Last year was supposed to be the great 17 year mass cicada emergence across the Midwest and East coast. In our part of Indiana we only saw one cicada shell and heard none of the loud insects. Within the last two weeks we have heard a lot of cicadas at night. We have found four of them on the tires of our vehicle. One is in the photo, above. They missed the big show by a year…
photography
Some things we saw on a day trip
Ice Cream Shop patio, Nashville, Indiana
A bear with flowers
Big chair at a mattress store, Maj provides scale
Next to a Brown County road
In Brown County State Park
Barn in B&W
The reconstructed 1885 Cedar Ford Covered Bridge
This beautiful Kennedy Brothers bridge started its life in 1885 by spanning Little Blue River northeast of Shelbyville, Indiana. In 1975, instead of demolishing the bridge to make way for a modern bridge, Cedar Ford was relocated to the Shelby County Fairgrounds.
Beautiful white reconstructed bridge
The bridge remained at the fairgrounds for several years and was a great addition to the historic fairgrounds. However, someone raised a liability issue, and unfortunately the fair had the bridge dismantled, sold it to a private individual and then it was stored unprotected for years. So much for “historic” Shelby County Fairgrounds.
One of the abutments
Kennedy Bros trademark scroll work
A Monroe County, Indiana engineer named Jim Barker got ahold of the useable parts and incorporated them into the design of the fully authentic covered bridge. According to Bridge Hunter website the bridge was reconstructed at “the site of the Millikan/Milligan/McMillan/Williams Covered Bridge that was destroyed by an arson fire in 1976. Remnants of the original abutments of that bridge can be seen just West of the current bridge. Although that bridge wasn’t a Kennedy built span, there were at least two of them that once existed in Monroe County.”
Typical notched connection joint
The Burr-Arch truss
This reconstruction took place in 2019 with as many of the original members as were structurally sound. New materials were faithfully reproduced when required to finish the structure. This bridge is a Kennedy Brothers Burr-arch truss design typical of Kennedy bridges in Indiana. It spans Bean Blossom Creek on Old Maple Grove Road north of Bloomington.
Looks, sounds and smells like it did in 1885
The smell of freshly sawn lumber is perhaps the most remarkable feature of this marvelous rebuild. That’s right, when we walked across the deck of the 127 foot long span, you could clearly smell the clean scent of newly sawn lumber. You can’t help but realize that that fragrance is what the first users of the bridges encountered as they crossed the first time.
Tomatoes going red and some mushrooms
These home grown beauties ripen fast once they start to turn
There were several more that almost made a Fairy Ring…
Our two tomato plants have done quite nicely the past month, giving us, as you can see, some nice fruits. The backyard also was fertile ground, it seems, for quite a few mushrooms that showed up overnight.
Indiana’s “Grave in the middle of the road”
A history and legend filled roadside oddity can be found on CR 400S outside of Amity, Indiana which is south of Indianapolis in Johnson County. The story begins in 1808 when 14 year old Nancy Kerlin married William Barnett. The couple had 11 kids.
The only marker on the grave
Fast forward to 1831, the year of Nancy’s passing. She had a favorite spot on a rise overlooking nearby Sugar Creek. This became her final resting place. Stories say that others began to be buried there as well, creating a small country cemetery. A road was discussed through the cemetery, but Nancy’s son refused to move his mother, so the road went around her.
The road still splits around the graves
In the early 1900’s CR 400 was plotted out, again right through Nancy’s grave site. This is when her grandson Daniel Doty showed up with his shotgun refusing to allow any such activity. Don’t mess with Grandma’s grave! Thus the county said fine, they would run the road on either side of the grave.
The old raised grave mound, photo by Rick Hinton
Over the years vehicle traffic, including large farm machinery, took its toll on both the protection barriers and the grave mound itself. Then in 2016 it was decided that the grave should be lowered and covered with a low profile concrete structure. Archaeology students from the University of Indianapolis excavated the grave and were surprised by the discovery of not just Nancy’s body but remains of six others.
New (2016) historical plaque
The bodies of two women, a man and four children were reburied in individual coffins. The low profile concrete structure now protects Nancy and other early Indiana pioneers. Today flowers and hundreds of coins adorn the surface of the grave in the middle of the road.
Oh deer
Driving through Brown County Indiana’s countryside on a recent day trip we saw quite a bit of wildlife. Off to the left our son spotted a fawn just standing there about 30 yards from the road. Fawns typically lose their white spots 90 to 120 days after birth. It just stayed perfectly still and we drove on after a few minutes.
Mother would be watching as the fawn just stared at us
Then Maj saw a doe to the left about 75 yards off the road. We stopped the car and backed up the 50 or so feet until we could see that there was also a fawn with this doe.
They were right on the tree line
They’re still just looking at us, no movement
Mom says it is time to go
It is always a thrill to see wildlife. Seeing deer seems especially neat, perhaps because they are so large compared to squirrels or raccoons. Oh, and do you see why these are named whitetail deer?
An 1871 Methodist Church
According to Shelby County Indiana history, following is part of the backstory of Jollity United Methodist Church: “Back in the gray and misty dawn of the history of Jackson Township, Shelby County, there came two men who settled in what is now known as the Jollity Neighborhood. These men, William Shipp and Burgess Waggoner, brought their families from Kentucky and settled near the Brockman Cemetery.”
The first church was a wooden frame building about a mile from the existing church. The cost of this was around $300.00. It was replaced in 1871 with a new brick church edifice on a new corner of land. The church is on the Shelby/Johnson County line, closer to Franklin than to Shelbyville.
Church Marquee with Holy statue in background
Memorial Flowering Dogwood, planted in April, 1989
Unfortunately a tornado hit the church in 1877. It was repaired, and over the years renovations and building additions were constructed, one with several small Sunday School rooms, a fellowship hall and a kitchen.
Mr. Reasner must have loved horses
Research has determined that the name of the church, Jollity, is most likely named after Frederick Jollity, the man who originally surveyed Johnson County between 1820 and 1830. The church started as a small group of neighbors who came to Indiana in the 1820’s. The National Methodist website lists the current congregation as 18 members, probably close to the original size of the group.
Nashville Fudge Kitchen
Nashville, Indiana is in the center of Brown County, about 40 miles south of Indianapolis.. The town was established in 1836 as Jacksonburg, however a year later the name was changed to Nashville after Nashville, Tennessee. It was on our itinerary of our recent day trip.
The inviting store front
We were able to find a great street parking spot, as the crowds were not huge like they can be. Off to the Nashville Fudge Kitchen we went, as Sher had already spotted this during her trip preparation. What a marvelous inventory this place had for sale! As soon as you walk in your nose is flooded with delicious scents.
Popcorn in all flavors
Gelato and ice creams, yum!
The video shows the fudge craftsperson working with a roll of fudge ready for sale. This was in fact peanut butter fudge, and we purchased a slice from this roll.
We bought two different types of fudge. We continued on and visited a few more stores. The weather was really nice, with partly coudy skies , a slight breeze, and temperatures in the low 70’s. A great day for a day trip!
The Bean Blossom covered bridge
The Bean Blossom covered bridge is located near the village of Bean Blossom on Covered Bridge Road and it spans, you guessed it, Bean Blossom Creek. This is one of the favorite photo op sites in Brown County, Indiana.
Approaching the bridge
This bridge was constructed in 1880 by a Capt. Joseph Balsey for the sum of $1200. The covered bridge design is that of a Howe-single through truss. The supported approach deck is unique due to the topography as the road approaches the stream bank.
Too bad about the graffiti
Supports for the approach
Overlooking Bean Blossom Creek
Detail of the deck lumber
Interesting story here?
We had to chuckle a bit when we noticed the graffiti just inside of the bridge. Seems that Molly likes to bring her boyfriends here. Have to wonder, was Molly dating Roman and Steve at the same time?
Oliver Winery is an Indiana landmark
The Oliver Winery is located north of Bloomington, Indiana, home of Indiana University. That is important, as Oliver Winery traces its roots to the basement of IU law professor William Oliver in the 1960’s. He started as a hobby, planted a vineyard north of town, and soon had a production winery in the early 1970’s.
Tasting bar in center
Lots of cool stuff!
Covered deck, lovely hill with picnic tables overlooking the pond
Oliver’s website gives a wonderful bit of history: “Professor Oliver was instrumental in passing legislation allowing for the creation of small wineries in our state. The Indiana Small Winery Act passed in 1971, and Oliver Winery opened in 1972. Sales took off with Camelot Mead, and we’ve been growing ever since. Today, we distribute our award-winning, fruit-forward wines to 40 states and ship across the country.”
Interesting limestone feature
Path to the tasting room
From the flower garden…
Oliver Winery grew rapidly during the 1980’s and early 1990’s. The new tasting room was built in 1997. The winery has become a very popular gathering place. The beautiful grounds provide peaceful areas for picnicking, including a lovely pond to add ambiance.
The stunning gardens and grounds are worth the time for a visit! We really enjoyed seeing the Oliver Winery in person. We had discussed many times making a visit to this well known winery. And yes, we left with some Cherry Moscato, Blueberry Moscato and local Dillman Farms Plum butter and Blackberry preserves. Deliciousness coming!
Roadtirement 