Grissom Memorial at Spring Mill State Park in Indiana

I wanted to mention the spectacular Gus Grissom Memorial inside of Spring Mill State Park near Mitchell Indiana.  NASA astronaut Gus Grissom was from the area.  He was an extremely accomplished and valuable contributor to the space program early on.  Sadly, he died in a fire during an Apollo-1 pre-launch test in 1967.

This small but packed little museum dedicated to Grissom tells about his space career, and displays several personal relics of Grissom's.  His early report cards are here (his grades were not great).  There is also a nice film about his career.

An amazing item displayed here (and something that should skyrocket this memorial to the top of your bucket list) is the Gemini 3 Spacecraft (nicknamed the Molly Brown)!  This is a priceless piece of space history and this state park in Indiana is very lucky to have it displayed.

In fact, when you think about the fact that this park has caves, hiking trails, a GREAT pioneer village, a cool inn, AND a Holy Grail caliber piece of space history, I think that makes this one of the nicest parks around!


Again, for us our visit to the Spring Mill State Park was kind of a side trip while visiting the nearby cave.  This is simply an amazing state park, and it needs to be more than a half day side trip.  We will be back soon, as we didn't get to take this great place in the way it deserves.

Spring Mill Inn at Spring Mill State Park in Indiana

While we explored Spring Mill State Park, we saw that there was an old Inn on the property!  We had to check this out!

The Spring Mill Inn was built in 1939.  It has a nice old look, but it still seems very well maintained. 

We noticed a cozy lobby area, and a nice lodge restaurant.  There is a gift shop too.

Being that we did not stay here and only peaked in briefly I don't have a lot to say about it, but I think a nice weekend trip here will be happening in my near future!

Spring Mill State Park in Indiana

We were thinking about swinging by Spring Mill State Park on our daytrip to Bluespring Caverns.  There were some other things we toyed with seeing, but after the endorsement this park got from the guys at Bluespring Caverns, we knew we had to stop by!

We paid the $9 out of state car entrance fee and got on our way.  We had packed a nice picnic lunch, so we quickly found a secluded area to stop and enjoy our lunches.

Several geese came around us as we enjoyed our lunch!  There were adults and babies, and though some of the adults seemed annoyed and slightly aggressive towards each other, they did not bother us at all.  We enjoyed having them around.

After lunch, we drove on over towards the pioneer village at the park.  There were a lot of people hanging our near the entrance area.  Obviously several groups were there simply enjoying the nice day, and a small creek.

We walked on through the village.  As you come upon the buildings here, you realize that they have really done something special.  I love visiting any pioneer type village, fort, etc. where reinactors do demonstrations and dress in period clothes.  Here, you can tell that the buildings have been restored and maintained with a caring hand.  My photos can't explain it, but this is a very unique place.

The mill is the center piece to the village, with many early 1800s style buildings surrounding it.

You could walk in and see demonstrations, or read about the buildings. 


The old town is very casual and inviting though.  We noticed many people just kind of hanging out.  The village has a lot of space, and it is so well maintained.  This is simply a pretty place to spend time.

Spring Mill State Park got on my radar because of the caves on the property, but we ended up spending so much time doing other things here, that we decided to leave the caves for another day.

Bluespring Caverns- Bedford Indiana

We ended up completing the Indiana Cave Trail recently by stopping by to visit Bluespring Caverns in Bedford Indiana.

We really enjoyed seeing all of the caves on the Trail.  All of them were fun and unique and I honestly can't say that one was more interesting than the others.  PLUS, we each got a cool trail t-shirt when we finished!

So, we arrived early in the morning (around 9 am, when the place opens) for our visit to Bluespring Caverns.  The first tour did not go out until 9:40, so this gave us some time to talk to the staff, check out the gift shop, etc.  There were a couple of young fellows running things.  The one who sold us our ticket was extremely chatty, and you could tell that he really loved caving.  We had a nice conversation covering Floyd Collins, other caves in Indiana, etc.

At around 9:40, our guide rounded us up and started our tour.


I am very fascinated by how show caves handle tours, and how their gift shop/visitor centers relate directly to the cave.  I know this sounds like a weird statement, but I have seen cave entrances literally inside of the visitor centers.

At Bluespring, you leave the visitor center and go into a fenced in back area, where the tour path goes underneath the building you were just inside!  After a very short downhill walk, you are brought to the main cave entrance.

 Our tour guide Dylan brought us into the cave, gave us a few moments to let our eyes adjust, then he took us down a few more steps to the boat area.

From there our small morning group of about 10 people got onto a boat and Dylan launched us off for a pleasant boat tour of the cave!

Dylan gave stats on the water going through the cave, and he told stories about his adventures in Bluespring Caverns.  He also told some witty jokes.

At one point, he encouraged us to touch the ceiling of the cave.  After that, he told us that our fingers were sticky because of the bat poop.  He then told us that he was joking, and bats can't get in that area.

He did point out formations that looked like other stuff.  He did a cool demonstration holding up a light to a thin formation, showing that light can go through it.  He did do a cave standard demonstration of total darkness, BUT he incorporated a discussion of "cave thunder".  Our guide hit the boat seat with the padded flotation device provided in the seats.  He did warn us, and advised covering ears if we were sensitive.  This made a very loud bang sound that you could hear as it traveled through the cave, fading after many seconds.  He did a couple of hits with the lights on, and then he did one in total darkness which was an interesting thing to experience.

Dylan told us that they get many groups of school kids, scouts, and bikers who visit the cave.

After our wonderful tour, we did continue talking to Dylan and the other staff person running the gift shop.  They seem to have a lot of fun in their cave, and explore it leisurely when they can.  They told us of a canoe being flipped.  This happened when they were enjoying the cave after hours- no tour groups were involved.  They were able to scoop the water out and float back to the cave entrance.  They did tell us no tourists had ever fallen out of a boat.

I did pick up my usual souvenirs at the gift shop- a patch, postcards, a pin.  They did not have a hiking stick medallion.  Though there were some interesting items in the gift shop, it was not as well stocked as others.

After our boat ride in the cave, we did take a moment to walk the short trail (its about half a mile) on the property.  It circles a sinkhole!

This is a very unique cave to stop and visit with a friendly crew running the place.  PLUS, there are some other cool parks to explore in the area!  The staff at Bluespring STRONGLY encouraged us to visit Spring Mill State Park while we were here!  We did...  more on that later.

Ski Lift at Gatlinburg, TN Postcard

This undated postcard says on the back- All Seasons of the Year find the double chair lifts crowded, for no other tourist attraction offers this inspiring panoramic view of the Great Smokies, and the City of Gatlinburg.

OLD MILL Pigeon Forge, Tennessee Postcard

This old postcard is dated 1969 and on the back, it notes- Completely water powered and utilizing most of its original machinery, the Old Mill has been operating since it's construction in 1830 producing eleven different flours and meals for commercial sale.

"Into The Mist" by David Brill

I found a copy of David Brill's "Into the Mist: Tales of Death and Disaster, Mishaps and Misdeeds, Misfortune and Mayhem in Great Smoky Mountains National Park Volume I" at the Sugarlands Visitor Center in the National park.

I have to admit that there was some hesitation about buying this one.  There are some other well written and researched books on this and similar topics (I've mentioned some of them here, here, and here).  AND I have read some material that pretty much rips off some of the previously mentioned works.....  I wasn't sure if much could be contributed to this topic.

Well, author David Brill has absolutely added a lot to the discussion of bad things that have occurred in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park.

The first several chapters give stories about all sorts of things that have happened in the park.  Brill does a great job of looking into some obscure information too.  I particularly enjoyed the chapter on the park preparing for nuclear attack during the cold war.  Another area neglected by other volumes is weather.  Brill covers it here. 

To Brill's credit, even when he is covering familiar topics (bears/bear attacks) he tries to cover more ground, and he gives a lot of details.

The author is big on facts and statistics too, often noting where he gets his information from.  AND, this book includes a large section in the back noting all known fatalities that have occurred in the park.  He does do a breakdown of the deadliest years, places, and causes of death in the park.

Actually, after reading the book, I do feel that the Great Smoky Mountains National Park is a fairly safe place.  If you are careful, you really have little to fear (only ONE fatality by bear attack has ever occurred in the park).

The author does note at the beginning of the book that it was in production while the 2016 fires were occurring.  He suggests that he may cover that in a future volume.  I would like to see future volumes, as Brill has covered his topic thoroughly.

Gatlinburg Tennessee

We are getting to where we have to make it to the Gatlinburg area at least a time or two each year.  We love this place.

I am starting to realize that there are certain things I REALLY like doing in the area.  I like trying new things, but there are just so many things that I would feel bad if I missed.

There are a few things we have had to cut out too as time has gone by.  I LOVE the AA ballpark in Kodak.  As a fan of baseball, this is simply one of the best places to catch a game period.  However, as I have gotten older, and I am not as into baseball as I used to be...  we have stopped making a pilgrimage to see the Smokies each season.  Plus, attending a baseball game can really eat into time that can be used to take in more things while in the area.  Especially this area.

One thing that is a must in the area though, is walking the strip in Gatlinburg- seeing whats new.

There is a new ski lift operation, taking people up to another level of Gatlinburg.  That kind of makes 3 businesses doing a similar thing in town.

There are still lots of Moonshine places.  Looked like there were some impressive crowds there for tastings.

Smoky Mountain Knife Works in Sevierville Tennessee

Smoky Mountain Knife Works in Sevierville is simply one of the coolest stores on the planet.

I have mentioned it before, but this is just a great place.  Four of us went in, and we all ended up buying something cool.  My pal Mark found a good deal on some nice binoculars, my wife found a pie pan, and I bought a lot of stuff in the relic room.

This is another place in the area that I have to stop at when I am nearby.

Old Mill Pottery House Cafe & Grille in Pigeon Forge Tennessee

The Old Mill Pottery House Café has become a MUST VISIT whenever we are in the Pigeon Forge area.  We took some friends who had never been there with us this time, and they also loved it.

They have great food, and they are one of the more reasonably priced places in the area. 

Again, I have gone on and on about this restaurant in the past, but it is one of my all time favorite places to eat anywhere.

Holston's kitchen- Sevierville Tennessee

Holston's Kitchen was recommended by Berry Springs Lodge.  It wasn't far from Berry Springs, so we decided to check it out.  This was our first visit to this nice restaurant.

This was a great recommendation.  Like I said before, we have found some places in the area that we REALLY like, and trying something new can be so hit or miss.

I know I didn't take the best pictures of what we had in the dim light of the restaurant, but our meals were delicious.

Burg Coffee in Gatlinbrug, TN

I wanted to give a quick mention to Burg Coffees in Gatlinburg.  We were able to get some tasty drinks here and they actually had a bit of a seating area, so we were able to take a nice break while we walked around the strip in Gatlinburg.

I know that some chain stores have been sneaking in to Gatlinburg....  including a chain coffee place, but it was nice to find this quality local place!