Hey folks! Please tell me my husband,
John, and I aren't the only ones who never really do anything special
for our anniversary. It's not that it's not an important day to us.
We're just not big on celebrating anything. At least not by
spending money on things for each other that neither of us really
want or need. Plus, we just haven't really had the time or money to
do anything special. This year was different, however, and we finally
had the chance to have a (much needed) couple's only weekend!
As I've mentioned about a thousand
times, my parents got us a state park pass for Christmas last year.
It was actually a package deal that also included a year's
subscription to Outdoor Indiana and a $65.00 gift card to use at
state park inns, restaurants, and gift shops. I decided right away we
should use the gift card to actually go somewhere and do something
for our anniversary, so I took it upon myself to plan a weekend
getaway. ;) There are only 7 inns at various state parks around the
state, but it was surprisingly hard to decide where to stay because
they are all at great parks! I ultimately decided on Spring Mill State Park as I haven't been there in years and it is relatively
close to us. So, enough blabbering and on to the trip!
Our first stop was to Blue Springs Caverns as it was on the way and not far off the main road. We used
to love going to caves before we had kids. Unfortunately, we weren't
able to go on a tour because the water levels were too high and it is
a boat tour. Duh. You think with all of the rain we would have
thought about that. :/ But, we were able to do some gem and fossil
sluicing, so that was fun. AND, we learned about a cool program
called the Indiana Cave Trail, where you get your “passport”
stamped at each of four caves in southern Indiana. Once it's
completed you get a free t-shirt!
After checking in at the inn and
looking around at the gift shop, game room, etc., we decided to drive
around the park some since it was still kind of early for dinner for
us. We were able to check out the campground to see if we might like
to stay there with the kids at some point. Then we stopped at the
“lake” (it's more like a big pond, imo) with intentions just to
see if they had boat rentals and look around for a minute. John
wanted to walk down the trail some that circles the lake, but we
ended up doing the whole thing! Trail 5 is supposedly only 1 mile,
but it felt like more than that, so John looked it up and according
to whatever site he found online, it's actually more like 1.5 miles.
Just an FYI. ;) There are some spots where it's pretty narrow and it
gets a little rugged near the northeast side, but it's not that bad.
We started out Saturday by taking a
tour of the pioneer village. I've been to Spring Mill several times
as a kid, but I don't remember ever being able to take a tour. I
don't think they do them very often, plus I think they were having
one because they just started celebrating the grist mill turning 200
recently! Regardless, we enjoyed it for the most part and our guide
was great, but both of us agreed that we wished she had talked more
about life back in the day and less about people and dates.
I almost forgot! We actually stopped in the nature center before we headed to the Pioneer Village There is footage of the inside in the video at the end. :)
Shortly after the tour was over, we
got to see the grist mill run briefly. AND, right after that, the saw
mill. Both really put how our current society lives into perspective
and how far technology/industry has come in a relatively short amount
of time. At the same time it was pretty amazing to see what's
possible with simple machinery and the power of water!
After we grabbed a bite to eat from
the concession stand right outside the village, we leisurely looked
around the village and took some pictures. My favorite has always
been, and still is, the garden area. And yes, they do include plants
they would have used during that time! I also thought it was neat
that some of the people who work in the village make products to sell
in the village gift shop, such as woven rugs and pottery.
In case you're new around here, John
and I both are kind of anti-social/don't enjoy crowds of any size, so
we needed a “people break” after wandering around the village for
so long. We tested the pool water when we got back and it was super
warm and nice! So we enjoyed a nice swim all by ourselves. :) Their
pool is kind of neat too in that it is both indoors and outdoors.
They just take the divider out when it's warm out and you can swim
under the big glass wall. (I always thought that was super cool as a
kid. ;) )
One of the twin caves above.
Bronson Cave
Before heading off for dinner, we
decided to look at a couple of the caves at the park. It was stairs
city down to Bronson and Twin Caves. They actually have a short boat
tour that goes into one of the twin caves, but it isn't open until
Memorial Day. Plus, it probably wouldn't have been open anyways
because of the water level.
While not park-related, I thought I
would include our trip to the drive-in Saturday night! Yes, there are
still drive-ins open. Fun, right? We used to go as a kid sometimes
and I haven't been forever and John has never been, so I was excited.
We saw Guardians of the Galaxy 2, so that was awesome to see on a big
screen! (Btw, it is even better and funnier than the first one!) They
offered all kinds of food items at Holiday Drive-In at reasonable
prices. The biggest complaint I have about the whole affair is that
the movie was supposed to start around 9pm. They didn't start rolling
the previews until 9:20, they included a 10 INTERMISSION, for God's
sakes, before finally starting the actual movie at 9:45. The second
movie was supposed to start around 11. We didn't leave until around
12:15 (credits were rolling). I barely stayed awake during the first
one so, needless to say, while I would have liked to have stayed to
watch the second movie, Logan, there is no way I could have stayed
awake.
This was as close as I could get to Donaldson Cave, that I'm aware of, without going wading.
It was time to head back Sunday, but
we had some time to spare, so we tried to do a little more hiking.
Sadly, the stairs down to Donaldson Cave were quite dilapidated in
parts, so John waited for me while I walked all the way down. I
couldn't see the cave, though, because the creek was too high to walk
around to the opening. Oh. And we saw what looked like a king snake
crawling BACKWARDS into a hole in an old water fountain on the way
down. Ew.
Spring Mill also has a Grissom
Memorial museum as he was from the small nearby town of Mitchell. (He
was the second man in space, btw.) Naturally, we had to stop in there
on our way out. It's pretty neat if you're into that kind of thing.
Plus, it includes his spacesuit and the capsule that he landed in.
As it was Mother's Day and we still
had some time to kill, we decided to stop back by Blue Springs
Caverns and grab a bag o' gems for John's mom because she's a little
obsessed with rocks. Ha ha We may have done another bag ourselves as
well. ;)
We had a really great time, but I was
definitely ready to see my kids. We'll probably end up taking them
there camping some time as well. Spring Mill State Park is a great
place for couples or the whole family, in my opinion. That reminds
me, they are also scheduled to re-open their boat rentals this month
after being closed for 18 years!
