I have been breathing the fresh air of the Northerly winds that traverse the sand dunes of Miller Beach Indiana, the most Southern most point of the Great Lake Michigan since the mid 60’s.

My Aunt, Uncle and two cousins lived there and when my parents brought me here it truly was a remarkable and wonderful place where dune grass and trails marked the path around the lagoons, waterways and marshlands.

My cousins and I would spend the days running up and down the dunes till we were completely exhausted, sunburned and dry from the heat.

Now I’ve returned to dunes in 2026 and the views are still dramatic of the now Indiana Dunes National Park Area up and down the beach and across the lake to Chicago.

The industrial steel mills sandwich the dunes to the East and West and provide a rather unappealing backdrop that are remarkably overlooked once the true beauty of the dunes can be seen.

The summertime sand and water is almost unbelievably warm, comforting, soothing and refreshing all at once. The shallow beach allows for bathers to walkout quite far from the shore without fear of sharks, urchins or the sting of salt. On their sunburned bodies.

A once bustling and happening area for artists, weekenders and relaxers due in part to remarkable tourist posters, Miller Beach was and remains accessible via the South Shore South Bend Railway from Chicago to its end of the line South Bend International Airport.

Today the arts and artists are returning to this still vibrant and alive in this wide open secret. Delightful coffee shops, bicycle rentals, ice cream and pizza parlors, breweries and even divey taverns Hemingway himself would’ve enjoyed dot the Lake street corridor from the train station to the beach.

Every Saturday morning i do my best to take some personal time to relish the still fresh air, scenic views of the dunes with its local fauna, the now paved hiking and bicycle trails, the soothing, calming sound of nature.

Selfishly taking that time, yet sharing it openly with anyone or anything else that also feeds off the exquisiteness of this piece of overlooked beauty.

However you can get here, however long you can stay, make the effort and you most certainly will not be disappointed.