So, admittedly, a late start getting to Indiana. I was visiting with family in Dayton, Ohio and it took me a minute to figure out what to do first. That first moment in a state is always a bit strange, mostly because I have to move from trying to get a bunch of stuff done, to being a tourist and just enjoying the moment. And then the moments slip by as I dig into state tourism sites and figure out the day ahead. Thanks to the Indiana tourism blog, I discovered that Richmond is more than the home of the largest RV showroom in the world (something that has blared out at me from the television for years–thanks, Tom Raper), but also has a chocolate trail, and some serous Tiffany stained glass to boot. So I headed out in search of a structure to start my trip.
I got to the county visitor site on National Road less than an hour later and met two very kind Hoosier Tourist Board women who were out of passports for the chocolate tour, which would mean I would not get the freebies along the way (or even a guide to it). However, something about my Ohio origins, my Alzheimer’s T-shirt (they asked), or that I was only passing through Richmond for the day, convinced them to find a photocopy for me to take on the road. They even gave me their phone number for merchants to call and verify my stop at the county visitor center if anybody questioned my integrity. The trail is an inspired idea, providing a route through Richmond’s charming historic downtown.
Unfortunately, it was also mostly deserted on this particular Labor Day. Most of the trail shops were deserted (not desserted, alas!). I was able to stop at Roscoe’s Coffee Bar & Tap Room for a brownie sample. The help was friendly and the shop seemed hip and roomy. From Roscoe’s, I headed off to view Tiffany stained glass windows at three churches and a library, but all were darkened for the holiday, and the view from the street was less stunning than I had hoped.
This Angel of the Resurrection window at St Paul’s Episcopal, for example, is much less fearsome to outsiders than insiders (which could be a lesson in Christian outreach–but I leave that you to determine, dear reader). To see the windows in their glory, one needs to make an appointment, which is for the best really. As I strode up the abandoned North A Street, I felt an increasing sense of panic, something I always feel when I have to enter a church alone. Despite decades of being a church goer, I still think the statues are going to come to life if I go in there by myself. I presume a church janitor will find my body in the morning. I vowed to myself that I would return to Richmond sometime (with Dayton-based family members in tow) for chocolate and church windows, and continued on, making one more stop along the trail, at the Warm Glow Candle Company Store, where I got my chocolate smelling candle, which will remind me of late summer Indiana days sometime this winter.
Despite the promising wall decorations, the store offered no tastings, and could not sell alcohol on a Sunday. Ah, an opportunity lost. Nothing like a wine tasting to lift a day of traveling in a US state. With the spate of closed businesses and wine-selling restrictions, I made a traveller’s note to myself: if you do this again, plan for Sunday in Indianapolis. Everything else closes up in the state on the days of rest. It jarred a 25 year old memory of something I once heard from a friend who attended Purdue University. “If it’s not Indianapolis, Sandy, then it’s just East Jesus, Indiana.” The beautiful small towns were sleepy and closed on this particular holiday too. But it’s too early in the trip to be disappointed. I headed up the road, and what a lovely road it was. What is it about late summer corn fields that lifts my spirits so? Despite the late, lingering winter and cool summer, it appears like the corn crop will succeed this year. Short on chocolate and stained glass, I headed up smaller highways to Muncie for the night, grateful to be here.
