"The Fighting Irish"

We left our hotel in Chicago and rode Lake Shore Drive on the banks of Lake Michigan. A beautiful view of the city!
We entered the great state of Indiana and were blessed with perfect weather, low seventy's, blue skies, puffy white clouds, darn near perfect riding weather.
We checked into our hotel directly across the street from Notre Dame university!

We made our way over to 

"Eddy Street Commons"  

and had a seat at O'Rourk's pub. We just had to have a Guinness while in an Irish pub across the street from Notre Dame University!

We met up with our friends Bill and Emily Johns...we met them four years ago on an Alaskan Cruise. 

The next morning we hopped on the Harley and rode over to the South Bend Chocolate Factory! We took the behind the scenes tour where they dressed us in very attractive outfits!

The company started out in 1991 with just a few items. They now produce over 300 different confections but they are still a small operation and do much of the work by hand. They had on display a 45 pound solid chocolate Easter bunny and a 65 pound solid chocolate Santa Claus! We were thinking of purchasing the Santa Claus but probably would've had to leave Kathie behind.

(Mmmm... tempting)

Then it was off to tour Notre Dame.

Our hotel offered bicycle rentals so we spent over 3 hours enjoying the beauty of the campus. The grounds were beautiful and the architecture was stunning. The Basilica was built in 1871 and was absolutely breathtaking!

We learned from Bill and Emily, that prior to the stadium expansion, the following mural could seen from the stands and was known as "Touchdown Jesus".

This was a painting on the ceiling of the Golden Dome. We felt like we were in the Sistine Chapel. 

Pictures from phone cannot do it justice. 

This kind gentleman, Joe, was a great help in sharing the history of the basilica.

We met back up with Bill and Emily for dinner. You will notice that Micky is drinking apple juice and Kathie is drinking what looks like a keg of Guinness beer!

Tomorrow we are off to Kentucky!