A Birthday Surprise

Chris celebrated his 28th birthday this past Wednesday and since we agreed not to buy each other gifts for our birthdays, I decided it might be fun to surprise him with a trip away this weekend. He's not very good at surprises and of course asked a billion questions about our destination, but I kept everything a secret until we got there. We got in the car on Friday afternoon and headed East and arrived at our first stop, The Overlook Restaurant, for dinner. The Overlook is in Leavenworth, Indiana and sits on a hill overlooking many miles of the Ohio River. Unfortunately, it was a bit misty and gloomy when we were there so these pictures don't do it justice, but it was still very neat to sit and eat and watch the barges go by. Here is the website where you can see more views from the Overlook: http://www.theoverlook.com/

The "misty" view of the river from The Overlook

We continued on the scenic byway after dinner and arrived in Corydon, Indiana which is where we would stay the night. I found this wonderful Bed and Breakfast called the Kintner House Inn and we just hung out there and enjoyed the quiet, slow-paced atmosphere for the evening. The Kintner House was built in 1873 and was restored many years later to become a Bed and Breakfast. It was absolutely beautiful and the breakfast on Saturday morning was very yummy! To learn more about the Kintner House, visit http://www.kintnerhouse.com/

The Kintner House Inn from the outside

Not knowing anything about Corydon, we asked around and found out a few things we should check out. Butt Drugs was on the "to do" list for Saturday and we were anxious to see what it was all about. Butt Drugs is a family owned drug store and pharmacy, but it is also houses an original soda fountain (which is what we were interested in!). They are known for their many choices of soda drinks, 35 cent coffee, ice cream, shakes, and other specialty drinks. So after walking around the square and visiting a few shops and having a small lunch, we ventured over to Butt's to get our drinks. Chris got a Vanilla Coke and I had a Chocolate, Strawberry, Banana milkshake...mmmmmmmm. Delicious!

We headed west on the scenic byway and ran into Wyandotte Caves and decided to make our last stop there before heading home. I had never been in a cave, so this was a first for me. I didn't know how I would do since I'm quite claustrophobic, but it was fine. Our tour guide was this young man who was a bit quirky and silly, so we just giggled at him the whole time. It was about 52 degrees in the cave, so it was a great break from the heat too :)

When we returned from the cave tour, we discovered that our van battery was dead...so after a call to AAA and learning that it could be close to an hour before they would arrive, Chris tracked down a nice man who had jumper cables with him and we got it started right away. We continued our drive along the byway all the way home and we were able to see many breathtaking views of the river. It sure didn't feel like we were in Indiana.

We got to one intersection just in time to see a line of horse-drawn wagons driving along, probably close to 15 or so of them. At first I thought they were Amish, but the wagons had seats from modern vehicles in them for comfort and the people were definitely not Amish. It turns out they were part of a Mule Tour, so the "horses" were really mules. I wanted to take pictures, but Chris thought that would be a bit "touristy" and embarrassing. Boo. It was pretty neat though!

I think we both realized that this would probably be our last little escape before the baby arrives so it was nice to just enjoy each other for the day. Corydon is a really neat town and it would be fun to go back to the Kintner House sometime in the future. I would highly recommend driving the scenic byway through Indiana also...especially when the leaves begin to change in the weeks to come! Learn more about the byway here: http://www.byways.org/explore/byways/2286/itinerary/4038