Beach-Bumming in the Mid-West

There’s many things you expect to see and do when you get to the wide Mid-West. More corn is grown here than anywhere else in the world, cattle graze the open fields and a quick “hello” to a stranger usually opens up into a half-hour chat and ends with “you nice folks all come on back now and visit again” . The weather is temperamental ranging from below-freezing in winter to hot, humid and buggy in summer. In fact, bugs are such a regular part of life that the local weather channel has a daily “mosquito rating” right next to the high and low temps, quite a thing for a blood-sucking magnet such as myself.

All these things you expect, but then as with all places, there’s the little jewels that surprise you. The Mid-West as it turns out, is abundant in lakes. There’s of course the big 3 (The Great Lakes), but also thousands of smaller gems thanks to several major water-ways that snake their way across the central states. This not only spawns sailing enthusiasts, but also brings out kayakers, canoers and beach-lovers. And the beauty of it is, you’re more than likely to have the place to yourself. So, we’ve been bumming it on the beach in Rend Lake IL, relaxing on the shores of Lake Glendale IL and are about to head off and drink our next sundowner by Kentucky Lake. It’s the Mediterranean of middle-America, and with luxury like this, I reckon we might well be back.