It’s been a summer of travel, to far-flung and often breath-taking vistas. Still, a two hour plane ride back to my second (third?) home in Indiana is always surprising and wonderful.
Too many people think of Indiana as one big cornfield. It does have a lot of cornfields, but so much more. My friend Peggy lives in the northern reaches of Indianapolis, a good jumping off point for exploring the northern areas of the state. So, we set off to visit another friend, Sue, and her husband Tom who live near Lake Michigan.
The lake was riled up when we took a stroll on the dunes of Miller Beach. If you didn’t know better (and also if you didn’t notice and recognize the skyline of downtown Chicago in the distance) you would swear you were at the ocean. The remnants of the end of summer littered the beach: a broken folding chair, a ruined flip flop or two, and a lone sock harboring a colony of lady bugs.
We drove south to a smaller and less wild-looking waterway, Cedar Lake, one of the smallish glacial lakes dotting northern Indiana. A historic resort, Lassen’s, has been turned into a museum which tells the story of the ice harvested on the lake, notable people who lived in the community surrounding the lake, and the resort itself. We took a ride on the replica of the steam powered launch which took visitors from the Monon Line railway from Chicago to Lassen’s for rest and relaxation “back in the day.”
Back in Indianapolis, we took our friend Susan’s advice and visited the Restoration Hardware showroom/restaurant/scenic experience which opened last year in a not-really-historic palatial mansion. Better known as the DeHaan Estate, the property has an interesting backstory you can read here. Among other things, before super-rich time share mogul and philanthropist Christel DeHaan built the mansion in the early 2000s, a seminary for African-American Catholics was located there. RH bought the house and property for a cool $14.5 million.
Who knew, right? But Indiana always surprises me, no matter how many times I visit, and Peggy is the perfect companion to “wander” with and discover new wonders! Here are some of the highlights in pictures:
The first day I visited, the iconic Indiana pork cutlet, which I had craved, was consumed. The typical cutlet sandwich is so huge, we split it and it was still a bellyful. Well, that and onion rings on the side of course…This is probably many people’s idea of an Indiana landscape. On our way to northern Indiana, we stopped for grilled cheese and super-butterfat-saturated ice cream at Fair Oaks Farm. Not to be missed unless your’e lactose intolerant!White caps and waves at Miller Beach. See the tiny Chicago skyline view just left of center. One of two steam launches, called the Dewey Line, at Lassen’s historic resort. We took the 20-minute narrated ride across to the Monon Railway site and back. The launch was the fastest and most fun way to travel from the train to the resort on the opposite side of the lake. On the way back to Indianapolis, we stopped in Renssalaer, Indiana to take the Ren Art Walk. Historic court house in the background. I liked the pink coneflowers, though there were plenty more murals to gawk at. Saturday evening seems to be the time many locals with souped up cars rev them up and go cruising around the square, so maybe not the most serene time to visit?!Not officially part of the art walk, but also seen in Renssalaer on a side street. Indiana, keeping it weird!The Palladian style DeHaan mansion, front view. View of dining room. It seems the food is underwhelming according to reviews. We just got $5 glasses of iced tea at the wine bar and roamed the house and grounds. You could also just swan in, buy nothing, and have fun being a cheap interloper. (Which, as regular readers may recall, is what Peggy and I did last year in historic French Lick! ) This kind of strategically placed statuary is everywhere, creating impressive sight lines wherever you look. And finally, another view of the patio with the lake. Tune in to Indiana adventures next year – we’re thinking of going east/northeast next time!
Taking our trip around SW Indiana somewhat out of order, I am jumping to our day in French Lick and West Baden Springs, Indiana. In case you never heard of these historically significant towns, they are an example of those places where people took trains (or perhaps drove their motorcars) from “the city” (Indianapolis, or Chicago, or other Mid-Western metropolises) to “take the waters.”
The massive resorts had their ups and downs, which I will not elaborate on here, but happily survived Jesuits, fires, the Sheraton Hotel company, and other perils to be restored to their former glory. Today, the relatively wealthy and sometimes even famous spend time in the hallowed halls and grounds, getting spa treatments, gambling at the casino, taking in a show, playing golf or just relaxing. Peggy and I, however, took it all in (as the cheap voyeurs we are) without spending a dime.
Here, I shall share our itinerary for a couple of hours of historic splendor and awe. First, we did spend a few bucks fortifying ourselves with ice cream, and wandered around downtown French Lick. Unfortunately, it was Sunday and the historical museum was closed, but we got the gist of “Pluto Water” which was a one-time bottled product of the Springs, from objects readable from the museum’s window, and from an old advertisement on the side of one of the buildings. A jaunty, muscular devil was their brand icon, and their slogan was “When nature won’t, Pluto will” (I.e., this was a natural laxative kind of beverage).
Next, we drove across the road and parked (for free) at the expansive lot in front of the French Lick Hotel. On our way into the lobby, we read historic markers including one about the invention of tomato juice, and then ascended the impressive staircase. We marveled awhile at the ornate lobby, and inquired about the historic trolley which transports people to West Baden Springs, and stopped to glance over cases of historic artifacts (including more Pluto water paraphernalia) and the famous people photos.
Next, after waiting a few minutes at the charming little depot, we boarded the (free!) trolley for the one-mile clackety clack trip through the woods to West Baden Springs. We disembarked and headed straight into the hotel and through the lobby. Once dubbed “the Eighth Wonder of the World” (how many of those are there?), one really needs to experience the hotel’s massive central atrium, which features a 200-foot dome, for oneself to get a sense of its scale and unique design.
Luckily, again for free, mere mortals can loll on a couch in the atrium and stare up at the dome and the hotel rooms arranged around it, for as long as one likes. Peggy and I did just that, zoning out and watching the lights at the top of the dome changing colors. “Are we really here?” and “Is this really real?” we had to ask ourselves.
Breaking away from the mesmerizing atrium, we walked around the atrium to view the enormous Rookwood pottery fireplace, featuring “Sprudel” – an impish figure frolicking among the landscape of the artwork. We roamed the circular hallways enjoying historic photos, and spent a few minutes learning more about the property’s history in their tiny museum.
Here we learned that a movie had been recently shot in the hotel and on the grounds, called “How Cold the River” the plot of which leans heavily on a very ominous bottle of Pluto water. (We had to watch it, of course, after we got home to Peggy’s house. Not highly recommended for anything except the great views of the hotel, and a few laughs at the rather incomprehensible plot.)
After a brief amble around the garden, we climbed aboard the trolley to return through the woods and over the creek to French Lick, our car, and reality. Having spent not a penny, but all the richer for our trip through time and space.
Not actually The Devil, but Pluto, god of the underworld…close enough and still as creepy.Splendor #1, the lobby of the French Lick Hotel. Thank goodness an influx of millions saved it from the renovation done by the Sheraton Hotel company, which covered the amazing tile work and other ornamentation. What were they thinking??More homage to Pluto Water. The framed postcard at the bottom dated 1937 and says “Pluto keeps the tin canner on the can.” It looks like a camper made from a Pluto truck and/or advertising the water, which somehow was spotted in Kenosha, WI. That Pluto really got around.First view of the West Baden Springs hotel, exterior. It is hard to fathom what lies inside from here, but still highly impressive from the outside.And now… the star of the show! The Atrium. Note small love seat type couches, which is where we sprawled ourselves, totally entranced by the dome lights cycling through their colors. The windows all around the atrium are hotel rooms, and the approximately $300/night might be worth the view. Though dwarfed (so to speak) by the Atrium, Sprudel’s fireplace, made up of hundreds of pieces of famous Rookwood pottery, burned 14 foot logs… so nothing to scoff at. All aboard the magical historic trolley for the all too brief ride back to the real world!
On a recent trip to Indiana, my old stomping grounds (from starting grad school in 1977 to leaving for a job at the Smithsonian in 1987), I had many adventures with my dear friend and fellow “wander Indiana” enthusiast, Peggy Sailors. I will report in a series of scenarios and photos!
Adventure #1 was a trip to Terre Haute to attend the “Art of the Adze” exhibition curated by colleague Jon Kay, the State Folklorist of Indiana. I had once held this position for a couple of years in the early 1980s, but he’s really done a much finer (and longer lasting) job of it, I must admit. He and his intrepid research assistant, Katya Chomitzky, curated this lovely exhibition on wooden bowl hewing (AKA “chopping”). They had planned a “Chop In” or “Chop-a-Thon” featuring a gaggle of wooden bowl artisans, which we could not miss.
This event took place at the otherwise tony small art museum, the Swope, in the middle of downtown Terre Haute. Just a wood chip’s toss from quiet galleries featuring works of Grant Wood, Edward Hopper, and Andy Warhol, among others, the din of the the chopping of three generations of bowl makers rang out joyfully. A museum volunteer gamely tried to contain the chips (which fell “where they may” and defied staying on the tarps that had been laid down to protect the floor) with a broom.
Present in spirit, and in memory, was the Father of All Indiana Bowl Choppers, Bill Day, from West Lebanon (may he rest in peace, though maybe he’s chopping bowls beyond the Pearly Gates and driving St. Peter to distraction?). Peggy and I had interviewed Bill and visited with him and his wife Marion while working on a state-wide crafts exhibition called “Materials at Hand.” (More about that at a later date, as it really bears a revisit.)
Bill was a short but powerful retired farmer, with a distinctive high-pitched scratchy voice and an even more distinctive laugh (something like the braying of a donkey combined with a buzz saw maybe?). He honed, so to speak, his already wide knowledge of working with wood into a second career of splitting logs for fence rails. Then, when Marion brought home an old wooden bowl from an antique store, he pondered how to make such a vessel. After perfecting the method (which requires hewing large pieces of green wood with a series of adzes) and making a noisy mess in their house, Marion shoed him out. He rented a small former utility building in “downtown” West Lebanon, dubbed Bill’s Chop Shop.
Bill’s work earns a prominent place in the exhibition, and his memory is well preserved by the older current choppers in attendance a the Chop-In. It was gratifying to hear them speak so fondly of Bill and his work, his generosity of spirit in teaching others, and his time as resident bowl chopper at the Indiana State Fair’s “Pioneer Village.” And also to see that the “art of the adze” is being passed on down the generations. (The youngest chopper in attendance at the event was a strapping 15-year old.) And to see that several women have found their way to bowl chopping, too!
Check out the exhibition and Chop-In!
Peggy (right) and me (left) pose in front of the sign that pays homage to Bill Day and even mentions us!
The sounds and sites of the Chop-In! Featuring in this grouping, the Ruble family, led by patriarch Keith, who succeeded Bill Day as chief bowl chopper at the State Fair. He taught his sons Andy and Luke and daughter in law Kasey, all seen (and heard) chopping here.
Choppers assembled to exchange info and get their photo taken in the gallery. Youngest chopper, Luke Boyll, is in right forefront with his teacher/mentor Blaine Berry.View of exhibition showing in forefront some excellent examples of Bill Days work. (These were loaned by Peggy!)Terre Haute, as it says on this historic marker, is located at the cross-roads of America, as this historic marker tells us. This spot being the crossing of US Highway 40 and 41. Which just goes to show that Indiana is at the center of all good adventures…so tune in next time for more!
