travel

Trying out Mallow Run Winery

/ Roadtirementvintage / 24 Comments

A hot sunny day with no rain in sight so we decided to try a new (to us) local winery.  The Mallow Run Winery near Bargersville, Indiana has been open to the public since the early 2000’s. The land where the grape arbors stand have been in the family since 1824, and is a Hoosier Homestead Farm.

Coming off of Whiteland Road you pass through perfectly manicured grape arbors. When you reach the tasting room you are immediately impressed with the barn structure. The original hand hewed timbers were salvaged from and repurposed from the 1824 barn.

The tasting is free for up to four samples, which of course is a great deal and not that common anymore. Sher and I tried different and in a couple of cases the same wines. One we really were interested in was the rhubarb wine. The wine is sweet, but with the distinctive rhubarb taste.

Beautiful arbors

Outdoor stage

 

 

 

 

 

Mallow Run Winery has a beautiful outdoor stage and lawn area behind the barn. There is a full set of summer concerts planned for the 2021 season. We will defiantly be taking in one of the concerts. Our hostess shared that there will be wine slushies available for the concerts!

We decided to purchase two bottles of wine. We did go for a bottle of the rhubarb wine, and in addition, we got a bottle of “Picnic Red”. There were other wines on the list that we tried, some we liked, some we didn’t. However we think that along with the concerts, we’ll be returning for more wine. Click here for the Mallow Run website.

 

Back to a casino

/ Roadtirementvintage / 18 Comments

Sher and I always enjoyed casinos either at home or while traveling. COVID-19 stopped that for over a year. Being vaccinated, we’re slowly getting back to “doing things”. After some discussion, we figured it was time to try the Indiana Grand casino near us. (Indiana Grand is a casino and thoroughbred race track, part of the Caesars’ gaming company.)

We hoped a weekday afternoon visit might avoid having to face a big crowd. That strategy worked well, as the parking lots and garage were not filled as we remembered from pre-covid days. The first change we noticed was the requirement to show your driver’ license, the information of which was recorded. The Security fellow said it was for ‘contact tracing’ if needed. Hmmm…

Masks were required, except when you are eating or drinking. The self serve coffee and soda stations have morphed into refreshment stations where an employee serves you your free coffee or soda. Bottled beer was also available for purchase.

Sher enjoyed Great Gorilla slots. By the way Gorilla was very generous this session…

The slot machines were spaced further apart than before. A set of 3 machines had only the two outside positions open. Basically, at any machine you were 6 feet away from the closest player. The blackjack table games had limited seating as well. The only place we saw folks not social distancing was at the Roulette and Craps tables.

Things are definitely different: the buffet is a thing of the past with food available at a snack bar and one restaurant. The noise level is much less. The volume on the slot machines seem to be much lower than pre-covid. With the slot spacing you don’t feel as “crowded”. Oh, and people watching isn’t nearly as much fun with everybody in masks! All in all we did feel comfortable being out in the casino. Good to have that back.

Zaharakos since, yes, since 1900

/ Roadtirementvintage / 25 Comments

Part of the 50′ marble bar

Close up of the bar, note Tiffany Lamp with twin soda dispensers

We wanted to take a little drive yesterday just to get out of the house for a while. Wanting to find something new to do or see, we headed to Columbus, Indiana which is south of Indianapolis. Sher had found an ice cream parlor online that looked neat, and it certainly was!

Collection of antique soda fountains

Antique flavor dispensers

Enjoying a cherry fountain soda

At the second soda bar, Welte Orchestration on left

Zaharakos has been serving ice cream since 1900 in downtown Columbus. It is a most amazing place. It is in a way overwhelming with the beautiful 50 foot long marble soda bar, Tiffany lamp twin soda fountain and a museum of antique soda fountains and flavor dispensers.

We had planned on getting either sundaes or maybe shakes, but once we saw the menu we decided to have lunch instead. We started with old fashioned cherry fountain sodas just like the old days. Sher ordered the grilled avocado sandwich and I went with a thick breaded tenderloin. The food was excellent.

We had an absolute ball at Zaharakos. It was fascinating seeing all of the antique ornate soda fountains and the Welte Orchestration machines.

This place is truly a museum of both soda fountains and ice cream parlors. We will definitely return for a sundae or maybe a banana split! We saw them being prepared, but we were full from our lunch.

St Joseph Center in North Little Rock

/ Roadtirementvintage / 7 Comments

Original 1910 orphanage

We found a wonderful and historic location in North Little Rock, Arkansas. The St. Joseph Center is a non-profit organization based on a historic building that was once a children’s orphanage run by the Catholic Church.  The impressive structure was built in 1910 and currently there are several Artist’s Studios inside the spacious old building that houses other functions.

Currently the St. Joseph Center is an educational and working farm. The grounds are really beautiful. The first thing Sher and I did was to take a stroll around the main building, enjoying the old statuary and flower beds. We also got our first look at the garden plots. Turns out that there is a large citizen garden space  where locals can come and, for a modest fee, have their own personal garden plot.

Bull, right and cow

Recently sheared sheep

 

 

 

 

 

The Farm Stand, in other words the store, offers locally sourced goods ranging from in season produce to canned veggies, jams and jellies, pickles and cheeses. Local sourced flour, grains, and even meats are for sale. We certainly took advantage of Michelle’s opening the store for us and we made several purchases including pickles, pickled green beans and peppered Colby Cheese.

Raised garden boxes

View of the lovely grounds

 

 

 

 

 

There are quite a few head of livestock on the farm. Steve directed us to pastures and pens where goats, sheep and beef cattle make their homes. The sheep had recently been sheared ready for the hot summer. I enjoyed seeing the good quality cross bred cattle. Several calves were still on their mothers and would have been fall calves. There are also chickens supplying a great supply of free range eggs.

We bought honey. This is where it was made.

Sher and I liked visiting this educational farm. Owner’s Steve and Michelle made our visit to this sustainable operation very enjoyable.   Oh, least we forget, there are two sets of beehives, and we purchased some very, very good honey, produced by the honey bees right there on the St Joseph Center.  Here is the farm website.