St Joseph: A stylish city

I���ve always thought nature���s winter d��cor is far more attractive than the vibrant colours of summer and autumn, though everyone may not agree! But the interplay of just two colours ��� white and dark brown ��� is almost equivalent to poetry in black & white.

I felt vindicated about my view when I visited St Joseph, a stylish city on the banks of Lake Michigan, just a few weeks before Christmas. The vista was indeed a wintry duet in those shades ��� snowy grounds with leafless trees etching incredle lacy patterns on the pristine canvas...

Located within driving distance (two hours) of Chicago, the journey to St Joseph wasn���t that pleasant though. As we entered Indiana we were greeted by a mammoth snow storm that had the usually ���aah so beautiful��� snowflakes mercilessly slashing onto our windscreen... Not a very warm welcome.

As this slowed down the speed of our progress to the destination we all became a trifle grumpy. But when we reached St Joseph, it all seemed forgotten as we scraped off the snow from the car and threw it at each other playfully!
Early the next morning (the official time for sunrise was 8:15 am) with a maximum temperature of -5 C, we sealed ourselves in jackets and overcoats and set off to see the sights.

The town���s most sought after attraction is undoubtedly the vast, never ending blue Lake Michigan. It���s so huge that anyone who doesn���t know the geographical facts about this lake would think it���s a sea. It even has appropriately noisy waves that crash onto St Jo���s (lovingly called by the locals) famous silver beach that turns to a carnival in the summer with carousels, beach volleyball , candy floss and balloon vendors.

St Jo���s landmark is a pair of lighthouses on the northern pier that stretches quite a distance into the lake. In the early 19th century , because there were no lighthouses in that area, boats had to be helped in navigation by local residents with lanterns. A lighthouse was finally built in 1832 and then another 14 years later. Both these are still in service and are therefore top photo stops!

St Joseph also has war memorials, including a black granite one for the Korean War at the lookout point. It has a map of Korea and a soldier carved on it, dedicated to the US soldiers from this region who fought that war between 1950-1953 .

And there is the Asiatic Pacific Theater of War, to commemorate the maritime battles of World War II. A huge cannon called the 11inch Dahlgreen is also displayed there.

Since Christmas is the highpoint of seasonal festivities, we were all invited to see the spectacular winter wonderland light display along Lake Bluff Park. From fountains and snowflakes to the 35-ft community Christmas tree, everything was there. There was even a Santa���s house where everyone gathered to collect their gifts! When the Christmas tree was ceremonially lit on Friday, there was a wonderful serenade by carollers.

And we simply loved the huge public library with thousands of books. Temporary membership cards were given even to visitors and we were allowed to take as many books as our hands could hold! Interestingly , this membership card is valid throughout the state of Michigan.

No visit is complete without sampling its food and shopping options. St Jo���s best eatery, we found, was the South Bend Chocolate Factory���s deli. It had the most mouthwatering sandwiches, bagels and freshly baked muffins along with loads of chocolates with variety of fillings. Just the ticket for a family of chocolate lovers! Other stars were Schu���s and Caf�� 412 which also had Mexican dishes and Chang���s Garden.

Then for retail therapy we checked out St Jo���s good boutiques and book shop. But the most interesting store for us was one specialising in pottery where we could choose either a pot or a bowl or a dish, paint it ourselves and get it treated in the kiln and then use it! Best of all it cost us just $10 for a dinner plate and $2/hour for the painting session.

And then it was back to the great outdoors to admire that white-and-brown medley all over again...