Nashvegas Baby...Indiana?

That's right, there is a Nashville, IN-I had no idea but Stephen's dad recommended that he and I take a one-day trip up there since he knew that we loved exploring new towns and such. First off just let me say-"wow." I was taken aback immediately when we got into town. There were people walking around everywhere, I swear you'd think we just landed in Gatlinburg or something. Apparently it's a hotspot.

We parked at the edge of town and began our exploration from there. The whole village is storybook-like and still maintains its turn of the century charm without being over the top. Littered throughout the town are small "alleys" full of artisans and unique gardens and buildings and fudge shops--oh my!

Stephen standing in front of a fudge-shop. We walked in and it smelled delicious and there was a man crafting the fudge right in front of us!

We both enjoyed going in and out of the craftsman stores and admiring their work. These places were just tucked away and it felt like we were the only ones who knew about it.

In one of the alleyways

We both appreciated the architecture and the beautiful gardens accented by the paint colors on the buildings.

One of the beautiful garden-scapes with neat glass work and metal work sculptures.

Did I mention the village also had two wineries? Ahhhh... heaven! After tasting some delicious Riesling, we followed our noses to lunch: The Hobknob Corner Restaurant. It was delicious. It was in a building that had seen better days and had previously been a pharmacy in the 1800's. Regardless, the food was amazing. We both had the special: a roast beef sandwich on homemade French bread with grilled onions and Swiss cheese and a delicious sauce. Delish!

In front of the restaurant

Overall, we were very happily surprised at what all Brown County/Nashville had to offer. We spent the whole afternoon there and would recommend it to anyone as a quick day-trip from the Kentuckiana area.

Nothing Happened Here...

Last Saturday, on one of our whims, Stephen and I decided to drive up to Madison, IN. Stephen and I are, shall we say, somewhat prone to going on last minute little one-day road-trips in search of, small towns, fun museums, good wine and small town food.

I had never been to Madison before, heck, I didn't even realize it was on the river! Our GPS took us off the express way nearly half way to Madison and the rest was all through backroads and through beautiful scenery, and not so beautiful run down dwellings reminiscent of those seen on TV housing meth labs, but enjoyable none-the-less.

I'm definitely the type that likes to make somewhat of a plan prior to setting out to explore new places. When we crossed the tiny two-lane bridge and got over to Madison, we made our way town the scenic Main Street in search of a tourist center or something of the like. After circling TWICE, we finally found a small sign that had been blocked by a van, but the sign literally pointed to a small house. We walked down the street to see if maybe it was pointing down the next street-but NOTHING! I still don't think there really is a tourist center in Madison.

We found this beautiful fountain nestled in one of the neighborhoods without a map!

So despite our failed attempts at locating maps or literature with places of interest, we began walking down Main Street enjoying the small town feel. Before we walked into any shops though we decided we had to walk down to the river.

Stephen and I on the waterfront overlooking the tiny bridge that we had to cross to get to Madison...oh and as we were told, remnants of an old pier!

After walking around on the waterfront, we ventured back up to Main Street and had lunch at Downtowners, a great little cafe that had delish sandwiches and good salads!

Main Street!

After lunch we walked down a couple streets a few blocks from Main Street. Madison is full of historic buildings and beautiful homes! You can tell that there was or is a major attempt at a town-wide renovation/revitalization. There are some buildings that you can tell have been restored right next door to ones that look like they are about to fall apart. Despite some of the eye sores, we really enjoyed the style of architecture Madison had to offer.

We found this great little plaque on one of the residences in the neighborhood, poking fun at all the historical happenings that had taken place in the town!

After hoofing it around the town we were in great need for some good wine! There were two stops of a wine trail in Madison, so we could not resist. Our first stop was the Thomas Family Winery. It had a great 19th century feeling: dark wood, short ceilings, and very good Reisling! We spend probably a good hour in the booths by the window looking through coffee table books and enjoy some wine.

Stephen caught me enjoying a glass of Reisling at the Thomas Family Winery.

We then made our way over to Lanthier's Winery which was right on the river and had what I'm sure would have been gorgous grounds had the garden been in season. We literally walked into a wine cellar entering the building and followed our ears to a bar where several couples were being served wine. We samples some very good wines and had a great time trying to pronounce some. Try: C-H-A-T-A-Q-U-A-B-L-U-M-C-H-E-N we had a blast finally mastering this one. Some of our favorites here included:

• Cranberry Grande
• Chataquablumchen
• Festival Cherry
• Blberry Social
• Mill Street Red
  

Stephen picking out some wine at Lanthier's

Overall, we had a great time exploring the town and enjoying some good wine and good company before I had to head back to school and he had to head back to work.