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Column: Thousands of visitors pack Indiana Dunes beach in ridiculous display of sun-kissed apathy

There were so many people in my way, I could barely see the massive electronic sign along the entranceway to Indiana Dunes State Park. Over the Memorial Day weekend, the flashing sign constantly reminded visitors: PRACTICE SOCIAL DISTANCE.

“This is impossible here,” I told a friend as we pedaled our bicycles into the jam-packed park.

We first parked our car in the South Shore train station on U.S. 12 along with hundreds of other park visitors Sunday afternoon. I was curious how busy that beach would be over the holiday weekend with temperatures in the high 80s and so many people agitated from being forced to stay in their homes over the past couple of months.

The entire park was ridiculously crowded, with more vehicles and people than I’ve ever seen there in my lifetime. It was an impossibility to remain six feet away from anyone else, let alone everyone else. And no one seemed to mind one bit.

The governor’s Back on Track Indiana plan is slowly reopening our state, with visitors allowed again to congregate at public beaches and shorelines as long as they practice social distancing guidelines. No one in my path even made the obligatory gesture to distance themselves from me or anyone else. It felt like any other Memorial Day weekend at the beach. There was no public place for any personal space. And people just kept coming from every direction.

I saw only a handful of facial masks on the hundreds of people I bicycled past on my way into the park and to the beach. The only reminder that they were visiting a public park during a pandemic was the periodic announcement over the PA system. Otherwise, I couldn’t find any signs of concern, worry or precautions about COVID-19.

There were so many visitors that incoming vehicles were backed up along the entrance road well past U.S. 12 and almost to U.S. 20. Cars were parked illegally along the entranceway, the majority with out-of-state plates, mostly from Illinois. With most Chicago area beaches still officially closed, those residents obviously crossed the state line to find a beach to celebrate the unofficial opening of summer.

After leaving the beach area and bicycling to the nearby campground, which was full but not similarly packed with people, I put together a short video of my ride into the park. I jokingly wrote on a social media post: “We may have pedaled into ground zero for the COVID-19 resurgence spike.”

The biggest concern of federal public health officials – and the majority of Americans – is that the virus outbreak will surge again after government restrictions are eased. This park over the weekend served as the perfect example of their “second wave” fears. The beach felt like a petri dish of social disobedience and sun-kissed apathy toward fears over the virus. Or maybe most beach goers simply wanted to have some fun in a social setting, again, public health be damned.

“I guess this is what achieving herd immunity looks like,” one reader commented on my two-minute video, which totaled more than 30,000 views by Monday.

“Mostly young people,” commented Thomas S., regarding the majority of beach goers that day. “I hope they don’t live with any old people.”

“Crazy damn people!” added Karen U.

Of the hundreds of comments from social media readers, most agreed that the beach goers were selfish and dangerous to the rest of society. Similar gatherings took place across the country this past weekend at public gathering sites and open water spaces. (Watch the video on my Facebook page or at https://tinyurl.com/y6uoppnr)

“Wow, people being normal. Living without fear,” Jeff O. commented on my video. “The (New World Order) would not like this. The inflated death rates are supposed to work to corral the masses. Could it be that sheeple are seeing through the lies?”

He reflected the rising counter stance to the COVID-19 outbreak in our society.

“The flu kills more every year,” he said. “Almost no one under 20 dies. These people are fine. Over 60, the rate is high and accounts for most of the deaths.”

Another reader, Daniel B., misinterpreted my video post as condemnation of those beach goers and anyone who congregates heavily in public places.

“If what other people are doing bothers you so badly then (stay) … inside and stop worrying about what everyone else is doing! Live your own life stop trying to control everyone else’s!”

My video wasn’t trying to control anyone. I don’t care what choices others make regarding this public health pandemic for that very reason – because I have absolutely no control or influence over anyone’s actions but mine. I intentionally chose to pedal into that park that day to observe what was happening. I wasn’t surprised it was crowded, but I was somewhat shocked over how crowded it turned out to be.

I didn’t stick around at the beach. I was there maybe five minutes to take a few photos before pedaling away into the rest of the park, then back to the train station to my car. That day, I also biked through the Portage Lakefront and Riverwalk, which had not nearly as many visitors and not nearly as much beach as when it first opened.

This is a likely correlation with public beaches in Northwest Indiana, which have always been at a premium due to lack of space along our smokestack landscape. Today, less beach real estate is available to accommodate guests, whether they’re from Indiana, Illinois or elsewhere, and other local beaches are closed due to erosion problems and safety concerns.

“We were told to stay in for two weeks to flatten the curve, and then it becomes two months. Do you really think when we have such beautiful weather people were going to stay boarded up in their homes?” commented one reader. “Everyone needs to do what’s best for them.”

This is gradually becoming my attitude, too, as we progress through this pandemic and its ideological aftershocks. I’ll explain my stance, which has become unintentionally controversial, in my next column.

jdavich@post-trib.com