Village of Story is found south of Nashville Indiana

The community of Story dates back to 1851. It began as a lumber town that was founded by Dr. George Story. At its peak of development it boasted a non-denominational church, grain mill, blacksmith shop, two general stores, a post office, slaughter house and a few homes.  Between 1930 and 1940 about half of the residents left Brown County during the Great Depression.

Exterior of General Store/Restaurant

Former Service Station Sign

Nice outside patio

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Story nearly became a ghost town after the main road between Columbus and Bloomington was cut off by the completion of Lake Monroe in 1960 by the Army Corps of Engineers. In the late 1980’s the General Store became a bed and breakfast, and in 1999 the entire town was purchased by one individual.

Inside the first floor dining room

Cozy dining areas

 

 

 

 

 

Posing with the bear

The Story Inn offers a wide variety of dining and lodging options from which to choose. The main floor of the store is now the rustic dining room with gourmet items on the menu. Many rooms are ready for visitors on the second floor. Yarns aplenty are told about “The Blue Lady”, who many claim still haunts the second floor. The tavern is in the basement. All bar seating is provided with original iron tractor seats.

In front of the store

Stairway to the Still Tavern

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Sher going into the basement Tavern

The Story motto through the years remains “-One inconvenient location since 1851-“. You can rent the entire town if you want to have one huge wedding or family reunion. Many different packages are available to fit any size group or time of stay. Many events occur during the year including a Bourbon Festival, Wine Fair, 1880’s style Baseball games, comedy shows and other events. When visiting Nashville, consider taking a little side trip down Highway 135 and check out Story. This is the Story Inn Website

A fun Saturday discovery

Wine bar to serve you

Sher and I wanted to have a new experience Saturday. We had been looking for nearby attractions, and found that there was a winery near Batesville, Indiana, about half way between Indianapolis and Cincinnati.  Ertel Cellars Winery is a well established winery and bistro, offering both excellent varieties of wines and varied and delicious menu selections in the restaurant.

Loving that wine!

Studying the wine list

 

 

 

 

 

 

That’s a burger

We decided to have our meal on the outside covered patio. The seating was in very comfortable wood rocking chairs, and overlooked a beautiful green valley through classic rough stone masonry. We each received a complimentary flight of three wine samples. Of the samples we both preferred the Pink Catawba, one of the Estate wines, meaning grown, fermented and bottled on site at Ertel Cellars.

The meals we ordered were from the lunch menu. I ordered the Smoked Gouda cheese burger, and Sheryl had the Spinach salad with all the trimmings. Both of our meals were superb and very filling. We had a bottle of the Pink Catawba with our meals and took the specially packed unfinished bottle  home with us. Sarah was perfect as our wait staff and made our visit most memorable.

Gorgeous view from our table

Some of Ertel’s vineyards

 

 

 

 

 

 

The dining patio is an absolutely delightful place to enjoy a quiet and calm Saturday afternoon. With the best company (no question there), great food and excellent wine we had an adventure that turned into a romantic Saturday date. Ertel Cellars should be on any traveler’s agenda. We’ll be returning.

 

BJ’s Restaurant and Brewhouse

Philly steak

It has been over a year since we were able to see Maj’s sister. That changed when we met for lunch at BJ’s Restaurant and Brewhouse in Noblesville, Indiana. Noblesville is northeast of Indianapolis but is really part of the Indy Metro area. BJ’s is part of a national chain.

We had a wonderful time “catching up” on the news from my sister’s family and we shared our family news too. It’s amazing how much has occurred in the past year and a half in our families.

 

 

 

 

The restaurant is spacious, and when seated we noticed extra partitions between booths. The food and service was excellent. The menu featured tons of options, and many different beers. We ordered something we had never seen before: a flight of margaritas! Served like a flight of beers, it had four different margarita samples.  We agreed the strawberry sample was our favorite.

The flight of margaritas

The food and service were both excellent. The portions were very generous, and all three of us enjoyed our meals. The most enjoyment of this luncheon came from our being together again. Now that things are at least somewhat back to near normal, we hope to get together each month.

 

The Table by Bellingham Pasta Co

We had a delicious dinner tonight at The Table by Bellingham Pasta Co. It was located next door to the Mount Baker Theater where we went to see the Northwest Ballet present “Dracula”. Maj had spaghetti with meatballs and marinara sauce, and I had spaghetti with marinara sauce. Their pasta is made on site daily and they use locally grown and produced items. It was so good, we both loved it and plan on eating there again before we head back to Indiana. We are giving them a 5 star rating. If you are in the Seattle area we highly recommend stopping by for lunch or dinner. There website is Bellingham Pasta.