational vehicles and motor homes of all shapes, sizes and years in faux-natural surroundings. Picture it: green carpet dotted with fake trees and flowers, patio tables and lawn chairs and approximately 27 Winnebago, Airstream, Kozy Kamp and Kumfort models (and more) from the 1930s through the '60s.
Now that's some serious kitsch. And we're sure this museum won't show up in any of your co-workers' "What I did for spring break" essays.
Do something different this spring by taking in the 1913 Earl travel trailer, believed to be the world's oldest non-tent travel trailer, and the 1954 Spartan Imperial Mansion, built by American industrialist J. Paul Getty.
And if you're seriously into your history, hit the library for all the juicy details on the ghosts of recreational vehicles past.
When you're done with all that streamlined sexiness, head south to the intersection of Benham and Lusher avenues for a little penguin with your pork.
Penguin Point
Before Wabash welcomed McDonald's, it had Penguin Point.
Started in 1950 as a drive-in, Penguin Point now boasts 14 fast-food locations, and loyal patrons love the burgers, fries, tenderloin sandwiches, cherry turnovers and shakes.
The friendly staff serves up chicken strips, crinkle-cut french fries and medium lemonades ($5.60, including tax) with smiles, and the Penguin gets big points for frying with 100 percent canola oil, which contains no trans fat.
A card on a table sums up the staff's stance at the Penguin: "We fry healthy because we care."
And for dessert . . .
South Bend Chocolate Company
Indulge, friend, in some sweet chocolate.
The South Bend Chocolate Company has locations on Monument Circle, in Carmel and at the Greenwood Park and Castleton Square malls.
But to fully experience the fine art of chocolate making and eating, you need to visit the company's headquarters, a brick building where the factory and museum offer guests a chance to see chocolate-concocting in action.
Visitors have two tour options: the basic factory tour, which is a free 20-minute affair, or a 45-minute "Inside Scoop" tour, which costs $4 per person.
Both tours give an insider's look at how chocolate is made, but the "Inside Scoop" is "very deluxe," said Brenda Fack, a South Bend Chocolate employee.
In addition to the regular tour, participants get to make their own chocolate-covered spoons, watch a short film and tour the company's chocolate museum. They also receive take-home goodies, Fack said.
And then there's the outlet store.
Here chocolate that's "almost perfect" (aesthetically flawed in some minor way) is on sale beside "perfect" turtles, double-dipped peanuts and more.
Once you've taken in too many calories by way of chocolate, find a way to work out . . . your credit card.
Lighthouse Place Premium Outlets
There's no denying that everyone loves a good deal.
And Lighthouse Place Premium Outlets in Michigan City has a lot of them.
The shopping center features more than 100 stores, many of which Indy has, like Crate & Barrel, Gap, J.Crew, Coach and Nine West.
But several more shops (particularly designer stores) not available in the Circle City sell the good stuff at Lighthouse, like BCBG Max Azria, Burberry, Calvin Klein and Polo Ralph Lauren.
And the biggest difference between these shops and Indy's offerings?
The bargains.
"Today we are dealing with educated shoppers who want it all," said Michele Rothstein, vice president of marketing at Chelsea Property Group Inc., which owns and operates 26 outlet centers, including Lighthouse Place. "They are looking for designer brands at great savings. Lighthouse Place Premium Outlets offers them exactly that."
Outlet malls can be a shopper's paradise, provided you know the rules.
And visitors can expect to save anywhere from 25 to 65 percent.
Indiana Dunes
Spring break without a beach, well, isn't spring break.
So here's what the Hoosier state has to offer: The Indiana Dunes.
While March temperatures along Lake Michigan won't rival those near the Gulf of Mexico, you'll still find a lovely, sandy shoreline. This winter's temperatures have been unseasonably warm, and early March temperatures are expected to be slightly above normal.
Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore, as it's more formally known, which lies near Michigan City and about 50 miles southeast of Chicago, spans 25 miles of Lake, LaPorte and Porter counties.
Besides the beaches and dunes, visitors also can find thousands of acres of woodland forests and wetlands teeming with numerous species of plants and animals.
Bicycles, hiking and walking are permitted on the main roads and most hiking trails, and if you head for the dunes, be sure to check out Mt. Baldy, one of the park's two designated "climbing dunes."
Called "baldy" because of its steadily eroding inland, the massive dune is steep, but if you reach the summit, you'll be awestruck by the sights: miles of beach, and on a clear day, the Chicago skyline.
Side trips to Northern Indiana
Sherrill's Restaurant
As you head north on U.S. Highway 31 (or Meridian Street, as it's known to city folk), you'll reach Sherrill's Restaurant in Tipton.
It's the kind of roadside cafe you wish would replace all those golden arches.
Sherrill's offers home cooked breakfast items, like biscuits and gravy ($2.99) and omelets ($5.29), as well as daily lunch specials.
Fuel up your driver (coffee is $1.09 a cup) and your car here.
And, for photo opps, the restaurant bears the classic "Eat here, get gas" sign.
Where: 2045 S. U.S. Highway 31, Tipton.
When: 6 a.m. to 2 p.m. daily.
Info: (765) 675-3550.
Wolf Park
Wolf Park doesn't open for full season until May 2, but you can attend weekend tours beginning April 1.
Those interested in learning more about the park may attend a free open house between 1 and 4 p.m. March 11 or drop in that evening for the park's weekly "Howl Night" program to learn about wolves' vocalizations and, best of all, hear them howl.
Wolf Park is also offering wolf photography seminars throughout the spring season.
Where: 4012 E. 800 North, Battle Ground.
Info: (765) 567-2265, www.wolfpark.org.
Howl Night
When: 7:30 p.m. March 11.
Tickets: $7, $5 children ages 6-13, free for members and children ages 5 and younger.
Photography Seminars
When: 9:30 a.m. March 4, 18 and 25 and April 1, 15 and 22.
Tickets: $175, open to adults 18 and older.
Southern Indiana
The Bill Monroe Bluegrass Hall of Fame and Country Star Museum
Here in Bean Blossom, a tiny Brown County town, Bill Monroe, revered as the "father of bluegrass music," began the longest-running bluegrass festival in the world.
The youngest of eight children, Monroe grew up in Rosine, Kentucky, and later lived with his fiddle-playing uncle, Pendleton Vandiver (better known as "Uncle Pen"), who served as a key musical influence on Monroe.
After moving to northern Indiana, Monroe happened upon the site where his memorial music park, hall of fame and museum now stand.
"He got to Bean Blossom and loved (it)," said Marilyn Roth, who works at the Bill Monroe Bluegrass Hall of Fame and Country Star museum.
Monroe purchased the park in 1955 and began hosting square dances and bluegrass concerts in an old barn formerly located on the property.
"It evolved into the oldest bluegrass festival in the world," Roth said.
This June marks the 40th anniversary of the eight-day festival, which will take place June 10-17.
Until then, guests can hit the museum devoted to Monroe's life, visit the replica of the cabin Monroe lived in with his Uncle Pen and check out costumes worn by other famous bluegrass artists like Jimmy Martin, Earl Scruggs and Lester Flatt, and country stars such as Johnny Cash, Dolly Parton and George Jones.
Once you've taken in all that bluegrass, stop in for some hometown eats.
Gnaw Bone Food & Fuel
Sure, it looks like one, but Gnaw Bone Food & Fuel is far from your typical service station.
Old-fashioned gas pumps, the kind that never entered the digital age, offer Marathon fuel.
Inside, you'll find a cash register, a sparse assortment of dry goods and beverages, and Beni Clevenger and his crew.
Clevenger owns the Food & Fuel, where he cooks up one of the state's most renowned pork tenderloin sandwiches.
Clevenger credits the Broaster ("broasting" combines pressure cooking and deep frying) he uses to prepare them for the attention his sandwiches have received from Gourmet Magazine, NBC's Today Show and Sen. Richard Lugar and Gov. Mitch Daniels.
And when the national media and state celebrities aren't stopping in, the plenty-big Jr. tenderloin ($3.50) or the full-size Gnaw Bone tenderloin ($5.25), served with ketchup, mustard, mayo, lettuce, tomato, onions or pickles, sate patrons' palates on a daily basis.
Schimpff's Confectionery
Schimpff's Confectionery, in Jeffersonville, is a sweet dream.
With a staggering selection of homemade and not-so-homemade (but still tasty) candy, a 1950s soda fountain and one of the country's only candy museums, the 115-year-old Schimpff's offers guests a whole lotta sugar as they step back into bygone eras.
Schimpff's, which sits just three blocks north of the Ohio River and endured the notorious Flood of 1937 (which, until Hurricane Katrina, was the largest natural disaster in American history), was founded by Gustav A. Schimpff Sr. in 1891.
Today, some of the hand-crank candy machines and vintage advertisements for the sweet stuff remains, and great-grandson Warren Schimpff, a retired chemist, and his wife, Jill, a former teacher, operate the business.
Schimpff's offers more than 100 varieties of candy, with shelf upon shelf of hard candy options and a glass case filled with handmade chocolates. The store is known for its cinnamon red hots, fish-shaped hard candies and more.
And while expounding upon Schimpff's numerous delicacies, like the English toffee (Warren's favorite) and peanut clusters with vanilla crθme centers (Jill's favorite), would be sweet, all the talk wouldn't do the shop's offerings justice.
You'll just have to see for yourself. Then, head across the street to Horner Novelty.
Horner Novelty
Just because you're breaking from your spring in Indiana doesn't mean you can't party with the best of 'em.
Enter Horner Novelty, which lays claim to being the largest party store in the world.
But things haven't always been fun and games at Horner.
The former store burnt to the ground, along with much of the historic block on which it was located, in a seven-alarm fire in January of 2004.
The rebuilt Horner Novelty reopened in 2005 in an undeniably large way. Two floors contain an impressive collection of costumes, decorations and novelties for every occasion.
Planning to host a casino night, a luau, a Star Trek-themed shindig, a bachelorette party, a Western hoedown or a bingo night? Round up your party favors at Horner.
Other finds include cardboard cutouts, ranging from President Bill Clinton to Will Ferrell's character in "Elf."
And once you've got your gear, pick up some kicks in Edinburgh.
Puma Outlet
Edinburgh Premium Outlets has a few retailers (Banana Republic, Nike) not found in Michigan City.
But the big buzz in Edinburgh surrounds the new Puma outlet.
Puma, maker of way-hip street shoes and apparel, opened in late 2005 and is the only store of its kind in the state.
Inside the store, you'll find oodles of men's and women's shoe choices, many of them from the current season, at discount prices.
The front half of the store features clothing, mostly Puma logo T-shirts and sweat suits and brightly colored accessories, including bowling bag-style handbags, sweatbands and socks.
Side trips to Southern Indiana
Marengo Cave
Besides being a cool word, spelunking (the exploration of caves) is a cool way to spend your spring break -- literally.
Marengo Cave, a U.S. National Landmark, maintains a constant temperature of 52.1 degrees.
Visitors to this family-friendly area can enjoy educational walking tours or don hard hats and explore on guided, in-depth tours of the cave.
Where: 400 Ind. 64, Marengo.
When: 9 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. weekdays, 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. weekends (spring hours).
Tickets: $12.50 to $19.75, $6.50 to $9.75 for children (guided walking tours), $22 to $33 and up (cave exploring trips).
Info: (888) 702-2837, www.marengo cave.com.
Caesars
Caesars Indiana is noted in the "Guinness Book of World Records" as the largest gaming vessel in the world.
If you get lucky on one of Caesars' more than 2,500 slot machines, you may win back your spring break budget.
Where: 11999 Avenue of Emperors, Elizabeth.
When: casino open 24 hours.
Info: (877) 237-6626, www.caesars.com.