A lot of stuff

Connersville Indiana city cemetery contains interesting markers

/ Roadtirementvintage / 2 Comments

The City of Connersville’s City Cemetery contains many historic names etched in the stone of the many grave monuments. The remains in two previous city burial grounds were moved to the 14 acre location in 1851. The cemetery was dedicated in a sacred ceremony in that year.

View across the grounds. The mound is the top of a mausoleum.

The only mausoleum was empty.. The reason is still a mystery.

Lt Samuel Shipley was a member of the first graduating class of the US Naval academy. He served as a shipboard  officer in the Civil War.

The “Soldier’s Circle” honoring the Civil War Vets

There are many interesting monuments in the cemetery. Politicians, businessmen and their families and other folks have made the Connersville City Cemetery their final resting place. The grounds have been designated as a local historic district, and guided tours are offered by Historic Connersville, Inc.

You don’t know how much you’ll miss something…

/ Roadtirementvintage / 7 Comments

…until you don’t have it.

It was yesterday afternoon at about 3 o’clock. The dreaded “buffering circle” popped up in the center of the TV screen, freezing the picture at the same time. We began to worry when five minutes later, still no TV connection. The upper right corner of our I-Phones showed SOS. Our cell service is from T-Mobile.  T-Mobile 5G Home Internet provides our internet signals. Neither was working.

Four hours later we sort of resigned ourselves to the fact that tonight would be phone and internet free. The few outages we have had were fixed within about 15 minutes or less. This was a much more ominous outage. Our son had been visiting his brother, and he stopped at a McDonalds and was able to get a quick phone hookup on the McD’s Wi-Fi. Indianapolis and Shelbyville were suffering from a massive T-Mobile system outage.

We settled in for an evening of games on our phones. After some play on Royal Match I picked up a John Grisham thriller, “The Guardians”.  It was so quiet in the house. Seemed like no traffic at all in our little subdivision.

Next morning our son went out to see if the T-Mobile store was open. It was not open. Above see the note on the T-Mobile door. About noon we all drove out to hook up to McDonald’s Wi-Fi. We had some business online we had to tend to. That done, back to the quiet home. Finally about 4:33 in the afternoon, lo and behold, with no fanfare, both our phone service and Home Internet silently came back into our lives after a little over 24 hour outage.

It is true: you don’t know how much you will miss something until you don’t have it.

Little Sheba’s Restaurant is a gem in Richmond, Indiana

/ Roadtirementvintage / 4 Comments

We were on another day trip, this time to Richmond, Indiana, the county seat of Wayne County on the Indiana – Ohio Border. We took US Highway 40, the National Road, stopping at several yard sales along the way. By 1:30 pm it was time to eat.

Welcoming Entrance

Comfortable well stocked bar

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

After a stop at one place on The Chocolate Trail in Richmond, the proprietor recommended Little Sheba’s Restaurant for lunch. Her quick description of the menu turned out to be spot on!

Mediterranean salad, delicious and filling

Loaded half pound burger with potato salad and pickle spear

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Little Sheba’s  Restaurant is in one of the historic districts in downtown Richmond. We were very pleased with both the service and the quality of our meals. You should definitely put Sheba on your list for potential eating places in Richmond. This is the Little Shebas’ website.

“Heartbreak Hotel” brings the story of Elvis to Beef & Boards Dinner Theatre

/ Roadtirementvintage / Leave a comment

Indianapolis Beef & Boards Dinner Theatre is excited to bring the official Elvis Presley bio-musical, Heartbreak Hotel, to the stage through October 12, 2025. The show tells the story of Elvis and his rise to fame in a unique way. A young Elvis helps his grown persona cope with his life of fame and fortune through the years.

Kid Elvis (Henry Kirk) appears to guide Elvis Presley (Nicholas Voss), who is in crisis mode

The cast includes Nicholas Voss making his Beef & Boards debut in the role of Elvis Presley. B&B veterans are Sarah Hund as Gladys Presley, Eddie Curry  as Colonel Tom Parker, Benjamin Nurthen as Scotty Moore, and Matt Smolko  as Bill Black.

Elvis Presley, center, performs at the Louisiana Hayride show in 1954

Henry Kirk, also in his B&B debut, is wonderful in his portrayal of Kid Elvis. He is an eight grader in a local Indy school system. His previous experience in national stage productions is evident in the quality of his performance, which is truly a highlight of the Heartbreak Hotel musical.

Heartbreak Hotel  features over 20 Elvis trademark songs including, “That’s All Right,” “All Shook Up,” “Heartbreak Hotel,” “Burning Love,” “Good Rockin’ Tonight,” “Hound Dog,” “Love Me Tender,” “Don’t Be Cruel,” “Jailhouse Rock,” “Are You Lonesome,” and “Blue Suede Shoes.” Couple these classic tunes with chronological events in Presley’s career and you have a fascinating look at the The King of Rock and Roll.

Elvis Presley, center, performs “Viva Las Vegas”

Heartbreak Hotel is on stage through Oct. 12. Tickets to Beef & Boards productions are available exclusively through Beef & Boards Dinner Theatre, either at Beef & Boards website, or by contacting the box office at 317.872.9664. Tickets range from $57 to $85 and include Chef Larry Stoops’ dinner buffet and select beverages.

Beef & Boards Dinner Theatre announces its 2026 (53rd) season

/ Roadtirementvintage / Leave a comment

Beef and Boards Dinner Theatre is offering a truly awesome season this coming year. The beloved Indianapolis Northwest side  Dinner Theatre will present mystery and mayhem, felines and fairy tales, and fire and rain for its 53rd Season in 2026.

SHOW NAMES AND DATES

The Mousetrap (Jan. 6 – Feb. 15) First time at B&B’s since 1978

Pretty Woman (Feb. 19 – April 4) The Beef & Boards Stage Debut

Singin’ in The Rain (April 9 – May 23) The beloved MGM classic!

“Singin’ in the rain”

Rodgers & Hammerstein’s Cinderella (May 28 – July 12)

The Play That Goes Wrong (July 16 – Aug. 23) Beef & Boards Debut

Ring of Fire returns (Aug. 27 – Oct. 4) Johnny Cash’s iconic playlist

Andrew Lloyd Webber’s sensation,  CATS (Oct. 8 – Nov. 22)

Cast of “CATS”

Irving Berlin’s Holiday Inn (Nov. 27 – Dec. 31) Beef & Boards Debut

Sales for 2026 VIP Memberships are now open to the public. Individual tickets for all 2026 Season shows are on sale to the general public starting Oct. 1, 2025, and may be purchased by visiting Beef & Boards website, or calling the box office at 317.872.9664 (closed Mondays). Tickets for main stage shows range from $59.50 to $87.50, and include a dinner buffet, full fruit & salad bar, coffee, tea, and lemonade. Note: Discounts are available for groups and kids ages 3-15. Children under age 3 are not admitted to mainstage shows.

Indiana Candlelight House built in 1868 now home to ghosts

/ Roadtirementvintage / 7 Comments

Located in Johnson County, Indiana, east of the modern I-65 interstate highway is a stately two story brick home commonly referred to by the name Candlelight House. In olden days the  many windows facing the road were said to have been often lit with candles.

Photo we took from the road, work in progress on the new porch.

Working on the new portico/porch

The owners of the house are currently working on the restoration of the house. The day we drove by a new porch was being installed. This structure was surprisingly made of structural steel, not like the original wood portico that is long gone.

Unknown date, unidentified people. Photo from Franklin Daily Journal files

Since the house was built three generations of the same family have lived in the house. The only son of the third generation, named Otho Henry Pritchard, died in the house in 1995. According to many accounts Otho still walks the rooms of the house, even writing his name with his finger on windows. There have been paranormal investigations at the house.

Historic hotel now a favorite local restaurant

/ Roadtirementvintage / Leave a comment

Sunday was a great day for an unplanned day trip to Franklin, Indiana. There was perfect weather for seeing things in the area and we ended up at a local historic site and restaurant.

The popular local eatery

The entrance

The old hotel light visible

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Willard Hotel was once an active hotel and now The Willard is a very popular restaurant with both outside seating and indoor dining areas. We really enjoyed our very tasty meals. Our son had pretzel breadsticks, fries and a coke. Sher had a custom made veggie pizza and I had the fried fish platter. We both enjoyed Blue Moon on tap. Our waiter Steven took excellent care of us, making sure we had everything we needed for an enjoyable dining experience.

Two piece cod platter with fries, hush puppies and slaw

Custom made veggie pizza

Curved stairway leading to now closed second floor of the hotel

The brick house of the Willard was originally built in 1860 by the daughter of one of the town’s founders. Over the years the hotel saw quite a history and the legends of hauntings continue to this day.

Historic 1901 Indiana school suffers extensive damage in 2022 fire

/ Roadtirementvintage / Leave a comment

While on a recent day trip to Parke County, Indiana to enjoy the many covered bridges we came across a sad sight.  A large sign explained that we were viewing the Wabash Township Graded School that was open from 1901 until 1986 in the town of Mecca.

Front face with bell tower

Main Entrance

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

A devastating fire occurred in November, 2022. This fire completely destroyed the pitched roof of the 1901 main building and the flat roof of the gymnasium that was a 1923 addition.  Both roofs collapsed during the fire.

View of gym addition

Gym wall, roof gone

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The structure was listed on the  National Register of Historic Sites. Following is from the original application for this listing: The architectural style of the 190l-l9l0 main section of the building shows Richardsonian Romanesque influence, which is evident in the bell tower, rock-faced lintels and voussiot’s, arched doorways and belfry openings…

Sign placed well before the fire

Local references report that sometime after the school closed in 1986 the structure was used as a community center. The fire damage that is visible is quite extensive. Rebuilding would be very costly, if not cost prohibitive.

John Conner founded Connersville, Indiana in 1813

/ Roadtirementvintage / Leave a comment

John Conner founded Connersville, Indiana, when he laid out the town in March of 1813.  The town was laid out next to Connor’s  fur trading post on the Whitewater River. Conner was an important person in Indiana’s history, as he surveyed many towns and villages, including the layout of the then young city of Indianapolis.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Connersville has lots of history and historic sites to explore. We’ve just started our dive into Connersville!

The City of Connersville placed a memorial statue of Connor on a corner of the Fayette County Courthouse parking lot in 2017. Plaques listing Connersville’s history adorn the four sides of the statue’s large base.