Things to Do in Dyer

The pilots at Sun Aero Helicopters Inc. have been training pupils in the autogiro arts and transporting clients through the skies since 1991. Inside their base at Lansing Municipal Airport, aviators maintain a 12,000-square-foot hangar area and 3,000 square feet of training offices and high-speed computerized flight-planning facilities. Expert pilots impart their knowledge to up-and-coming FBI agents, police officers, emergency medical technicians, and leisure pilots during one-on-one training sessions in Robinson and Bell copters. Pilots also give landlubbers a skyscraper's view of Chicago's landmarks, such as US Cellular Field, the John Hancock building, and the Sears/Willis Tower. When they aren't transporting rally drivers, golfers, and famous wiffle ball players with private charter services, Sun Aero serves national media companies with aerial photography and land surveys.

In 2009, Linda and Greg Racino were reaping the benefits of more than two fast-paced decades in the tech industry. Something was missing, though—creativity. So in February of that year the couple left behind the cold digital world for a brightly colored studio warmed by a blazing kiln. Lining their shelves with finished and unfinished clay and glass pieces, the Racinos today deal solely in creation. They guide customers through pottery painting and glass fusing—from picking out a blank bisque piece to arranging a unique design of glass pieces. Guests can also check out the calendar of events to learn about upcoming discounts and special projects, or to find out what day it is.

Coyote Run Golf Course’s 18-hole course stretches across 6,478 yards of bentgrass fairways and greens, all manicured to country-club standards, hemmed by pristine waterways and native wetlands. A lighted driving range with both bluegrass and artificial hitting areas hosts practice sessions and pre-round pep talks to nervous 9-irons before players take to the first tee, where shaky swings may succumb to the pressure of an immediate forced carry. Rippling waters loom ominously on 11 holes, placing a high premium on course management, shrewd club selection, and bags that double as flotation devices. A coterie of 54 sand traps peppers the emerald landscape, further complicating course play as clubbers snatch pars and evade bogeys. Alongside the picturesque par 71 rests a three-hole practice course, where aspiring aces will likely find one of Coyote Run’s ace instructors divulging golf wisdom in a variety of lessons.

Coyote Run’s fully stocked pro shop sells apparel and equipment from the game’s top brands, and the onsite Wiley's Grill, open year-round, hosts post-round revelry with a social bar, as well as a newly appointed lodge with a 30-foot fireplace nestled under a rustic, timber ceiling. Golf-simulator sessions enable players to partake in rounds on famous golf courses throughout the year. An outdoor patio provides a sweeping view of the course and a keen vantage point for taking in sunsets.

Course at a Glance:

• 18-hole, par 71 course
• Bentgrass fairways & greens
• Length of 6,478 yards from farthest tees
• Course rating of 69.5 from farthest tees
• Slope rating of 123 from farthest tees
• Four tee options
• Scorecard

Younique Yoga of NWI specializes in Vinyasa yoga––a vigorous flow of continuous posture sequences linked together with conscious breaths. To help practitioners sink into deep stretches as safely as possible and warm up pockets full of leftover lasagna, Younique's studio is heated to a balmy 98–108 degrees, making each 70-minute session a sweaty and detoxifying workout that helps to lengthen and heal the muscles. While the sun salutations, balances, twists, and binds are designed to accommodate all skill levels, instructors can guide beginners into modified poses. Students should load up their yoga pack-mule with plenty of water, a mat, and a towel before heading to each class, though Younique Yoga of NWI stocks a surplus available for rent or purchase.

Each year during early spring, the frost clinging to Indiana's Calumet region thaws, clearing the way for fresh grass, budding flowers, and smooth go-kart tracks. It's along the banked turns of Zig-E's Funland's Rippin' Raceway that drivers experience the cool breezes of the freshly temperate outdoors while careening over a 1/5-mile track. Zig-E's friendly staff is on hand to point visitors in the direction of a bungee trampoline or toward the waterfall-flanked greens of the 18-hole mini-golf course that blankets the 3.4-acre property. Inside, a year-round arcade is packed with more than 50 video and redemption games that buzz and blip as players pass virtual levels and amass tokens. Throughout the day, staffers at the snack shop reenergize fun seekers with tasty snacks and drinks and tales of the day humans first came down from the mountain to play Xbox.

Open until at least midnight nightly, Dyer’s night-owl-friendly Stardust Bowl III hosts bowling face-offs in a sprawling complex with 48 lanes. Merrillville’s even larger Stardust Bowl II lets patrons scatter pins on one of 68 lanes or shoot for table pockets in the billiards room. Arcades at both alleys bolster joystick-specific agility, and after working up an appetite hefting heavy balls, bowlers can quell their hunger at Merrillville’s coffee shop or Dyer’s full-service restaurant. Birthday parties and groups garner special discounts at both alleys, and at Dyer’s partygoers can keep secret handshakes truly secret by retiring to one of five private party rooms.