In just the first four months of this year here is a map of all the states we have visited so far:
Specifically this trip had us drive in TN, KY, OH, and IN. The main reason for the trip was to visit a haunted house in Hartford City, Indiana, that has been nicknamed the "Demon House" and has been on tv shows most notably Paranormal Lockdown. However it is going to take me time to go through the recordings that we took so that will be in a separate blog. However, here is the rest of the trip in case you are ever driving through Indiana and want to see some interesting sites.
Our first stop was in Corydon, Indiana, and the site of the "Constitution Elm." The elm stood near Indiana's first capital building. During the hot summer the early legislators would gather outside under the shade of the elm. It was certainly large enough as before its demise due to disease the tree stood over 50 feet tall with a five foot diameter. The branches spread out providing over 130 feet of shade. Forty three representatives from across the territory attended the Constitutional Convention in June of 1816 and signed Indiana's Constitution while sitting under the tree. By 1825 the General Assembly moved to Indianapolis. One hundred years later the elm succumbed to disease and pieces of it were sold as souvenirs. In 1937 a memorial was placed over the remaining stump to preserve that piece of Indiana history.Stop number two was a familiar figure for road trips that we have been on because it involved Merriwether Lewis. At the Falls of The Ohio State Park we stopped to see a statue commemorating Lewis and Clark's journey of exploration. On October 14th, 1803, Lewis and George Clark met at the Falls and shook hands marking the beginning of the expedition. On October 26th they departed for the American West 200 years later the statue was placed on this spot in honor of their journey.
Next stop was a grave in Dupont Cemetery shaped like a micrometer. The grave is for Carol Hughes who passed away in 1999. The micrometer is a tool Robert Hughes, still living, used in his tool and die shop.
Our next stop was a two in one. I was going to Aurora, Indiana, to see a building that has boarded up windows and the boards are painted with different people that the artist sells. It was also getting to be time to stop for lunch and the building housed a brewery and restaurant.
Great Crescent Brewery has its beginning dating back to the 1870s when Thomas and James Gaff opened their brewery to complement their distillery that dated back to 1843. They were originally located near the river and caverns underneath the buildings were used to store the beer. Though in the time afterwards the brewery changed hands several times. The current Crescent Brewery was started in 2008 by the Valas family and continues to adhere to the same quality Crescent brewery was known for back in the late 1800s. The atmosphere inside was awesome from the moment we walked in.
I ordered their Bavarian Burger on a pretzel bun. Basically it was the perfect melding of a reuben and a burger. The pretzel bun is made in house and the brewery prides themselves on fresh local ingredients for their food and beer. Case in point the IN Orbit beer that I ordered is made from hops farmed all around Indiana. 
Next was a stop in Metamora, Indiana, part of the Whitewater Canal Historic District, which stretched from Lawrenceburg to Hagerstown Indiana in order to provide a better and faster way to travel. The artificial waterway was built between 1836-1847 following the success of the Erie Canal as a way to connect the Whitewater Valley to the Ohio River. The canal was no small task since over the course of 76 miles the canal had a 491 foot elevation drop, which meant the water would descend 6.4 feet per mile. As a result it required 56 locks and seven dams to aid the passage and control the waterway. The canal was short lived however despite the large investment. Just as the Natchez Trace had lost its importance to steam boats now boat travel lost its value in favor of the rail roads.
During the heyday of the canal era in Metamora stood the Faulkner-Pierce Drug Store. It was built with rock from the Duck Creek later it served as a hardware store and now it is Grammie's Cookie Jars and Ice Cream Parlor. Officially in the Guinness Book of Records the store is listed as having over 2600 cookie jars though by now the number has grown as well as housing a large collection of salt and pepper shakers. With each step in the store the cookie jars clinked and shifted so that I was afraid to move to fast.
There were two rooms filled with cookie jars of all types. Meg bought a wooden set of three when the woman behind the counter began wrapping it Meg said it was unnecessary and the woman stopped and looked at her and told her she was going to wrap it because they take pride in their cookie jars. So if anyone visits, let them wrap the cookie jars :-)As soon as we went in I began searching for a particular cookie jar I was certain they would have, Little Red Riding Hood. We actually have two of them and the salt and pepper shakers that match. My Mom had one for a long time and it was a prized possession. In a corner of the shop I found them.
As we drove to our next location in West College Corner we passed a historical marker entitled "Wanted By the FBI" on it it told part of the story of George W. Barrett since we only drove by we just saw one side which said:
"On August 16, 1935. FBI Special Agents Nelson B. Klein and Donald C. McGovern spotted car thief George W. Barrett here. Barrettt, a convicted criminal, ran a scam stealing cars, altering them, then selling them. He transported cars over state lines, violating National Motor Vehicle Theft Act, passed 1919. The federal law helped catch many criminals in 1920s and 1930s."
Apparently Barrett was wanted from as far away as California. Klein and McGovern chased him and during the shoot out Agent Klein was killed. Barrett would be charged with Klein's death and was the first person executed for killing a federal agent.
Next was a trip to the eastern side of Indiana and West College Corner where they have school that straddles the state line. The school was originally built in 1893. One arched door serves an entrance on the Ohio side and the second arch door is in Indiana.
Up next was another cemetery and the grave of young Vivian Allison. She was only five when she passed away. Her Father, a carpenter, had been building her a Victorian style doll house and placed it next to her grave in the Connersville City Cemetery. Sadly the dollhouse is no longer there, I don't know if it is gone because it was damaged or maybe it is just temporarily missing for restoration.
Since we had gone all the way to Connersville we decided to walk around the cemetery for a little bit to see who we could learn about. Like Captain Samuel J Shipley one of the first ever graduates of the Navel Academy in Annapolis. He was born December 24, 1813 to Joseph and Mary Shipley. In 1839 he enrolled at the newly formed Naval Academy and in the spring of 1840 he was a member of the first graduating class.On our way to our next location we saw a covered bridge in Robert's Park and took a detour to check it out. Apparently the bridge was built in 1884 by the Kennedy family, three generations of that family built bridges over the course of fifty years. In 1984 this bridge, named the Longwood Bridge after a nearby train station, was moved to the park for its centennial.
I love old wooden covered bridges; on a drive through PA many years ago I had stopped to see a couple of bridges. I thought about doing a driving tour to see the bridges made famous by The Bridges of Madison County but I understand many of those bridges no longer stand. I did find an interesting website that I will be able to use to plan a trip to see different bridges (Covered Bridge Map).
Now we had been driving for a long time and we had one more stop before dinner and it was a quick one. On the website Roadside America I found the world's largest candle in Centerville outside of a candle and gift shop.
And then we stopped at Clara's Pizza King where you can sit inside a double decker bus while you eat. On our table was a telephone to call in our order when we were ready. We looked over the menu and decided on a plain deep dish pizza. I'm going to be honest. I've had better pizza but the restaurant was beautiful. There were pieces of stained glass hanging from the ceiling and a large stained glass window that the setting sun illuminated.
Then we drove to Kokomo, Indiana, where I had planned to spend the night at a LaQunita. Now I had known we were taking this trip for a long time but I hadn't booked a room because I didn't think I needed to. I just assumed we would be able to find a room. Weeeeeeelllllllllllll, I was wrong. Apparently we had the perfect storm of events that made a hotel room in possible. The NRA was having a convention that the President attended, the Pacers had been in the NBA playoffs, and the local college classes had ended so parents were in town picking up their kids. We had spent over an hour going from hotel to hotel when finally the Hampton Inn suggested we try the Marriot Residence Inn. We did and took one of their last rooms and I learned my lesson a little less winging it if we know we are going and staying in a hotel I might as well book the room. I just didn't think the rooms would be sold out.
After putting our bags in the hotel room we decided to go across the street to the Half Moon Brewery which we had driven past about six times while searching for a hotel. We ordered the full flight to share so we could try all their brews and split a pretzel. Hanging on the wall by the bar were awards they had won in past years at different competitions. The goal, as usual, was to find a good brew to bring home in a growler. With each one we tasted both of us were like "this is a growler contender." Finally the decision came down to two:
1. "All IN" which featured all ingredients from Indiana including barley from Sugar Creek Malting Co and Chinook Hops from Liberty Hop Farm.
2. "Spotlight City Red" an Irish Red Ale with a caramel finish.
We ended up going with the Irish Red.
Then we returned to our hotel room to sleep for the night.
Day two of the trip had less stops because I wanted to make it a relaxing day before our overnight ghost investigation. We started day two just like we started day one: looking for a giant tree stump, specifically this was a large sycamore stump. The 800 year old stump was moved on June 18, 1916, from its original location where it served as a landmark location in Howard County to Highland Park. The tree had been over 100 feet tall, with a 57 foot circumference, and branches that measured 8 feet in diameter.Also in Highland Park was another Covered Bridge!
The Vermont Bridge was built in 1875 and moved to Highland Park in 1957. Inside string lights lined the ceiling and graffiti lined the walls. As I walked through and looked at the graffiti I noticed one in particular which stuck out because it had been updated recently reading "MPM + CMM 060910" and under it in "2019 still married." That made Meg and I smile. I wonder what else has changed in nine years and will they return in another nine years to provide further updates?
Our second stop in Kokomo was a monument to the first "horseless carriage ride." On July 4th, 1894, Elwood Haynes of Kokomo took the first car ride traveling at a top speed of seven miles an hour; he took a six mile ride in the automobile he had designed and built. It seemed fitting to pay tribute to the first road trip while on my road trip.
Then we turned east about 30 miles to Fairmount, Indiana, where James Dean was buried at the young age of 24. James spent part of his childhood living in Fairmount with an Aunt and Uncle where he graduated high school before going to CA to study law at first and then drama. His career was just starting when he was tragically killed in a car crash.On our way out of the cemetery we stopped when we saw a beautiful grave stone in honor of Douglas Compo. Over the course of his life he had served in the US Navy on two ships and been married for over fifty years to Brenda Scott. The stone featured a tree with the branches named for his children and grand children, nearby his infant grand daughter was buried a granite lamb marked her burial.
Next we headed to Fort Wayne, Indiana, to see a perpetual motion billboard on the roof of Perfection Bakeries. The billboard shows a package loaf of bread with slices falling out of it.
And then we turned towards Berne, Indiana's Muensterberg Plaza and Clock Tower. Berne is a small town just over 2 square miles but it made it onto the 2019 Indiana map available in information centers around the state. The clock tower harkens back to Bern Switzerland's Zytglogge Tower. The earliest settlers were eighty-two Mennonite from Bernese Jura who arrived around 1852 and the town honors their roots in several different ways. On the city flag and coat of arms is a bear, and also serves as the school mascot.
A plaque inside the bell tower quotes Naomi Lehman, a local historian and author about the early settlers:
"So they came to the wilderness of Adams County, Indiana, bringing with them all of their earthly possessions, meager as they were. Bu they also brought far greater treasures - faith in God and loyalty to His Word, courage, optimism, willingness to work, and skills and trades. They came to a country where they would be fully accepted, where they could own their land, and where there was opportunity for bettering their economic situation. This settlement was the beginning of a strong community."
The tower was built by the Berne Community Development Corporation and was dedicated on July 31, 2010, during their Swiss Day Celebration. The Clock Tower stands 160 feet tall and 32 feet wide. Inside the bell tower is a figure to strike the bell who stands seven feet tall.
Unfortunately we were not there in time to see the figurines of the Glockenspiel but that just gives us a reason to return perhaps when it is warmer and the flowers in the plaza will be blooming.
After that we drove to Hartford City to go over research and notes on the house and get ready for our ghost investigation. That will be a separate blog post once I go through the recordings and videos but the link will be below when it is finished.
After the night of ghost hunting it was time to make the roughly 7 hour drive home. From the highway we passed by one last interesting sight. Apparently nestle headquarters in Indiana so welcoming us to the area was a giant Nestle Quik bunny.
Road trip success!
P.S. On road trips we play a little game inspired by John Finnemore's character Arthur in Cabin Pressure. It's called yellow car and it is very simple. Whenever you see a yellow car you say "yellow car." We learned that people in Indiana really like yellow cars.
Yellow Car Counter
Meghan: 37.5 (it was a weird tricycle motorcycle thing)
Jo: 22
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