Tri-State Triumph

     What a crazy summer it's been! With the pandemic, we got a late start on our weekly adventures. Then we had to change the day we'd be traveling from our normal Wednesday to Thursdays. Then Drew got to take off work on a Friday so we added a Friday trip. Last week he started a week of vacation so we traveled two days. This week we traveled on Wednesday to give Drew a day at home before going back to work. I know...it's all confusing. But, it's life in this new "normal" we live in. 

     Being the end of his vacation time and not sure if we will get any more adventure days in before I go back to school. Drew wanted to do something pretty big. This has been our State Park summer and there were two located in a city where we could easily make it to two neighboring states easily. Of course, we had to find things to do in those states so they would count. Since the State Parks we were going to visit were in far northeast Indiana, I suggested finding things along Lake Erie to do. Drew went right to work locating points of interest and planning the best way to make this tri-state trip happen. 

     We made a stop at Love's in Goshen for breakfast, iced tea and coffee then headed to our first stop of the day. We drove through some rain to get to Pokagon State Park in Angola, IN. It was drizzly so we didn't spend as much time there as we have at some other parks. I spent time walking through the site of the Civilian Conservation Corps camp where young men lived from 1934-1942 while they built the park. They were given jobs through the public works program started by President Franklin Roosevelt during the Great Depression. The buildings are gone but there are markers and informational signs where each one stood. Due to the way the trees have grown, you can see where each building was. It's really neat to walk through where these young men lived while they worked on building the park you're standing in the middle of. 

     Through the rain, I took the walk down the path to the beach. It was only sprinkling when I left the parking lot. By the time I reached the beach, it was pouring! Obviously, I didn't spend much time there. But I can tell you that the beach is very nice. It's a decent size for being in a State Park (their beaches tend to be smaller, with the exception of Indiana Dunes) but this one was the largest I've seen at any of the other parks. It was very clean and there was plenty of space for the families that chose to stick it out through the rain. There is a sand volleyball area and a bath house. It's a bit of a walk to the beach from the parking area. But on a day when it's not raining, it would certainly be worth the walk!

     In addition to the CCC camp and the beach, there are playgrounds scattered throughout the park, beautiful picnic shelters, lots of picnic tables, trails to explore, a toboggan run with a warming center and nice bathrooms. The camping areas looked very nice as we drove through. As with the other State Parks we've visited, this one is very clean and well cared for. When we left there, we went a little way down the street to Trine State Recreation Area. There are many biking and hiking trails throughout the park as well as a wetland conservation area. There is a nice playground for children and cabins you can rent. The lodge at the back of the park looked beautiful from the outside as did the smaller cabins nearby. While there isn't a lot to do other than hike or bike, this park is beautiful! I've said it before and I'll say it again...no matter what state you live in, take time to check out your State Parks! They really are gems. 

     Now on to Lake Erie. Obviously, I've seen Lake Michigan hundreds of times (if not more). As a teenager, I've see a snippet of Lake Erie from Cedar Point. But honestly, between being more worried about my time with my friends,  riding some rides and just being a teenager who didn't care about the world around her, I didn't pay attention to anything except for Cedar Point. That all changed this week. We went to Paper District Marina in Sandusky, Ohio. Besides being a beautiful marina, there is a beautiful view of Lake Erie. There are places to walk along and look out at the lake as well as tables to sit at and have a picnic or just relax near the lake. There is also a cafe right along the shore. The parking is free and the marina is located just outside of the downtown shops. When we were done at the marina, we stopped at Boom Town Coffee so I could get a little caffeine boost to continue our travels. It's a cute little coffee shop right in the heart of downtown Sandusky. 

     Our next stop was Marblehead Lighthouse State Park. Sadly, the museum and keeper's house are closed. You're also unable to tour the lighthouse at this time. But that doesn't take away the fact that there are gorgeous views of Lake Erie, an absolutely stunning lighthouse and lots of area to picnic. Along the lake shore are two large pairs of binoculars for viewing the lake. Next to each pair is a sign telling what you can see from that view. You can fish along the shore, walk in the small sandy area long the water or sit on the rocks to watch the lake. It's a very quiet little park with no admission fee. 

     We headed west along the shores of Lake Erie to the town of Port Clinton, Ohio because Drew saw they had a lighthouse. Well, let me tell you that we almost missed it! When we saw this tiny little lighthouse (half the size of any other lighthouse we've seen and maybe even smaller), we laughed so hard! However, there is a sign next to it explaining that this is a replica of the original lighthouse and therefore not as tall. But it was very pretty and the view of the lake was gorgeous! There were people fishing, sitting along the lake, swimming and playing in the sand. After spending a short time there, we headed just around the corner and went to Frisch's Big Boy for dinner. The food was good and the service was great! It was the first we had eaten since breakfast. Just like last week, we were having so much fun we didn't even think to eat lunch until 5:00!

     We had two parks in Toledo, Ohio we wanted to check out. Bayview Park was the first. We didn't stay long because, as we pulled in, we could easily see the name was very deceiving. It neither had a view of the bay nor was it much of a park. It was a grassy field across a drive from a yacht club marina. The marina was packed so full you could barely even see the water they were docked in. So, we went a short distance away to Cullen Park. It's a small park along Lake Erie. There were lots of people fishing along the lake. We took some pictures and headed on our way because we had another state to get to. 

     We made our way north to Luna Pier, Michigan. It's a small lakeside community along the shores of Lake Erie. They have a beautiful beach, a very large pier you can fish from, a gorgeous lighthouse and lots of places to sit along the lake. It was so incredibly peaceful there that we had to force ourselves to head home. There is a fee to park but it was only $2 for an hour. It was well worth it! The pier is situated perfectly so you could sit in the same spot to see both the sunrise and the sunset...but I wouldn't recommend sitting there the whole day between the two. haha Luna Pier is definitely worth the trip! We plan to go back and explore the town a bit more...and definitely sit along that pier again!

     We left on Wednesday morning and we pulled back into the driveway Thursday morning. OK, it was 12:15 but it was still Thursday! We may have spent more time driving than we spent out of the car. But we had so much tome to chat and laugh together along the way. We had the option of taking the toll road or go through all the little towns. Let me tell you, if you travel and have that choice, NEVER choose the toll road! While I would love the chance to drive fast (and not worry about getting a ticket), you miss so much when you're on the toll road and what's the point of paying to drive on a road when you can see so much more and enjoy so many more sights for free? Besides, the names of some of the tiny towns you travel through are priceless. Last week we "rambled through Bramble" and "freely drove through Freedom." Yesterday we "assume we passed through Assumption" and "brought good things to light in Sylvania." Road trips aren't all about the destination but the journey getting there.

Wohlfords on Vacation...or Wohlfords' Honeymoon (Finally!)

     Vacation is defined in the dictionary as "a period of suspension of work, study or other activity, usually used for rest, recreation or travel." In our home, it's defined as "something we haven't had in years and wondered what it would be like." Last week we found out. It definitely fit the dictionary definition as there was some rest, plenty of recreation and a lot of travel. It also served as a honeymoon for us. Yes, I know we just celebrated our 28th anniversary. But when we got married, Drew could only take two nights off work...one night was our wedding day and then he was off the day after. By our first anniversary, we had a newborn. By our 3rd we had two children. A honeymoon was never in the budget. So this mini-vacation was kind of like our honeymoon. Besides, it was our first ever trip as a married couple that we took without children.

Lower Falls

     First of all, I have to tell you this is the first real vacation time Drew has been able to take. The last two times he has scheduled a vacation from work, he ended up being admitted to the hospital the whole time plus some. So just the fact that he was finally able to step away from work and we could enjoy some time together was a real gift! Before we hit the road, Drew had an appointment with the doctor to see how things were going. While he was there, I went to get our coffee and tea for the road. That brought me to Steelyard Coffee Co. near downtown Elkhart. While it's not super easy to get to, it's certainly worth it! My only complaint would be that the largest size they have is 16oz. For those who know me well know that that's never enough coffee for me! But, the 16oz of coffee I had was delicious.

Upper Falls

     I went back to wait for Drew to finish at his appointment so we could get on the road. We went through Chick-fil-A to get lunch and were on our way. Cataract Falls in Spencer, IN was our first stop. Guys, if you don't pay attention to anything else I write in my blog, pay attention to this: no matter how dull or boring you may think your state is, don't judge an entire state by one tiny area of that state. I've always judged Indiana on the fact that our area doesn't have a lot of attractions or is it very eye-catching. So I couldn't figure out why anyone would ever want to come to Indiana. However, after travelling to southern Indiana, I totally get it! Driving to Cataract Falls, we were far enough into southern Indiana that we really could see lots of hills. Many places along the road were lined with limestone along both sides where rock was blasted through to put in these roads. When we arrived at the Falls, we were greeted with a beautiful sight! It's not a large park, but the falls are well worth the trip. There are several hiking trails as well as places where you can get in and swim in the creek. We saw both the upper and lower falls. You can hike a trail from one to the other for better views of the upper falls than we got. But it was still breathtaking. One day we plan to go back so I can hike that trail!

     Once we were done at Cataract Falls, we headed to McCormick's Creek State Park. Our Indiana State Parks never fail to disappoint! Making the choice to spend $50 for the annual state park pass was a great decision! It's allowed us to spend time exploring many of our parks. We didn't have a lot of time to explore this park but definitely plan to go back when we can spend more time there. I will tell you that the creek is beautiful and the waterfall is gorgeous! If you hike one of the trails, you can get right to the water fall and stand behind the water...or right in it! Next trip, I'm taking a towel!

     Now it was time for dinner. I've been hungry for a good steak the past few weeks. We knew we were headed through Jasper, IN so Drew looked for someplace to eat there. After searching online, he found Snaps. This restaurant was started in 1872 as a saloon and boarding house. The food was delicious and the service was good. I was happy to have finally had my steak dinner! After dinner, we stopped for gas and headed to the hotel.

     We used Priceline to book our room at Quality Inn. There are good things and bad things to that. Yes, I got a great deal on a room. It was an $89 room that we got for $72. That's definitely a plus. However, Priceline chose between three different hotels to get that price. We had no choice which of the three and we couldn't change or cancel the reservation. That was certainly a bummer. Overall, we were pleased with the hotel. The room was very clean but the mattress was hard for our liking. If you like a firm mattress, I recommend Quality Inn. If you're looking for a softer mattress, this is not the hotel for you. But the staff was friendly and there was a Mexican restaurant located in the lobby. That meant we got to end our first day of our honeymoon with nachos and margaritas at Los Dos Charros before getting some sleep for another day of adventure. I will also say that the hotel has a very nice swimming pool as well as a small wading pool and splash pad. We didn't use the pool but it sure looked inviting! But this was the first time we had ever stayed in a hotel without children. So relaxing in a quiet room was the perfect way to spend the evening.

     Friday morning we were ready for another day of adventure. Due to the pandemic, the hotel was not offering their typical hot breakfast. So we opted to find someplace else to eat. It wasn't hard to do when we realized there was a Shoney's nearby. In fact, they're the only Shoney's in Indiana.It brought back many fond memories of Sunday nights spent with friends and our very young children years ago. After a delicious breakfast, we were on the road for some fun!

The original post office

     Our first stop of the day was Santa Claus, IN. We went to The Santa Claus Museum & Village to see the original post office from town, a church built in 1880 and a 22 foot Santa Claus statue. The museum is closed but the church certainly made this stop worthwhile. You can see the original oil lamps on the walls as well as the oil lamp chandelier hanging from the ceiling. If you look closely on the pews, you can see markings where railing once were that kept the men and women separated when they came to worship. The acoustics in this 140 year old church are absolutely outstanding!  The museum and village is free to visit. In the post office children can write letters to Santa and they will receive a letter back from Santa and his elves in December!

     Next up was a visit to Santa's Candy Castle. This place was first opened in 1935, making it the first themed attraction in the country. As you can guess by the name of this shop, it's filled with all sorts of candies! There is a full wall of Pez dispensers of every kind you can imagine. There are rooms of "vintage" candies you can't find anywhere else. There is even a whole room of nothing but Jelly Belly jelly beans. Besides candy, they also have lots of gift items and souvenirs. The building itself is so neat to see. But the shelves and shelves of sugary treats made us feel like kids in a candy shop...wait...we kinda were! We bought a bag full of goodies - all for the grandkids...or not and then headed down the road.

     We made our way to Santa Claus Christmas Store to find some special gifts for the special people in our lives. This store didn't disappoint! They have more ornaments and decorations than I've ever seen in one place (besides in Frankenmuth, MI). One whole side of the store is filled with personalized ornaments. You can select ornaments for every occupation, hobby or sport imaginable. You can also choose from a large assortment of family ornaments. We were able to get a twin girls ornament for our newest family members as well as ornaments with just the right number of spaces to personalize for our kids' families. Staff will personalize any of these ornaments for free! We were able to choose special keepsakes for each of our grandkids as well as our kids before we made our way to the other end of the parking lot for our last stop in town.

     Santa's Toys is loaded with all sorts of goodies from Santa's workshop. They have building toys, educational games and toys, imaginative play toys and a whole section just for babies and toddlers. One would assume that we went into this store because we have 8 grandchildren. But I kinda think the big kid I had with me may have been just as excited to be in there as those 8 kiddos would have been. We picked out a few toys to bring home with us and headed out of town.

     We made our way to French Lick, IN so Drew could show me where his Aunt had gone to culinary school. This was mainly a drive-through part of our trip as we were just driving through the area and he was telling me about different things he remembered from when she lived there. But Mama needed coffee. When we travel, I prefer to find local little coffee shops that I can't find around home. I make an effort to stay away from large chain coffee shops so I can support local businesses. I find that most areas have local coffee shops whereas our area is loaded with chain shops. In French Lick, we found French Licks. It's an ice cream and coffee shop that also offers gourmet popcorn, locally made pretzels and fun flavored sodas. It was well worth the stop!

Beware of cattle crossing

     Along the way to French Lick, we saw a sign for a place nearby where you could drive through a "safari" and feed animals from your car. They even have elephants! So, we naturally added a trip to Wilstem Ranch to our day. While this stop wasn't planned, we certainly weren't sorry we stopped. From the comfort of our car, we saw emus, longhorns, fallow deer, donkeys, bison and alpacas. The cost of admission includes a bowl of animal feed. At the end of the drive, you can get out of your car to feed the zebras and camels. We saw bison fighting horn to horn, Drew got stared down by a donkey and I hand-fed carrots to the camels. It was amazing! We were sad to find out that the elephants had been taken inside for an elephant encounter (the encounters are close-up animal experiences that cost extra) so we didn't get to see them. But we will most certainly go back! When it's a planned trip, we'll buy the elephant, giraffe and kangaroo encounters. It's so much better than a trip to the zoo!

The Bird Whisperer

     We headed to Spring Mill State Park since this is our state park summer. (But, let's be honest - we still have lots of state parks to see so this is going to be a multi-summer adventure.) This state park is one we'll definitely need to visit again. Since we added the ranch stop, we didn't have as much time to explore Spring Mill as we had planned so we didn't get to see much. However, we were able to visit the Pioneer Village. There are so many buildings in this village to see that I felt like I was rushing through to see them all. But to know I was standing in buildings where people had lived, worked, shopped and eaten over 100 years ago was pretty amazing! The buildings had original furnishings inside them so you could see what a family kept in their home. Let me tell you, the didn't have as much in their whole house as most of us do in just one room. There is so much more to see in this park besides the Pioneer Village. We saw many picnic shelters that looked very nice. I wish we would have had time to explore more. But it'll give us something to look forward to next time.

     We had a little more than a four hour drive home so we made our way north. You know you're having a great time when you get to 5:00 in the evening and realize you haven't eaten since breakfast. That was us on Friday. We decided to pull off the Interstate in Bloomington to find something to eat. We went through the Wendy's drive-thru and then I wanted to get some more coffee. Drew found three coffee shops in the area where we were and their information online showed they were open. But when we got to each one, they were closed for the day. We were very surprised that in a college town, coffee shops would be closed at 6:30 on a Friday night. These places were even within blocks of IU. But I was tired of driving the narrow streets around the area surrounding the University so we got back on the Interstate and continued our trip. We headed towards Indianapolis and tried to stop at Nordstrom's in the Fashion Mall because they have a coffee bar. Honestly, I just thought it would be funny to say I bought something at Nordstrom. Online it said they were open until 8:00 but they actually closed at 7:00. So we found nearby Doughnuts & Dragons and they were open until 11:00. I went in and got a delicious iced coffee for the road (and doughnuts for our breakfast the next day) before we filled the gas tank and continued our journey home.

     By the time we got home, we had spent almost 38 hours away from home. It was a whirlwind trip filled with lots of places to see, many miles of driving and more memories than we can ever count. This was my first trip to southern Indiana and I can't wait to go back again! How many of your State Parks have you visited? I highly recommend checking them out. They really are gems!

Lions and Tigers and Bears...Oh My!

     Today's trip was one I could hardly wait to take! Yes, I was excited to go. But I was even more excited because of how anxious Drew was! See, for years he's been wanting to visit Black Pine Animal Sanctuary. While the kids were living at home, the fee to visit the sanctuary just wasn't in the budget. When it could be in the budget, they were closed to the public for a period of time. With our plan to visit another place in town, I looked to see what else was around. I saw that they were open to the public once again. I knew we needed to make that visit happen. Off we headed to Albion, Indiana.

     First of all, let me just point out that an animal sanctuary isn't like a zoo or circus. It's nothing like what you may see on Tiger King. The animals we saw today are all there because they needed someplace safe. Some were pets whose owners died and no one in the family wanted them. Some were victims of the exotic pet trade, some were mistreated in circuses and brought to Black Pine for safety. They don't buy, sell, trade or breed any of their animals. Any animal brought to the Sanctuary stays with them and is well cared for until the end of their life. You could tell how much trust these animals have developed in their caregivers as they would come to the fence without hesitation when they were called. Area farmers along with stores like Walmart and Costco donate food to them for the animals. Ticket prices, gift shop purchases and donations go to animal care and Sanctuary improvements. If you're interested in donating to them, they have an Amazon Wish List. The tour includes information about the animals and what brought them to BPAS. The guide also gives information about responsible animal care for the various breeds they have there. It was well worth the admission price! The tour lasted almost two hours and we quickly fell in love with the animals. I would have gladly brought a few home, but Drew said I couldn't. I don't think the Sanctuary would have parted with them either. They seem pretty attached. We'll definitely go back!

     After our tour and a little stop in the gift shop (hey, we had to take something home for the grandkids to play with!), we headed for our original destination. Not sure if you've noticed a trend in our #ThrillingThursdayThingamajig adventures all being at State Parks but we decided that we would make this a "State Park Summer" and visit a different state park in Indiana each week. Growing up, Drew's family visited several of our state parks. I had only ever been to one. So this has been particularly exciting for me. Until today, we've visited 5. Now we can say we've seen 6 and still have a few weeks left to see more. But today's destination was Chain O' Lakes State Park. Let's be honest...any place that has a literal chain of lakes has got to be on my list of places to visit! This park most definitely did not disappoint! Sand Lake is right in the middle of the park and has a very nice beach, picnic area and concession stand area with nice picnic tables under a large pergola. You can rent canoes, kayaks and paddleboats or bring your own. They even have a challenge that you can try to paddle your way through the entire chain! While there is only one lake with a beach, the other lakes have parking nearby so you can visit them. There are many boat launches throughout the park. Trails are very well marked and even labeled with the length of the trail. Most of our exploring at the park was done from the car with the exception of getting out to see four of the lakes. Some day when it's not so hot and humid (and we haven't already spent two hours out in the sun and heat), we will definitely go back to explore more on foot. Indiana definitely has some great parks to offer! If you're in Indiana, you should really check them out. Visit the State Parks website for more information, hours and prices.

     We headed down US 33 towards Churubusco to find something to eat. Drew has a tremendous love for tenderloin sandwiches and had been told about a place in town that has a really good one. He couldn't remember the name of the place but knew it was right along the main road (US 33). So we drove into town and went to the only restaurant we saw. We later found out it wasn't the one he had been told about. But we sure weren't sorry we had ended up at Brevin's Downtown Eatery and Lounge. They had Drew's beloved tenderloin which he said was very good! I saw tater tots on the menu and that was enough for me! I got two pieces of fried chicken with my tater tots and was treated to perfectly breaded and fried chicken! His tenderloin sandwich literally filled the plate and the basket of fries that were served alongside it was filled to the brim. The food was delicious, the service was great and it was nice to be well-fed before our drive home.

     Next week we will not have an adventure. Drew has to work every day because is assistant is on vacation. But we still have a few more weeks to adventure before school starts again. We can't wait to share with you as we continue exploring the area around us. We'd love to have you follow our blog!