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Things to See Around Rensselaer, IN
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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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