retirement activity

Day trip big birds

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While on our recent day trip we ended up on a well graded gravel road in Brown County, Indiana. We were on our way to another historic bridge and looking for any other neat things to see.

Up ahead we spotted a large black shape next to a yellow striped warning sign. Yep, that’s a turkey vulture, actually two of them. The second one is behind the yellow sign.

Why did the turkey cross the road?

To frustrate that human with the camera!

As soon as we started moving again we were surrounded by what seemed like a large rafter of wild turkeys running across the road. Dang they were fast! Out of the eight or so individuals we only got a couple of photos, neither of which that good. It’s always fun seeing wildlife during a drive in the country.

Oliver Winery is an Indiana landmark

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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!

This two lane covered bridge is at its second location

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In 1858 bridge builder Henry Wolf constructed a double barrel Burr arch truss covered bridge over Ramp Creek on what would become Highway 231 in Putnam County, west of Indianapolis. Time marched on, and in 1932 a new two lane pony truss bridge bypassed Wolf’s covered two lane bridge, which was set to be torn down. Richard Lieber, commonly known as the “Father of Indiana’s State Park system”, ordered it relocated to Indiana’s first state park in Brown County.

Bridge now spans North Fork of Salt Creek

1932 photo of new bridge, left, and old one, right. Photo courtesy Bridge Hunter

Lane two is visible to the left

Clear view of the Burr-arch truss system


This road is the North Entrance to Brown County State Park, just south of Nashville, Indiana. This was the first Indiana State Park, and it is known for its gorgeous fall colors, large camping sites, horse and hiking trails and the rustic Abe Martin Lodge. Each fall the park and nearby Nashville become an absolute beehive of activity for thousands of folks enjoying Indiana nature at its best. There is another entrance that accommodates RV motorhomes and vehicles towing trailers as the bridge has 9 feet clearance and a 3 ton weight limit.

 

Discovery of an Indiana iron bridge

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While following our map/directions app on the way to another historic bridge we were pleasantly surprised when we came up to another old iron bridge. This one has a lower profile, with no superstructure overhead. Typical of lots of smaller iron bridges, the deck is made of open grating that lets you look through the floor to the water below.

The approach

Note the angled supports

Detail of connection

Note damage at end of lattice piece

Looking over North Fork Salt Creek

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This bridge, tagged Brown County Bridge #33, known to locals as the Green Valley Road Bridge, is an iron pony truss design. The bridge spans the North Fork of Salt Creek. The nearly 90 foot long span was constructed in 1915 by the Cambria Steel Co. of Johnstown, Pennsylvania. Cambria was a very prolific builder in many midwestern states at the turn of the century.

Open grate bridge deck

Probably needs an engineer to have a look

 

 

 

 

 

The Green Valley Road runs through a beautiful part of Brown County, one of Indiana’s most visited counties. This small bridge adds to the charm of the road and surrounds. It is eligible for the National Register of Historic Places. The structure could use a coat of paint. Some rather noticeable damage has occurred on one side of an approach. This damage may or may not be structural and hopefully is not hazardous to the bridge.

A very busy day trip

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The weather was nearly perfect, not too hot, partly cloudy and a nice breeze. We decide that Sunday would be a great time to get out and have a day trip. Our son put together a tentative itinerary, and we hit the road late morning. It was sure nice having our son driving.

Soybean fields, forests and a covered bridge

We had quite a day, long in time but most enjoyable. We saw several historic bridges, which you know we enjoy visiting. A country church was a nice stop. We also visited some of the shops in Nashville, Indiana, a huge tourist mecca in south central Indiana. (Yep, two fudge shoppes!)

More deer images coming

We also had a couple of wineries planned. In addition, we found a distillery we were not aware of. Turns out is is well known, and had a marvelous tasting event and enjoyable grounds. In addition we were blessed with the sightings of quite a lot of wildlife and frankly a few surprises as well. Stay tuned, we have several posts on the way!

St John the Evangelist Catholic Church

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Once again we came across an unexpected visual treat while heading to some historic covered bridges. Near Enochsburg Indiana on Base Road is the beautiful St. John the Evangelist Catholic Church.

The church edifice faces one of the two cemeteries on the grounds

The steeple back-lit by the sun

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The cemetery across the road is the newer of the two. The iron double gate entrance has two crosses in the design, and this gate highlights the monument in the cemetery. The rolling terrain provides a striking background to this peaceful resting place.

The entrance gates

Interesting headstones

View through the gate

Behind the church on a very hilly plot of ground is the original cemetery. This, the Old St. John’s Cemetery was first used in 1846. This cemetery is officially a Historic Cemetery listed in Indiana’s Cemetery and Burial Grounds Registry of the Department of Natural Resources. At the lower end of the hill and at the end of the cemetery is a beautiful shrine that was installed in gratitude for the safe return of St. John parishioners who served in WWII.

The original old cemetery behind the church

“Our Lady, Queen of Peace” Shrine

 

 

 

 

 

St. John the Evangelist Church is one of two Catholic churches that make up the St. Catherine of Siena Parish. From the parish website: “St. Catherine of Siena Parish is a newly formed Catholic parish with two worship sites. St. John of Enochsburg and St. Maurice of St. Maurice were merged into one parish in December 2013 with each site offering very unique resources to create a stronger Catholic community.”

 

Some different and pretty stuff on a day trip

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Here’s somewhat of a potpourri of images we captured and then liked.

Overgrown barn and silo

Ears developing

In full tassel

Slow flowing Laughery Creek gives a mirror surface

Delicate tiny wild flowers

Oops! Lost an antennae somewhere

Just simply pretty flowers

Day trips or multi day adventures provide so many opportunities to see and experience new things. I guess that’s why everybody has cameras these days…

 

The 1887 Stockheughter Covered Bridge

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This covered bridge is in Franklin County, Indiana on the Enochsburg Road. The bridge was built by the Smith Bridge Company from Toledo, Ohio. The Smith Bridge Company was a large and very prolific bridge construction company, building bridges all over the Midwest.

Also known as the Enochsburg Road Bridge

Graffiti is a problem on this bridge

Top chords and roofing details

 

 

 

 

 

Note the diagonal deck boards under the wheel tracks

Photo credit Tom Hoffman, 2009 restoration project

This bridge is not very long, at just over 100 feet in length. The covered Howe through truss system used by Smith was also used by other builders, including Hardman. The bridge spans over Salt Creek on the Enochsburg Road. It was constructed in 1887 and underwent an extensive “rehabilitation” project in 2009. It was placed on the National Register of Historic Places on March 20, 2002

An 1885 Thomas A. Hardman covered bridge

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This looks like the bridge was just plopped down on the edge of a forest

We visited another one of Hardman’s bridges at Versailles, Indiana. Hardman uses the Howe truss system, as opposed to the Burr-arch trusses that the Kennedy builders use. This bridge is called the Busching bridge, and is 182 feet long with a 14.1 foot wide deck. It spans Laughery Creek on Ripley County CR 40 South.

Notice this design has an overhang at each end

Busching Bridge name and build date

A look at the Howe truss system

Scenic view of Laughery Creek

Photo taken by Bryan E. Ketcham On Apr. 22,1946 at 10:35 a.m.

Another view with details of the Howe truss system

This is another fine example of a Thomas A. Hardman built bridges. It was restored in 2005 and is well maintained. The bridge was posted to the National Register of Historic Places on March 19, 2019. Coming from Versailles on CR 40 you cross the bridge and enter the valley. The entrance to the Versailles State Park and the new park offices are to the left after you leave the bridge.