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Things to See Around Rensselaer, IN (1)
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Rensselaer, Indiana is not in an area noted for
tourism. Yet in the area around Rensselaer are a number of sites and
activities that are fun, educational, or both. Included on this list
are ten possibilities, and each of the possibilities has at least one
alternative. If you live in the Rensselaer area or are just visiting, I
hope you will find the list useful.
1. See Cranes at the Jasper-Pulaski Reserve
In Indiana the reason for establishing game reserves was
to provide places where people could hunt animals, not to protect the
animals. One of these reserves, the Jasper-Pulaski Reserve is
about 20 miles northeast of Rensselaer. Every fall large migrations of
sandhill cranes stop over at the reserve, and not being game animals,
they are left alone. There are few if any places in the U.S. where you
can see larger groups of these impressive birds.
An Alternative: Visit the Lakeshore. Though it
is officially a National Lakeshore, Indiana
Dunes is in reality the best National Park in the Midwest. In
terms of size, variety of wildlife, and number of ranger-led programs,
it surpasses many of the smaller National Parks and it is run by the
same people, the National Park Service. It has miles of lakefront
beaches and hiking all the trails would take days. Yet next to the
wilderness are some of the largest industrial plants in the U.S. It is
a wonderful place.
2. Tour a Dairy Farm
Ten miles northwest of Rensselaer there are several huge
dairy farms where over 25,000 cows live in cow contentment. The dairy
industry has located a dairy museum near them at
the new Indiana 14 exit on Interstate 65. Visitors can see the exhibits
and then take a tour of a large, modern dairy that is fun for all ages.
(There is an entry charge and also a gift shop in which one can buy
cheese and ice cream made on the site.)
An Alternative: Pick Blueberries. Rensselaer is
in one of the most productive agricultural regions of the United
States, but other than looking at corn and soybean fields, there is not
a lot to see. There are large pork and egg producers nearby, but they
do not offer tours. However, if you are in the area during late July
and early August, you can go to several farms around Demotte and pick
blueberries. There is nothing like eating a gallon of fresh
blueberries, and it is quite an adventure to pick
them yourself.
For a very different kind of farm, you can drive through a wind farm
in Benton County. Just go to the little town of Earl Park, which is
about 25 miles southeast of Renssleaer.
3. Ride Amtrak to Chicago
Prior to the WWII, the train was the major way that
people got from one place to another in America. Now there is only
Amtrak, a tiny remnant of the old system, and because it bleeds money,
it is always in the crosshairs of budget cutters. So make sure you ride
it while it is still here. You can get on an Amtrak train going to
Chicago in the morning (reservations are needed but can
be made on the internet) and come back in the evening. It is relatively
cheap.
An Alternative: Check out the Canal. Before the
passenger train, there were canals. The Wabash and Erie Canal was over
400 miles long and linked Toledo, Ohio with Evansville, Indiana,
Construction began in the 1830s, traffic reached its peak in the 1850s,
and the whole thing was abandoned in the 1870s. It was supposed to pay
for itself in tolls, but never came close, and it was made obsolete by
the railroad. However, some of the folks at Delphi,
Indiana have worked very hard to recreate a tiny section of
this mostly-forgotten and largely invisible canal and a visit to their
canal interpretive center will tell you all about this bit of
Indiana history. In addition, Delphi has established an impressive
system of trails along the route of the old canal.
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