Mackinac Bridge

Mackinac Bridge
Mackinac Bridge, taken from the ferry on the way to Mackinac Island.

Friday, December 20, 2019

West Baden Springs at Christmas Time!


 Not that long ago, I mentioned that we went to West Baden Springs in Indiana.  We talked about how the place was great, and how we knew we needed to get back soon.  Well, we made it back shortly after they put up their massive Christmas tree!


We got a great deal that included breakfast for us while we were there, a historic tour, and a cool back about the West Baden Springs and French Lick Resorts.

We arrived early, knowing that, even if we couldn’t check in, we could still enjoy the place.

We stopped first at the visitor center in tow, which is pretty close to West Baden Springs Resort.  There is always a nice staff person there to tell you about the area.  They also have a ton of great promotional magazine and brochures about various Southern Indiana towns!  I walked out with a handful of material to help me plan future trips!
Like I said, we were early to town, but we decided to go on to WBS and see if our room might be available.  As we assumed, it was not, but the check in staff was very pleasant about it and we were welcomed to enjoy the property as we waited.  We visited several of the shops on the main floor, and then we read for a while in the beautiful atrium.

Check out the photos of the atrium.  You can see how grand it all is….  But you can’t understand it unless you actually walk in to it, and feel being there under the huge dome. 

Speaking of reading in the atrium….  This is such a special and historic place.  I consider time spent reading in the atrium very special time.  It’s a great environment and I really enjoy relaxing with a book in this space.

After that, we enjoyed a one hour tour of the hotel that was included with our stay on this visit.  Several years ago, when we stayed the first time, we did the tour then too.  It was nice hearing the history again.  Our guide told us about the angel paintings done in the ceiling attached room just under huge roof.  You can’t access the area where the original paintings are, but there are copies around the Christmas tree.

I am still amazed at how West Baden Springs went from being a bit of a crumbling mess in 1996 to a functioning hotel in 1998.  Now, it is nearly flawless.  There are pictures on the wall, that our guide pointed out, showing the massive hotel throughout its history.  Some of the photos show rubble.
I enjoy hearing about some of the window art in the front check in area.  There were 8 angels painted on different sections.  Well, as the hotel sat abandoned, all 8 windows were stolen.  Well, 4 of the angels were found at an antique shop in Kentucky.  The thieves who took them were never found.  The 4 missing angel windows were replicated.

After our tour, our room was ready!  This was our first time not having a room overlooking the atrium.  The room was great, and we loved it…  but there is something special about the atrium here, and having an atrium view is a real treat.  Then again, we did hang out in the atrium a lot on this visit.

We ended up having dinner at Ballard’s in the Atrium on this day.  I love WBS so much, I hate to be critical, but there are some issues with Ballard’s in the Atrium.  Our food was, for the most part good (I had a Reuben on Rye and end of the bread was rock hard).  We had to ask for refills and things, including salad dressing for my wife’s salad after the dressing less salad was brought out.

Some of my family from Owensboro met us at Ballard’s the next day for a family lunch and our experience was totally different.  We had a very nice waiter named Austin that was on the ball and great. 

We ended up having our two breakfasts at Sinclair’s.  More on that later but those meals were ridiculously perfect.  We had a different Austin as our waiter and he was great too.
It was cold, and even rainy at times while we were at West Baden Springs, but it didn’t matter.  

There were lights and other Christmas decorations up everywhere.  The garden area was lighted beautifully, and it was so nice walking around and admiring everything- inside and out.









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