rained out

Ahoy,

One of our premier activities was the water park. I had been so, so excited to come here it was ridiculous. The RRS was deeply concerned the build-up in my head would lead to disappointment. The day came and it was glorious. We packed a cooler and loaded up the sunscreen. It was a perfectly hot day and I got a bunch of other friends to join. I had grown up watching too much television, so the commercial for Deep River Water Park is engrained permanently in my mind, just part of the soundtrack of my childhood. And it's somewhat surprising to me that we had never been despite the egregious adverts all over the area.

We spent the morning going on all the rides and slides on one end of the park until it started to rain in the afternoon. It was a glorious downpour all of California would be entirely envious of. There was probably more water that came down that day than all the water that exists in CA right now. They eventually shut down the park and we left for the candy factory we had passed on the way to the water park. After loading up on diabetes, we left for East Chicago.




Marktown is in East Chicago, IN. It's a planned worker community built in 1917 that did not get fully completed due to the aftereffects of WWI. It's built to look like a traditional English small town. I imagine this would be what a lot of towns looked like after WWI in England because there were a ton of abandoned, dilapidated buildings. It has a small footprint compared the the acres of BP that surround the community. There's something spooky and touching about a place like this. I felt like I had to tread softly as I stepped into a pocket of history that was forgotten or is oft overlooked. I had a sense of wonder about how out of place this piece of land is. I suggest a visit if you're ever in that direction. It's certainly fascinating.

We returned to Chicago and ended up attending an event in my increasingly hipster-fying neighborhood. Maria's was having a birthday party of sorts and had beer, sausages, and live entertainment on hand. Another community favorite of mine is the Italian ice from Freddie's. I did not care for Italian ice until Freddie's and I still don't care for anyone else's except Freddie's.

simply splashtastic,
jt