Maplewood Cemetery, established 1881, is in New Albany, Ohio, north of Columbus.

A family monument, God’s Creation in hand

“in the beginning God created heaven and earth”

Stands out in the cemetery
Maplewood Cemetery, established 1881, is in New Albany, Ohio, north of Columbus.

A family monument, God’s Creation in hand

“in the beginning God created heaven and earth”

Stands out in the cemetery
Sunbury is located near the actual geographic center of the State of Ohio. Founded in 1816, the then “village” was laid out in the classic New England town square design, with businesses surrounding the square.

Town Hall, built 1848

A brief use history of the Hall

Different definition of pothead

American favorite of many
From its founding in 1816, Sunbury was designed to be a stagecoach town. Lawrence Myers, the town’s founder, built an inn at the intersection of two major stagecoach routes. The first stagecoach arrived in Sunbury from Mt. Vernon in 1820.

Civil War General

Detail of the statue

Horseman story
In 1848 the impressive brick Town Hall was constructed in the center of the square. It was first built two stories tall. Masons constructed the 3rd floor and occupied it for over 90 years. Multiple Ohio Historical Markers are placed around the square providing information gems for the public.
Usually a tombstone from the 1890’s shows a fair amount of weathering, often to the point making it hard to read. We spotted a family plot at the Rushville, Indiana East City Cemetery with a marker date of 1896 that looked nearly new.






These monuments were all custom made from 1876 to 1914. Sold as “White Bronze” they were actually made of a zinc-tin alloy. Cast in Bridgeport, Connecticut, the parts were shipped to the cemetery for assembly. Click here for our post detailing the history of these unique monuments.
Opening on April 4th Beef & Boards Dinner Theatre will present The King and I by Rodgers and Hammerstein on its stage for the first time in over 20 years. This Tony Award-winner for Best Musical is based on the novel Anna and the King of Siam by Margaret Landon. In 1862 a British widow and her son are retained by the king of Siam to provide tutoring for his many wives and children. Two distinct cultures meet and struggle for understanding.
From a March 2024 B&B Press Release: Brian Jose, director, is prioritizing authentic details in the Beef & Boards production – including acknowledging that the real Anna Leonowens was of Anglo-Indian descent. “That slight shift makes all the difference,” Jose pointed out. “Instead of a story that can easily be seen as a white savior/colonialism story, we get a more complex story about a woman who has had to suppress her culture in order to advance in society to provide for her children as a single mother.” Jose added, “In a time when political wars have eliminated a middle ground and religious wars have fueled so much destruction and hatred, a show about exploring our differences and attempts to understand each other seems like just what we need.”

Indiana’s Bicentennial was celebrated in 2016. As part of the celebration, fiberglass statues of bison were made available to each of Indiana’s counties. Local artists decorated them with themes and scenes of the local area and features. We have seen several of these during our travels around the state, and our trip to Batesville today was no different.

We found the familiar shape of one of 92 Indiana county’s bison statues in front of the Batesville City Admin and Police Department Building. “Braun” sure makes a striking appearance on this admin office lawn!
It was sunny and cold today, but still a nice day for a short trip. we found ourselves t a large city cemetery in Greenwood, Indiana. We saw short wall, behind which were a couple of cannons.

Old Glory in the breeze

Great ID Plaque
It became obvious that this was the location of the Civil War Veteran’s cemetery, complete with a prominent flagpole.

A beautiful, serene setting

An interesting touch for this section

Rest in Peace
A couple of blocks south and west of the Rush County Courthouse is a delightful, decent sized city park. Rolling terrain compliments picnic tables, swing sets and public art.

History of a river

Interesting water fountain

Music theme art works
A clean design and wonderful facilities make a park that I’m sure gets a lot of use.
Rushville, Indiana is a typical Midwestern small town. It became home for one of the Hoosier state’s accomplished politician, Wendall Willkie. Willkie, born in 1892, was a successful lawyer, businessman and ran for President of the United States against Franklin Roosevelt in 1940.

Willkie changed his party registration to Republican in 1939, however he did lose to FDR in the election. After the election, as Roosevelt’s informal envoy, he made two foreign trips during the height of WWII. Willkie died in 1944 while he was considering forming a new political party with Roosevelt.

Willkie Family Plot

A nice remembrance plaque

Rush County Courthouse
Wendell Willkie was loved by many, and his Presidential run in 1940 was organized and executed in Rushville in what was then the Durbin Hotel and Restaurant. He and his family are buried in the large Rushville cemetery.
We were in Indianapolis a couple of days ago and went to a craft brewery to fill a growler with one of our favorite craft beers. A growler is a 64 ounce brown glass jug utilized by most craft beer breweries to allow patrons to have a carry-out on tap beer. Typically the brewery name/logo is on the bottle, and they will fill growlers other than their own. We brought our own with us.

The entrance

Seating, bar in back right

Craft beer taps and menu board
Anyway, we had recently visited the Bier Brewery establishment in Carmel, Indiana, about a half hour north of where we were. There Sher found a beer that we both really enjoyed. We had looked up other Indy Craft Pass members, and found another Bier Brewery location nearby.

Poster with our beer!

The 64 oz growler we got in Texas
The Bier Brewery was on the end of a strip mall, and was not very large at all. The small cozy space looked and felt like a great neighborhood bar. There were a handful of folks enjoying he place when we went in. The bartender was super, and even gave Sher a free Bier Brewing glass with the purchase of the growler fill. A short, but fun, beer buying stop.