We decided to mix it up a bit today and do a variety of things on a single date.  Our goal was a combination of antiquing, a picnic and a visit to a ghost town.  Armed with picnic supplies and a nice bottle of wine, we headed off down US 41 in search of adventure.

Antiquing

Our first stop was Cedar Lake Resale and Antiques.  This unexpectedly large store was clean, well-organized and staffed by a friendly lady.  We got a great deal on some items for our church’s Karing Kitchen and enjoyed browsing around.

Our next stop was Tish’s Antiques in downtown Lowell.  This two-story, 4,000 square foot building is filled to the brim with every style from Art Deco to Mission to Victorian.  They have furniture, art, linens and miscellaneous bric-a-brac galore.  We especially enjoyed going through the large collection of nautical navigation maps of the Great Lakes and other bodies of water.  We were hoping to find one for our area of Lake Michigan, but sadly did not.

From Tish’s, we headed to Spring Run Farm on the outskirts of Lowell.  We were expecting to find another antiques store, but found a combination gift / craft / home décor shop.  The owner must be a huge Halloween fan as the entire store was decked out with items (for sale of course) featuring the spooky theme.  We purchased an overpriced faux-French container for our kitchen and headed to our final shopping destination, Old Farm House Antiques in Hebron.  This store is an entire four-story farmhouse.  It’s not only packed with loads of nice pieces, but the house itself is a treasure.  The wood floors and stained-glass windows and doors were as fun to look at as the antiques.  We got to meet one of the owners and had an interesting conversation about the house and its history.  It’s definitely worth a visit.

After several grueling hours of shopping, it was finally time to eat!  Before we left home, we packed a picnic lunch not realizing it was going to be 95 degrees outside today.  Nonetheless, we were determined to find a cool spot to relax and enjoy our picnic basket.  We drove aimlessly for a while, until we saw a sign for Buckley Homestead.  Figuring this was as good as it was going to get, we headed over.

Buckley Homestead

Buckley Homestead, is a living history museum where visitors learn about farming in the 19^th and early 20^th centuries.  The homestead features a museum, school house, log cabin and huge barn.  Unfortunately, none of these are open during on weekdays in September!  We did, however, find a small shaded-shelter for our picnic.  We may have been in the shade, but the heat and the wind wouldn’t let up.  A cold bottle of white wine and an open restroom made things just tolerable as we plotted our next move.

Conrad Station

Our final stop was Conrad Station, a long deserted town, and now semi-restored savanna, just south of Lake Village Indiana.  We parked around 2pm and set off on the 2-mile trail that winds through the 800+ acre savanna.  We immediately noticed that the trail was overgrown and little used.  That didn’t bother us, so we pressed on, only to be assaulted by bugs, cobwebs and the oppressing heat.  About 10 minutes into our hike, Tom was scared witless when a giant spider appeared dangling from his hat – right in front of his eyes!  Flicking his hat off his head like a scared little girl, Tom chased the spider away and we resumed our hike.

Another five minutes down the trail we found the remains of Conrad.  A quick history lesson taught us the town was established in 1908 as a place for nearby resident and rancher, Jennie Conrad, to ship livestock via rail to Chicago.  At its peak, the town boasted a train depot, 18-room hotel, post office, general store and blacksmith shop.  The population of almost 100 catered to local ranchers as well as people who came from Chicago to conduct business in the Conrad area.

Today, there is a sign marking the site of the town and the location of its primary structures.  If you wander around a little you will come across old foundations, cement blocks and even an intact set of steps.  The sign and map are on the east side of the train tracks, but make sure you explore the west side as well.  We didn’t realize that half the town was located west of the tracks and thus missed that entire area.  truth be told, we only spent about 10 minutes exploring the old town as the heat and bugs (and maybe the wine) were getting to us.

The rest of the trail, which is maintained by The Nature Conservatory, meanders through trees, grasses and sedges and would be a very nice place to spend a day when it is not a billion degrees outside.  We debated turning around but again pressed on for some reason.  We continued slashing our way through the cobwebs blocking the trail, only stopping to read the next sign which describes how The Nature Conservancy manages the savanna at Conrad Station as well as the unique plants and animals that live there.  We saw a few birds and a couple of squirrels, but none of the snakes or lizards that appear on the parks brochure.

Arriving back at the car, we brushed the twigs, brambles and cobwebs from ourselves, like two monkeys cleaning each other at the zoo.  Once we were as clean as were we going to get, we jumped into the air-conditioned comfort of our car and got ready to head home to a nice shower.  It was then when we realized that Tom was missing his sunglasses.  We mentally retraced our steps and realized the sunglasses were on his hat when the spider paid him a visit.  Flicking the hat to dislodge the spider must have also flung the sunglasses into the woods.

Tom’s Story

Once we figured out what happened to my sunglasses, I decided to head back down the path to see if I could find them, while Theresa held down the fort at the car.  Half running, half walking, down the path I found the location where I was sure the spider had unabashedly attacked me.  I expected to find the beast wearing my Ray-Bans and mocking me from the side of the trail, but luck was not on my side.  I decided to continue walking a little more in case I was in the wrong spot.  Soon enough, I came to the site of the town again.  As I turned to head back to the car, I heard the sound of a freight train very close to me and turned to see if I could spot it.  The grass was too high and the foliage too dense for me to see the tracks, but I definitely could hear the train.  I got back to the car and told Theresa about my failed effort to find the sunglasses and about hearing the train.  About that time, we were approaching where the railroad tracks crossed the road.  It was then that we realized the train tracks were no longer in use and the road had been built right over them.  When we got home. a quick search on google maps revealed that there are no usable train tracks anywhere near Conrad Station!  I am still a little spooked about what I heard.

It was a good, if tiring day.  The unexpected heat took a lot out of us and we were happy to get home.  Once the weather gets a little cooler, we will head back to Conrad Station to see if we can find the sunglasses.  Until then, we’ve got lots of other places to visit.