The Travel Blog
Winzerwald Winery, Perry County, Indiana
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by Carolyn Ann Howard
When my daughter was in high school, we were both so busy. I was working three jobs, and she was busy in school and with friends. I felt our closeness melting away, and I wasn't sure what to do. We would seemingly be having a great mother-daughter time, and then something would happen. I would get a phone call; she would get a phone call; a friend would come over...
Then I had an idea. A great idea, as it turns out. I realized that when she and I were in the car together, we were stuck with each other. By this time, I believe I had a primitive flip cell phone for work, but I don't believe she had one. No one else could track us down. So once a month, we planned a day trip together on Sunday. We went everywhere - Wyandotte Cave, Louisville, French Lick, Owensboro - and I was right. It gave us a wonderful time to talk with each other and stay in touch with each other while having fun. Click on photos to enlarge
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| Stephanie and me at Leavenworth, Indiana Probably 2007 |
When I wrote The Cliffords & Mr. Orr, I caught the bug from Emily Orr Clifford's love of travel. She always preached to anyone who would listen that travel, not things, is the ultimate way to spend one's life. My dad wasn't a traveler, and so neither was I. Now that I'm able, I want to start traveling more extensively.
Stephanie and I currently are settling for day trips. And one that we have done twice is Winzerwald Winery in Perry County, Indiana. It's so easy to get to. Coming from Evansville, just take Robert D. Orr Highway north to I64. Take I64 as if going towards Louisville. Take exit 72 and follow the signs! It's located at 26300 N. Indian Lake Road.
It was a dark day but warm. I can't drive when it's dark because of the way headlights refract on my eyes, leaving me with a debilitating migraine. But Stephanie is always happy to drive, for which I'm most grateful. And she, like I, must stop at every single rest stop to pee. :) There is a rest stop on the way to Winzerwald and one on the way back!
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| Look at us now! Nov, 2021 At Blue Star Memorial Highway rest stop near Winzerwald Winery in Bristow, IN |
Guess what else is located on Indian Lake Road? A cemetery! I love cemeteries. All those stories behind all those stones. And, as a Find-A-Grave volunteer for nearly ten years now, I checked this cemetery's stats on Find-A-Grave. I saw that there were 9 photo requests and that the cemetery was only 38% photographed. I asked my daughter if she would like to help photograph the cemetery with me, and she was a bit hesitant. One reason she thought it would take a lot of time. Another was that she didn't want to trespass. I explained that I photographed the entire Goodwill Cemetery, that has over 2,000 graves, in 3 hours - with a Nikon camera to boot. We had that cemetery photographed in 15 minutes, and I now fortunately have a new ally in photographing and setting up memorials on Find-A-Grave! She loved the experience. Looking at all those names and dates. So interesting.
We then went onward to Winzerwald! They have a nice wine flight where you can chose 8 different wines to taste. They also have wonderful flat bread pizza and a gorgeous view. We each did a wine flight, shared a frozen wine, bottle of water and a flat bread pizza for less than $30. Everyone there is really nice, and it's just a great place to have a relaxing lunch. The view is also breathtaking.
We visited the cemetery on the way back, too, just to check again for the photo requests. We had only found 4 of the 9. On our visit back, we discovered 2 more that were covered in that cemetery moss that plagues so many cemeteries. There were 3 we just couldn't find, but we will look again the next time we go back. There were quite a few stones that had sunk into the ground and some marked with just a small stone with no name. Many were illegible. The good news is that instead of 38% photographed, Foster's Ridge Cemetery is now 71% photographed!
I love these little trips, though. Emily Orr Clifford was right. Traveling is the best.
