Indiana Bridges
Seven Club members and two spouses made the trip to Parke County, Indiana, the Covered Bridge Capital of the World! The approximate center of Parke County is Rockville, a rural town west of Indianapolis and north of Terre Haute. Turkey Run State Park is nearby, as is Raccoon Recreation Area. We arrived a bit too early for spectacular fall colors, but there was good scenery nevertheless.
Landscapes
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Billie Creek Village
Parke County sponsors an annual Covered Bridge Festival; hence its claim to the title. We visited just one week before the festival, thereby securing lodgings. Several of us stayed at the Billie Creek Inn, just across the road from Billie Creek Village, a turn of the century village with 30 historical buildings and 3 Covered Bridges. The village is open daily with attractions and special events. Admission is $5.00, but appreciating the fact that we were highly talented photographers, we did not have to pay anything. Among other attractions in the village besides covered bridges are a general store, where a man who happened to be very familiar with Glenview and the Chicago area was plucking a dulcimer; two old churches, a log cabin from 1830, a school house, as well as a variety of craft shops.
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Parke county is home to about 17,000 people. We were told that the festival and other events bring in over 1 million people to the county. No wonder they made us feel so welcome. Some of us even had to take a mid-day break from all the excitement (as spotted above).
Bridges!
Did we see bridges! And did we shoot bridges! How many bridges were there, you ask? There were 31 (and probably still are 31). Mike and Cathy Berner photographed every last one of them at least once, all before 7:30 am! (Well, that may be a slight exaggeration.)
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Over lunch, we learned that Jim Roberts has a special interest in bridge construction, having supervised students in making model bridges for competition. Jim showed us many photos of bridges he had taken on other trips, both covered and uncovered (the bridges, not Jim).
The group enjoyed good and surprisingly inexpensive food and libations at dinner after a very hot day of shooting. It was very pleasant getting to know fellow club members better. Cindy Kuffel, Bill Kruser, and Ken Olsen added much good humor to our gatherings.
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Bridgeton
Bridgeton, a few miles south of Rockville, is home to the oldest continuously operating mill west of the Allegheny Mountains, established in 1823 and still going. The Mill is happy to sell bags of their 100% stone ground natural flour. The Old Millers are reported to say,"The whiter the bread, the sooner you're dead. Eat whole wheat, and stay on your feet."
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Newport Hill Climb
But wait; there was even more! In Newport, a town northwest of Rockville in Vermillion County, was holding their annual exciting classic car hill climb featuring pre-1942 American-made cars. There was also a separate category of discontinued pre-1970 models that raced in their own class. It was interesting to see these restored cars, many in mint condition. There were also lots of other cars to see and photograph, not to mention a variety of high calorie foods to sample.
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Conclusion
So, is that about it? Yeah, except for more bridges and some pretty landscapes. Did I mention that we had a lot of fun? Is this a great club, or what!
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