South Bend, IN

Just home from a dinner at Yoshi's, and almost time for bed. Gosh, we've had a wonderfully full, relaxing, accomplished, lazy weekend - if that makes sense. I think I napped for a good hour this afternoon, for example. On the other hand, I managed to deal with 7 loads of laundry on Friday night before going out for dinner. A little of everything. It's been good.

Before bed, then, let me post a bit to the blog, and - jumping all around in time - go back to last weekend's Michiana adventure.

After a morning in Niles, visiting Darth and Heidi, Conrad and I turned our attention south across the border, wandering into South Bend to see what the fabled city was like. Home of the University of Notre Dame (lovely campus, we did drive through it), it's a city that should have fallen on hard times like many other modest-sized Midwest and Rust Belt communities. The university, doubtless, helps keep it going. As a result, there is a life and energy to the city, and some handsome and interesting efforts at restoring and reclaiming its past.

South Bend straddles the St. Joseph River, and has done some nifty things with the old mill races on each side. On the west there appears to be a substantial fine arts museum with some landscaping incorporating remnants of the race. We didn't venture that way. On the east, though, the race has been converted to a whitewater course for kayakers amid paths and park.


Nicely done. We walked a short ways on that side, watching a few kayakers attempt the course.

After that, it was on to lunch. Not really blogworthy, though not bad. What was nice, though - aside from the big outdoor arts fair that was drawing quite a number of people - was the Morris Performing Arts Centre around the corner - lovely building with some gorgeous terra cotta detail. We peered inside, and were struck by the beauty of the interior, too.

All too often I think we in Chicago disparage the "small towns" (as if hundreds of thousands only constituted small!) around us, downstate and in neighbouring states. Oh, sure, I think there are ways to make South Bend more attractive. But, crucially, it seems to be surviving and thriving and doing what it can. Nice to visit, in fact, and I, for one, am rather glad I did.