Great Lakes Grand Prix Highlights Best Weekend of Year in Michigan City

A pro am beach volleyball tournament, the Taste of Michigan City, and of course, the Great Lakes Grand Prix, make the first weekend in August the most exciting time of the year in Michigan City.

With perfect weather on the horizon, this year would prove to be no different.

“This place is unique and the people are super,” said John Carbonell, president of Super Boat International, the organization that puts on Sunday’s boat race on Lake Michigan.

Based out of Key West, most Super Boat races are held in Florida, with many of the others occurring in southern states. Michigan City is the only Great Lakes location to host a yearly race, and Carbonell likes it so much up here, he says his group will continue the early-August tradition in Northwest Indiana “until they tell me they don’t want us.”

“We enjoy sites where everyone wants you,” he said. “We are definitely planning on being back next year.”

The race brings so many people to Michigan City that Carbonell’s crew does not even attempt to leave town until Monday morning because traffic is so congested getting out of Michigan City on Sunday nights after the races and awards ceremony.

The Super Boat founder also praised the boat parade in Michigan City, which was held Saturday night.

“Most cities we travel to have a parade, but this is one of the better ones,” he said.

Several festivities have been taking place this weekend in Michigan City, with the biggest one being Sunday’s race, which always results in a jam-packed Washington Park beach.

“The weather has been fantastic,” Carbonell said on Saturday. “Everything they are doing is nice, but we have been focused on testing the boats in preparation for tomorrow.”

Linda Wagner and her husband, David were among the visitors checking out all of Saturday’s activities.

“We liked the time trials, but we will be back for the race tomorrow,” said Linda, who said the popular orange “Stihl” boat is her favorite.

“This whole weekend has been so fun,” she said. “We were at Blue Chip (Casino) last night where we got to meet some of the drivers, one being from Australia. This is our first time here for this so we are really excited to see this for Michigan City.”

The Beverly Shores resident added that it isn’t often that area residents can see boats this big up close, and that everyone in the region should check out the Grand Prix at least once.

But not everyone at Washington Park beach on Saturday was there for the Grand Prix, as the EVP Pro Am Beach Volleyball Tournament made its way to the City Saturday afternoon.

The Russo and Stevens families, from the Chicago area, found a nice spot on the sand to watch some of their younger relatives take part in the tournament.

And although their kin are on a team that have already qualified for a larger tournament in California later in the year, one young Russo said “I don’t want to go to California, I like it here in Michigan City!”

Jeremy Kienitz, interim co-superintendent of the Michigan City Parks and Recreation Department, said the weekend has been “very good so far.”

“Having the beach volleyball tournament here in conjunction with the boat race time trials is a nice compliment,” he said. “We are hoping to open up more parking as some people are having to park by the Casino and take the shuttle over.”

“The weather is beautiful, and the race should be a go as long as the waves stay calm,” he added. “This whole weekend is great for bringing people to the park and the city. The La Porte County Convention and Visitors Bureau does a great job in putting this on and we are happy to be a part of it by providing the venue.”

After a short walk around the Lubeznik Center for the Arts and police station, visitors found themselves enjoying the best local eats Michigan City has to offer at the sixth annual Taste of Michigan City. Maxine’s, Cabo’s Ice Cream, Arturo’s Baked Goods, Albano’s Pizza and Nylah’s BBQ were just some of the local favorites on display in Franklin Square.

“We live around here and we didn’t even know they had a Taste like this until we saw it on Facebook and thought, ‘hey we’re hungry, let’s stop by,’” said Greg Tuel, who was enjoying some of the famous Jamaican Jerk Chicken offered at the Cool Runnings stand with his wife, Alicia.

“It’s all delicious, we tried five places already and they are all good,” Alicia added. “The salad at the Green Machine is also a great option.”

Chris Bardol is the owner of a pair of La Porte County restaurants, Stop 50 Wood Fired Pizzeria in Michiana Shores and Soda Dog, a popular drive-in on State Road 212 on the northeast end of Michigan City. His food is a popular find at the Taste every year.

“This seems to have grown every year, and what a great idea to have it happen in conjunction with the boat race,” Bardol said. “We like to see new faces drawn to downtown Michigan City, the lakefront and our restaurants.”

Bardol’s restaurants are open in a pair of buildings that have a lot of history to residents of Michiana Shores and nearby beach communities. Soda Dog is in the same location that the popular Roxanne’s stood for years and Stop 50 has taken over what had been “The Michiana Store” in the late 20th century.

“We revitalized old buildings, and that ties in with what they are doing here in Michigan City with the arts community and revamping the Warren Building to be the center of the art culture here,” Bardol said.

The busy weekend all comes down to the main event on Sunday.

After leaving Michigan City, Super Boat International will take many of their racers to Orange Beach, Alabama and Pensacola, Florida, neighboring cities with plans to have two races in three days in two different cities and two different states.

Part of the reason for doing this, Carbonell said, is to test the waters in hopes a city nearby to Michigan City will want to do the same in the Midwest.

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