Miller Beach is a neighborhood of Gary, IN about an hour from Chicago via the South Shore Line. There’s a main street with several restaurants and bars, including Miller Bakery Cafe, which seems to get great reviews, but didn’t open until 5pm when I went there. Miller Pizza was also good and more than reasonably priced. The main street is nice for Gary, but still has some shut businesses and run-down buildings. The beach is about a half hour walk north of the main street. The walk there is not particularly pleasant — there is a sidewalk for about half of the walk, but then it’s off to the gravel shoulder for pedestrians. The beach is flanked on both sides by major industrial plants. Overall, it’s not an ideal small beach town trip, but may be worth it if you plan to go to the beach for several hours followed by dinner at one of the restaurants on the main street.

Getting There
Take the South Shore Line from Randolph Street to Miller. When you get off the train, go left to the light and turn left to go north up Lake Street.