Brown County Indiana

June 11th was our 49th wedding anniversary. We decided to get away for a few days. We drove to Brown County Indiana east of Bloomington on the 10th.

On our way south, we stopped at Newfields in Indianapolis. This is the Indiana Museum of Art and grounds including a garden with the Lilly mansion. J. K. Lilly who bought the Oldfields property in 1932 was a descendant of the founder of the Eli Lilly pharmaceutical company and served on the board.

We ate lunch at the museum restaurant. It was very tasty and interesting. The lower level of the dining room looks out at a fountain.

Oldfields is a 22-room French chateau-style mansion built in 1910 surrounded by 26 acres of professionally designed landscape. The first floor which is open to tour is furnished in 1930's era style and includes a great hall (living room), dining room, game room, music room, and a library which once housed 35,000 books. 

The part of the grounds we explored were paved. There is a section overlooking the White River which is rugged and steep which we bypassed. The time to come to Newfields for the garden is spring when the tulips are in bloom. I was somewhat disappointed in the flowers we saw in June. 

The best part of the garden for me was the fountain.

There were some benches on which to sit including one in the shade. It was over 90 degrees and humid so the shade didn't help much, but it was better than the overhead sun. As I watched the patterns appear in the water, I could hear music accompanying them.

We stopped at the Beer Garden as we headed back to the museum, not for beer but for lemonade and rootbeer. 

There is a nature park with sculptures on the other side of the museum. They were doing some construction so not all of the art in the outdoors was accessible. There are bike paths along the banks of the White River that tie into other bike trails in the city. We did not drive over to this part of Newfields but headed for Nashville, Indiana where we had rented a cabin in the outskirts for two nights.

We were glad that Deer Dance cabin is air-conditioned. We would have spent more time outside on the porch if it were not so steamy hot. We did eat some left-over pizza for lunch sitting in the screened porch.

Thursday morning after eating breakfast at Abe Martin Lodge in Brown County State Park, we walked an accessible paved trail near the Park Office. 

Probably the most crowded time for this park is autumn when the rolling hills are ablaze with colorful foliage. We saw a group of kids that were about to set out on mountain bike trails. I am sure there were a few hikers. People also were camping out. We had rain Wednesday night into Thursday morning. The rain stopped while we were eating breakfast. Our other stop was at the nature center.

After showering and eating pizza at our cabin, we headed to Nashville. 

I discovered many of the shops were difficult for me to navigate since I was using my Rolloy rollator walker. Lots of steps. A few had ramps. The two-story complex with the flags had an elevator and a ramp so we visited 3 stores there. After eating sherbet and ice cream, we strolled to Lawrence Family Glass Blowers. (This shop only had a low curb to negotiate.) We bought a humming bird to celebrate our anniversary. 

They even created a glass loop with an opening for filament to be strung so the bird could hang on a stand (or in the shop from the ceiling).

It was a little cooler when we drove home on Friday June 12th. We stopped at Irion's Smokehouse in Ellwood for lunch. This turned out to be southeast a ways, almost to Marion. I ordered pulled pork and my husband ordered beef brisket. This is a small place with maybe 5 tables and counter seating under the front window. You place your order at the service counter. 

We ended up putting half of the sandwich meat in a take-home box. No way we were going to finish what they gave us.

"Artwork" on the walls and trashcan to keep you entertained.

We will eat the leftover meat for our Sunday night supper.

It was good to get away for a few days, but it is nice to be home. I think our traveling days are winding down.