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Wander Indiana Courtesy of Indiana Dunes…and Me!

July 10, 2012 - By 

Congratulations Terri DeWulf!!  YOU are the winner of the trip!!!
I am SO excited to share my latest giveaway with you all! I just love giving things to my friends and what better to share than a weekend trip with dinner, lodging and entertainment! I am excited for YOU!

Recently my family and I had the pleasure of visiting The Indiana Dunes area near Chesterton, Indiana.  It was a dream trip. No shopping, no tourist traps, just fun in the sun and playing on the beautiful beaches of Lake Michigan.  Read more about our trip, and where YOU can go too HERE.

In partnership with the Indiana Dunes Visitors Center I am giving the following ‘Family Getaway’ package to one lucky reader! Entering will be simple with several ways to get your name in the hat! Please read my POST about our trip so you can see all of the pictures I took….This is where YOU will be going too ????
*One night stay for you and your family at The Inn at Aberdeen in Valparaiso, one of the best B&B’s I have ever stayed in,also has a fantastic breakfast in the morning! AND it’s included!
*1 $50 gift card for dinner at Lucrezia Cafe in Chesterton, really good food, great atmosphere!
*4 passes to TalTree Arboreum and Gardens-home of the COOLEST train garden EVER!!

5 minutes after we got there…..
After a fun day at the beach we got all dressed up for dinner out!
My son’s meaty meatballs at Lucrezia
First course of breakfast at Aberdeen
Aberdeen, simply beautiful!
One of the thematic gardens of TalTree
Trains. Too cool, this picture doesn’t do it justice!

How to enter:
Leave a comment below, you must do this for every entry separately. Do any one or all of these daily for more entries, it’s up to you! Please make sure this trip is possible in your future before you enter and please leave a contact email address in your comments so I can find you. You will have 24 hours to respond or I will have to chose someone else ????


Giveaway runs Tuesday July 10-Sunday July 15th at 9 pm EST!!
*Visit one of the websites listed (using the links in their names) and tell me one fact you got from their website. I will check too, so be original! Each comment is an entry.
*Tweet the following
” @Basilmomma is giving away a family getaway courtesy of 

@indianadunes enter HERE,PLZ/RT:  http://bit.ly/NXkdfY “   

    Each tweet with link for it is an entry.                

*Follow Indiana Dunes, Inn at Aberdeen, TalTree Arboreum or Lucrezia on Facebook, tell them Basilmomma sent you ???? Leave an individual, separate comment for each page you liked. Each ‘like’ is an entry. Visit one or all, it’s up to you!
*Bonus: if you share this on your Facebook wall, and tag me, I will give you a bonus entry! Make sure to tag   Basilmomma so I see it ????


Bottom line-each separate comment is an entry. I have just given a variety of ways to win in case you do not use social media, I want it to be fair ????

That’s it! Do any or all of these for a chance to win! Best of luck to you!


All of these opinions are my own. I was not paid to give this away but I did receive a comparable package to enjoy with my family (since you can see us there in the pictures ????

84 Comments on “Wander Indiana Courtesy of Indiana Dunes…and Me!”

  4. Heather! This is so cool!!! We take the commuter train from Chesterton into Chicago all the time and every time we go we say we want to come back to enjoy the dunes and the town and the inns - this is awesome!!! Pictures of your trip look GREAT!!!
  32. From the Dunes website...Without fire, there could be no prairie at Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore. Non-prairie plant species would crowd out native prairie grasses. These rare grasslands are maintained through periodic controlled burns.
  40. I would love to win a trip here! I live in Indiana and have been to Michigan but not the Dunes. I learned they have an annual Blueberry Social on July 11th and I would love to go to that.
  45. What a great family trip! I have fond memories of a childhood trip to Indiana Dunes, and I'm sure your boys will have the same fondness for theirs when they look back. I would love to check out the TalTree Arboretum & Gardens. My father was a HUGE railroad fan. He was one of the original WhiteWater Valley RR crew to clear the tracks for the trains from Metamora to Brookville & Connersville and was a conductor on the run from Metamora to Connersville for several years. I have an awesome picture of him kind of hanging out of the steps of a car in his conductor's black suit/hat...so a trip to TalTree would be wonderful for me. I love that the landmark was created by stacking the limestone that's native to this part of the country (my little fact :-)! Phase 1 would have been a dream for my dad. He was in love with the steam locomotives! Sorry to be so lengthy, but this stuff is near & dear...
  55. Lucrezia has one of the most unique drinks I've ever heard of, the Shroomtini "Vodka, splash of spicy pickled juice, garnished with spicy pickled mushrooms"! Although I wouldn't like it, since I don't like mushrooms! Dee [email protected] p.s. I tweeted (@asiansplenda) and did 2 FB posts (tagged you).
  62. While reading through the history of the name of Lucrezia, she was pronounced as a cruel murderess who poisoned her family's enemies. Funny that the restaurant is named after someone accused of poison. (Although, she never actually poisoned anyone...) The food looks spectacular and delicious!!! [email protected]
  66. I love that the Inn at Aberdeen was featured in Midwest Living - one of my favorite resources for finding great midwest places to visit!
  68. I learned Native Plant Garden has a new addition that is the Monarch Waystation that showcases plants that play a vital role in the lifecycle of a butterfly!

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