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.
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| 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.
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| 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!
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| 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!
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| 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!
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| 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!
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.
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!
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!
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!
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!
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