February 2, 1992. 28 years ago yesterday. Drew and I went on our first official date together. We had met over a year before that. For those who don't know, Drew was the overnight Disc Jockey on Oldies 101.7 in Fort Wayne when I was in college right out of high school. Every night while doing homework, I listened to Brian Andrews. I fell in love with the voice on the other end of the radio. It was soothing and comforting. In the fall of 1989, I went across town to St. Francis College (now University of Saint Francis) to see them play a basketball game against Bethel College so I could see some friends. Little did I know, someone I had grown up with went to St. Francis and we met up at the basketball game. Through her, I made a new friend who was dating a guy named Drew. Nearly a year later, she and I planned a double date with our boyfriends. Little did I know, her Drew was actually my Brian Andrews (Drew Wohlford just didn't have a good flow for the radio.) He and I both broke up with our people soon after but never told the other...until February 1, 1992 when I called him (as I did most nights). We went on our first date the next evening - Sunday evening service at First Missionary Church followed by dinner at McDonald's. From that day on, we were pretty inseparable. OK, now you're update on our sweet little story. Now for the adventuring part of what we were celebrating.
We intended to go to Michigan City, Indiana to see if the Chicago skyline was visible across the Lake. However, my husband discovered that if we drove just a bit farther, we could find
Buffington Harbor Breakwater Light. He put the address in his GPS and we headed off. We drove on US 20, SR 2 and even I94. Then his GPS directed us down this little back road that led to a muddy gravel road almost 3 cars wide. It was a very sketchy road, but Siri assured us that this was the way to this lighthouse. We kept following the road around until we got to a very large steel mill at the edge of the harbor. We thought it best to not trespass, so followed the sketchy road back to where we could see the lighthouse from the road. After Drew took a few pictures, we were off. He had read that there was a place called Miller Beach in Gary. So, we decided we'd check it out while we were in town. He put the information into his phone and GPS sent us on our way. Before too long, we found it - Miller Beach - a small neighborhood in Gary, formerly known as "The Town of Miller" that sits a couple miles away from Lake Michigan.
But, my wonderful navigator found another spot to check out and we headed a couple miles to
Marquette Park Beach. Wow! What a lovely beach with lots of access to the lake. We had a great view of the Chicago skyline across the lake, I got my toes in the water and met a sweet little 18-month-old named Grace. She even had to make sure I saw her shoes. After taking some photos, we headed back on the road. Since we already saw Chicago from Gary and wanted to go to Saint Joseph, we decided a stop in Michigan City wasn't necessary. So, we got back on I-94 and headed north.
We went to Silver Beach to watch the sunset. What a beautiful one it was! We had planned to go to
Henry's Hamburgers for dinner, but they closed early. So, we headed back to Saint Joseph to get dinner at
The Buck. But they closed early, too. So, we figured the third time was a charm and went back to Benton Harbor for dinner at
Texas Corral. I think we both would agree that it was worth the wait even if it wasn't where we intended to eat. The food was delicious, the service was great, and the man across the table from me was amazing. But once again, GPS made us think Drew's Siri was trying to get us killed. It took us through a very dark parking lot of
Orchards Mall (the parking lot was so dark, I honestly figured the mall was no longer in business). It was a very creepy parking lot and I wasn't sure how it was going to turn out. Perhaps I watch too much NCIS and Criminal Minds.
We went around the corner to
Biggby Coffee to get coffee and iced tea for the drive home. We were out quite a bit later than planned. We traveled further than planned. We laughed more than expected. We made more memories than we can count. At one point, we discussed the fact that we never started adventuring until a few years ago. I'm not sure why we went 24 years without adventuring, why we were always so predictable. However, now that we've started, I don't ever want to stop, to become the old stick-in-the-mud-boring-predictable people we once were. May we never lose our sense of adventure and spontaneity.
February 2, 1992. 28 years ago yesterday. Drew and I went on our first official date together. We had met over a year before that. For those who don't know, Drew was the overnight Disc Jockey on Oldies 101.7 in Fort Wayne when I was in college right out of high school. Every night while doing homework, I listened to Brian Andrews. I fell in love with the voice on the other end of the radio. It was soothing and comforting. In the fall of 1989, I went across town to St. Francis College (now University of Saint Francis) to see them play a basketball game against Bethel College so I could see some friends. Little did I know, someone I had grown up with went to St. Francis and we met up at the basketball game. Through her, I made a new friend who was dating a guy named Drew. Nearly a year later, she and I planned a double date with our boyfriends. Little did I know, her Drew was actually my Brian Andrews (Drew Wohlford just didn't have a good flow for the radio.) He and I both broke up with our people soon after but never told the other...until February 1, 1992 when I called him (as I did most nights). We went on our first date the next evening - Sunday evening service at First Missionary Church followed by dinner at McDonald's. From that day on, we were pretty inseparable. OK, now you're update on our sweet little story. Now for the adventuring part of what we were celebrating.
We intended to go to Michigan City, Indiana to see if the Chicago skyline was visible across the Lake. However, my husband discovered that if we drove just a bit farther, we could find Buffington Harbor Breakwater Light. He put the address in his GPS and we headed off. We drove on US 20, SR 2 and even I94. Then his GPS directed us down this little back road that led to a muddy gravel road almost 3 cars wide. It was a very sketchy road, but Siri assured us that this was the way to this lighthouse. We kept following the road around until we got to a very large steel mill at the edge of the harbor. We thought it best to not trespass, so followed the sketchy road back to where we could see the lighthouse from the road. After Drew took a few pictures, we were off. He had read that there was a place called Miller Beach in Gary. So, we decided we'd check it out while we were in town. He put the information into his phone and GPS sent us on our way. Before too long, we found it - Miller Beach - a small neighborhood in Gary, formerly known as "The Town of Miller" that sits a couple miles away from Lake Michigan.
But, my wonderful navigator found another spot to check out and we headed a couple miles to Marquette Park Beach. Wow! What a lovely beach with lots of access to the lake. We had a great view of the Chicago skyline across the lake, I got my toes in the water and met a sweet little 18-month-old named Grace. She even had to make sure I saw her shoes. After taking some photos, we headed back on the road. Since we already saw Chicago from Gary and wanted to go to Saint Joseph, we decided a stop in Michigan City wasn't necessary. So, we got back on I-94 and headed north.
We went to Silver Beach to watch the sunset. What a beautiful one it was! We had planned to go to Henry's Hamburgers for dinner, but they closed early. So, we headed back to Saint Joseph to get dinner at The Buck. But they closed early, too. So, we figured the third time was a charm and went back to Benton Harbor for dinner at Texas Corral. I think we both would agree that it was worth the wait even if it wasn't where we intended to eat. The food was delicious, the service was great, and the man across the table from me was amazing. But once again, GPS made us think Drew's Siri was trying to get us killed. It took us through a very dark parking lot of Orchards Mall (the parking lot was so dark, I honestly figured the mall was no longer in business). It was a very creepy parking lot and I wasn't sure how it was going to turn out. Perhaps I watch too much NCIS and Criminal Minds.
We went around the corner to Biggby Coffee to get coffee and iced tea for the drive home. We were out quite a bit later than planned. We traveled further than planned. We laughed more than expected. We made more memories than we can count. At one point, we discussed the fact that we never started adventuring until a few years ago. I'm not sure why we went 24 years without adventuring, why we were always so predictable. However, now that we've started, I don't ever want to stop, to become the old stick-in-the-mud-boring-predictable people we once were. May we never lose our sense of adventure and spontaneity.
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