Tuesday, February 5

Some Of My Favorite Things



The old lighthouse on Lake Michigan in my hometown. That is the city of Chicago sticking up across the lake. On a clear day, you can see Gary and Chicago.

Michigan City is a small town that borders on Lake Michigan, one of the Great Lakes. We have our own zoo and didn’t have a Mall until one was built. It was wonderful growing up there and I think about doing so with great fondness.

When I think about those days there are so many, one of a kind memories I got to experience while growing up Hoosier. I thought I’d share some of them with you.

1. Eating breakfast at Brownies Restaurant after church, filled with people who had been at Sunday services.

2. The view from our largest sand dune, Mount Baldy.

3. Summer concerts at the old band shell.

4. Going to the Moose Lodge for parties and functions with my family.

5. Riding the South Shore (electric train) to Chicago and back.

6. Franklin Street, (our main drag) filled with honking cars after the 1966 state basketball championship.

7. Seeing Santa at his little house that would magically appear at Christmas on the corner of 7th and Franklin street.

8. Watching men make railroad cars at Pullman Steel.

9. Going fishing at the crack of dawn on the pier by the lighthouse.

10. Walking along Lake Michigan searching for beautiful pieces of driftwood and other treasures that washed up on the shore.

11. Riding with my friends up and down the main drag after we all got our drivers license.

12. Going to the bakery for fresh Bear Claws.

13. Driving along the lake on Lakeshore Drive looking at all the beautiful homes and mansions on the lake.

14. Going to ‘sock hops’ at school and the YMCA.

15. Watching my dad wrestle at the Armory, state fairs, and Ames Field.

16. Ice skating and bobsledding in the Winter.

17. Going to Scholl’s Dairy for the best ice cream ever.

18. Horseback riding at the stables in Beverly Shores.

19. Ordering cherry cokes and fries at Woolworth's fountain.

20. Buying 45 records at Harvey’s Dime Store.

21. Going to the beach and swimming in Lake Michigan.

22. Going to the A & W on the way to the beach for hot dogs and root beer.

23. Penny candy and I have the fillings to prove it.

24. Standing outside at McDonald’s and buying 25 cent hamburgers.

25. Christmas decorations on Franklin Street.

26. The balcony at the Tivoli Theater.

27. The smell of the Smith Brothers cough drop factory.

28. Fish fries with fresh water perch (the best food ever) at M&M’s restaurant.

29. Three feet of snow in 1958.

30. Walking out to the lighthouse.

31. Climbing all the way up to the top of the observation tower by the zoo.

32. Going to the Washington Park Zoo to see Monkey Island.

33. Riding the bumper cars at Washington Park.

34. Going to the old amusement park on the beach by Lake Michigan.

35. Going to the lake to get a free truck full of sand for our sandbox.

36. Walking to school and back home every day all by ourselves.

37. Going to movies at the 212 outdoor theater.

38. Catching lightning bugs on warm summer nights.

37. Sunrises and sunsets on Lake Michigan.

Just a few of my favorite things about my home town.


Mount Baldy the biggest sand dune now a park.


The Armory where my father wrestled.


Carlson's Drive-in, the only one left now.


The lighthouse in winter.


Our Mall (we only had one) where we hung out and my mom taught me to drive in the parking lot when it was closed on Sundays.

I enjoyed growing up here and if I could make time stand still I would have done it before all the little changes that forever make our lives different. This place as I remember it is just a memory.

Keep On Bloggin’!

10 comments:

  1. jervaise brooke hamster2/6/13, 1:13 PM

    I really enjoyed reading those memories Bekkie. For me, the one that conjured up the most amount of magic in my mind was "three feet of snow in 1958", that must`ve been such a beautiful winter wonderland.

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    1. Thank you very much JBH, it always gives me warm fuzzy memories to go down memory lane. From what I heard from my parents it was quite the winter, the one that made the history books. And they talk about strange weather now huh? LOL! We get "lake effect snow" in Michigan City so we always get a lot of snow each season.

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  2. steve prefontaine2/6/13, 1:23 PM

    Bekkie that picture of the Chicago skyline against the red sky is quite stunning, were you living where you`re living now in the summer of 1987 ?, someone very special was making a movie in Chicago for nine weeks from mid-April till late June that year, i was thinking maybe you were enjoying that same veiw when she was there filming, that would`ve been so magical.

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    1. Alas Steve I was in Foster City, CA in 1987. Still, I spent plenty of time in Chicago and love that city. In high school me and my under-age buddies would skip school and take the South Shore (the electric train) to Chicago, spend the day there shop-lifting 45 Beatles records and come back home. Our parent's were never the wiser for it. I was quite the little juvenile delinquent back then. I'll have to tell some tales about it in future blogs.

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  3. eddie lydecker2/6/13, 1:41 PM

    Bekkie, i`ve never tasted fresh water perch, did you really girl it when you said its "the best food ever" ?. By the way Bekkie, in the previous sentence i had to change the word "mean" to the word "girl" because the word "mean" is like a nauseating cross between the word "man" and the word "men" which doesn`t do my murderous homo-phobia any favours obviously, like i said Bekkie i just thought i`d explain that. For someone as muderously homo-phobic as me the words "man" and "men" ALWAYS have to be replaced with the word "girl" ! ! !. Now Bekkie, back to the fresh water perch, is it really as good as you said ?.

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    1. ROTFLMAO! I'll say it in one word. MEN. Tee hee! Fresh water perch is the food of the Gods, especially from Lake Michigan. It's impossible to get in other states unless you know someone who knows someone. Last time I had it was in the 1990's. My father was murdered and I was there to pick up the pieces and bury him but I consoled myself with all the fresh water perch I could eat. They are small fish but good ole' M&M's had a great deal going then, all the perch you could eat. Wonderful!

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  4. JBH rather cheekily impersonating Bekkie Sanchez2/6/13, 1:54 PM

    Eddie, i just literally fell off my chair laughing when i realised that you`d have to write "the first amendment" as "the first a-girl-d-girl-t" and "management" as "girl-age-girl-t", ha..ha..ha..ho..ho..ho. Now i think its time for me to step aside and allow THE REAL Bekkie Sanchez to tell you all about the joys of fresh water perch, Bekkie, over to you little darlin`.

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    1. Alright JBH, that was hysterically funny! And yes, fresh water perch is amazing! Thanks for stopping by the both of you and giving me a good laugh. You guys are very clever creatures.

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  5. jervaise brooke hamster2/7/13, 12:07 PM

    Its great to know that i provided you with some laughter Bekkie because i do actually see myself as a bit of a comic genius.

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    1. Yes I do think you are really funny! Stop by and make me laugh anytime. Laughter is the best medicine, next to drugs. Tee hee! Tomorrow's Friday again and I'm glad.

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Bekkie's Wonderland has been around for decades now, it used to be at MySpace until I moved it to Blogger. I've covered a plethora of subjects but due to its longevity and changes in the internet it's age is showing (as is mine.) I hope you will enjoy as I gently bring it up to date moving towards the uncertain future.