retirement activity
Buck Creek Winery case club
Yes, we enjoy a good glass of wine. One of our favorite wineries when we are not traveling is the Buck Creek Winery, southeast of Indianapolis off of I-74 Exit 99. They offer a “buy it by the case” club that gives you very nice savings. (A case of wine is 12 of the 750ml bottles.) After buying a case in January or February at 15% off, any other cases that year are a full 20% off. This is a substantial saving that adds up over the course of a year.
When the owners see us come in they recognize us right off and ask if we want our usual case. Kind of like the old TV show Cheers. Remember it’s “Where everybody knows your name”. We like this place.
Casino on an apparent slow day
It was another frigid cold Saturday in Central Indiana. After a trip to a local winery we noticed that there weren’t many cars at the Indiana Grand Casino. We thought let’s drive around a bit.
Street level view of the Casino, Main Entrance behind the large sign
Apparently there was some construction ongoing as there was equipment around the entrance and Valet Parking was closed. We drove into the parking garage. There were a decent amount of cars on the first two levels. By the time we got to the open top level, there were less than a handful of vehicles.
Few cars in the open air parking lot. This view is from the top level of the parking garage.
View of the empty race track from the garage roof. Racing will start again in April
We chose to not park and go into the casino. It’s a miserable and cold day. With the Omicron covid still a threat it did not seem like a wise thing to partake of today. We’ll just head back home and enjoy a glass of wine.
The Bears of Blue River statue
Charles Major was a lawyer and author from Shelbyville, Indiana, a small town near Indianapolis. Major wrote several novels, including his second book, The Bears of Blue River. A statue of the book’s hero and main character, Balsar Brent, was commissioned in 1927. The statue used to be in front of a now demolished elementary school, but recently was placed within the town square, recently reworked.
Statue in front of school, circa 1950’s
Newly relocated place of honor
The statue still sported the festive Santa hats when we got the pictures. The new town square construction has provided a lovely place for folks to relax and enjoy the seating, and when the weather warms, surely events will be planned.
Detail of bronze plaque
Close up of Balsar and his cubs
The book “Bears of Blue River” is a staple of Hoosier school kids, and has been since it was published in 1901. It is a very exciting read, complete with harrowing adventures, exciting chases and a plethora of encounters with 1820’s wild animals on the then Indiana frontier. I remember it well…
Magnificent Welte Orchestrion music machines at Zaharakos
We recently enjoyed some fabulous ice cream sundaes at the opulent and historic Zaharakos Ice Cream Parlor and Museum in Columbus, Indiana. In addition to the antique soda fountains and cabinets filled with vintage flavor jars, there are several beautiful Welte Orchestrion automatic music machines displayed.
Welte Orchestrion, left. This was during our April 2021 visit.
Welte machines have a long and detailed history. Note that the term Orchestrion was coined by Welte in the 1850’s. Some refer to these types of automatic music machines as orchestrations.
Fully functional, coin operated
Play list
Large and fancy, see the clock on top?
We have been to Zaharakos Ice Cream Parlor and Museum twice now. Here are the links to our posts about each visit. The April 2021 post has photos of lots of the vintage things in the shop. Our visit a couple of days ago will make you want to visit and have a hot fudge sundae.
“Large Arch” public art in Columbus Indiana
Columbus, Indiana is noted for its architecture and public art displays. One of the most impressive art pieces is a huge bronze creation titled Large Arch. It was installed in 1971, and was a gift from the J. Irwin Miller family to the library. It is located on the plaza outside of the Cleo Rogers Memorial Library. (J. Irwin Miller founded the Cummins Corporation.)
Library is the brick building in the left background
The following description is from a Wikipedia article: “Large Arch is an abstract bronze sculpture of an arch created by Henry Moore, an English artist. The shape of the sculpture suggests human hip and leg bones, while the negative space on the interior of the arch suggests an abstracted human torso with head. It is 19 feet 6 inches tall. The width of the sculpture at its base is 12 feet 3 inches wide, but is 13 feet 9 inches at its widest at the top. While the sculpture is hollow, it weighs approximately 11,000 lb (5,000 kg).”
This massive sculpture will certainly catch your eye. In the warmer weather people do enjoy the plaza next to the library.
An afternoon decadent treat
Today was one of those days where you think that you ought to be doing something. About mid afternoon we both said almost simultaneously “Let’s get an ice cream!” Sher and I often think of ideas at the same time. I suggested that we go to Columbus, Indiana and visit the Zaharakos vintage Ice Cream Parlor for the second time. You can read about our visit last April here.
Single scoop butter pecan, hot fudge, whipped cream and cherry
Two scoops butter pecan, hot fudge, whipped cream and cherry
On the drive to Zaharakos we discussed what we were going to order when we got to the Parlor. Hmmm… When we were there before we ordered lunch and said we’d be back for ice cream. Today was that day.
Ready to dive into those hot fudge sundaes!
What delicious sundaes we enjoyed! The butter pecan ice cream was the best I have ever tasted, and Sher agreed. The hot fudge was hot, not like some places. There was also a ton of the hot fudge, as it completely covered the bottom and sides of our dishes. This ice cream parlor was founded in 1900. The place is really an ice cream museum. There are many old soda fountains and several cases filled with the old flavor jars. In addition, there are several old mechanical “orchestra” machines.
Colorful sunrise and some reminiscing
This morning was quite frigid, with temps in the high teens resulting in a hard freeze. Today will be cold, period. Mid thirties is the best we can hope for this afternoon.
Pretty sky outside our front door this morning
A nearly perfect contrail cut across the sky
It is hard to believe that it is actually 2022. Sher and I were chatting yesterday how back when we were younger the year 2000 seemed so far in the future that it was hard to imagine. The epic movie 2001: A Space Odyssey came out in 1968, and my did the year 2001 seem impossibly far away. And yet here we are.
Remember when you’d always mess up and write the wrong year on the checks you filled out the first week of January? Heck the only check I write each year is to pay the county property taxes. And then there were roaming charges you had to look out for. For crying out loud, I used to have an eight person party line in the mid seventies! Enough of this, I feel old enough.
Stay safe out there friends. Have a good January!
Those pesky New Year’s resolutions
“Last year’s resolution was to lose 20 pounds by Christmas. Only 30 pounds to go.“ —Anonymous
Well it is time, so they say, for the making of New Year resolutions. You know, you think of something in your life you want to alter or improve upon, and thus the list is created. Just about anything can be made into a resolution, thus requiring a change of some kind. How about you? Any resolutions for 2022 you’d like to share? We won’t check up on your results later on, we promise!
We always have a ball on the road!
We sure want to travel more this year in our RV motorhome. We do miss the comfort and enjoyment of traveling together. It is a quick trip by air for sure, but in the RV you can see so much more. With the threat of the COVID still very much in play, by using our RV we have our own on board facilities. No public restrooms for us thankfully! In addition we can cook on board if we do not feel comfortable at restaurants.
“A new year’s resolution is something that goes in one year and out the other.” —Unknown
Our quiet New Years Eve celebration
Nothing fancy this year. It is yet another ringing in of the new year for us under the shadow of the pandemic which keeps hanging on. We’re staying home, watching movies and enjoying pizza and wine. Plus we are being safe as we can, and of course enjoying each other’s loving company.
Roadtirement 