The Springs in the Fall
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Day 1: November 3, 2007 The Springs in the Fall |
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The Brickyard
Crossing Inn was the meeting spot for the whole group as well as the
sleeping spot for some. After gathering in the
lobby, we headed to the parking lot and I turned around to get a picture
of the front of the motel. Amazingly, the whole group was almost lined up
as if for a picture and all I had to do was get their attention. That's
Kent, Mary Sue, Clarissa, Jennifer, Pat, Preston, and Mike. Mike is Pat's
brother.
We cruised by a few Indianapolis landmarks and stopped briefly at the old Indianapolis Indians' ball park. The ivy covered park (Pat says it inspired Wrigly's vines and not vice versa) has sat empty for many years although it did get good reviews for its dual role in the 1988 movie Eight Men Out. With a little makeup, it played the part of both ball parks for the 1919 World Series. Look at that all Chevy line up. Maybe we should have worked on some General Motors gas money. |
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We headed south on US-31 with a slight detour to see the
Grave in
the Middle of the Road near Franklin, Indiana. Pocahontas'
great-great-great-granddaughter-in-law lies in the median of this divided
two-lane thanks to a shotgun wielding relative.
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Then it was another graveyard stop to find a geocache.
Geocaching is a
high-tech form of hide-and-seek where the seekers find the caches using
GPS coordinates that the hiders provide. Using the same secret trick that
big time studios use to get frontal shots of mountain climbers, I was able
to capture Jennifer leading the hunt with GPS in hand. Once she had
reached the proper coordinates, she stood back to let others enjoy the
hunt. Preston made the find. Then Jennifer & I signed the log (my
third, her umpty-umpth) and she replaced the cache's damaged container
with a new one and did some content swapping while Pat explained to the
curious just what the heck his wife was doing.
Cemeteries are popular spots for geocaches since they are often somewhat isolated and the caches are fairly safe. This cemetery was restored in 2004 and many of the graves were marked with plain concrete crosses. The oldest marked stone I found was this one over an 1832 burial. |
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We followed Pat over some terrific roads; Mostly, I believe, IN-58 &
IN-450. There was certainly color in the trees but not quite as much as we
expected. There was another geocache at Williams Dam but Jennifer had
already scored it. It still served to give Preston a little more practice
and it's entirely possible that another geocacher has been created.
The covered bridge was a bit of a side trip with a turnaround at the far
end. It's a very old and very long bridge that has sadly been the target
of graffiti a |
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This is Jesse. Tour guide extraordinaire for our visit to the
West Baden Springs
Hotel. The hotel's story is a long and interesting one but here is the
one sentence version: Built in 1902, closed by the depression, used as a
seminary and college, empty and deteriorating for thirty-plus years. In
June of this year, it reopened as a hotel for the first time since 1934.
The tour begins with a much more extensive recounting of the hotel's history and a stroll around the grounds. The area's original attraction came from its "medicinal" mineral springs and spring houses & pools were once spread about the hotel. Today guests are more likely to be here for the "floating" casino up the road. |
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With the huge open space covered by its 200 foot dome, the hotel did have
a legitimate claim to being the "Eighth Wonder of the World" in
1902 and that space is still impressive. Over the years, circuses and car
shows have been among the attractions filling the big circle.
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Tours don't always include a visit to one of the guest rooms but we lucked
out. Two and a half 1902 rooms equal one 2007 room. Two rooms were
combined to make the sleeping area and another was split to make bath
areas for two rooms. Inside rooms overlook the domed atrium and I caught a
couple of tourists checking out the view.
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When we first entered the hotel, Jesse suggested that, before we left,
each of us lie down in the middle of the dome to take a picture of its
center. Preston followed her suggestion while some us who are older and
wiser, or at least lazier, just put our cameras on the floor with the
timer set.
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We spent nearly two hours touring the remarkable hotel and the light was
fading when we finally ran out of things to gawk at.
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