Hmmmm, what is this?
Yup, it sure is, Adventure Day! Well, we really had an adventure today. Ohhhhh, mapquest, how you let me down :(
We set off to find the Village at Winona Lake. http://www.villageatwinona.com/index.asp
It really sounded cute! Peaceful walkways, artist colony, come for a day of shopping, dining, and fun. I did a mapquest for directions from Chesterton to Winona, it said a little over an hour's drive - perfect for an Adventure Day!
We left at 10:30 - it sounded like there were good restaurants, so we thought we'd try to make it there in time for lunch. We started on Rt.30 then started following the bizarre, bizarrrrrreeeee, directions from mapquest. It was just hysterical - Turn right on South 200 East, .5 mile; Turn left on East 500 North, .7 mile; East 500 North will turn into West 500 North. Whew! There were directions and numbers a flyin' everywhere. We would go for miles and miles and see no cars. Somehow, when there are no other fellow travellers, it means you are doing something very wrong.
The road went from paved to gravel to slippery, slidey mud and back to paved - still no other cars. Ya know what? There is lots of CORN in Indiana! Way more corn than gas stations. We saw quite a few farms, corn fields, horses, corn fields, cows, corn fields, did I mention lots of corn? We didn't even see any people. Then, in the middle of the road, look, look, a gaggle of wild turkeys !!! Can you tell we were giggling quite a bit when we saw that gaggle? I couldn't get my camera out quick enough to get them in the road, but you can see a few of them running away (cowards, they knew we needed directions) in the center of the picture above.
The directions said "End at Winona" just as we saw a huge sign that said, "Welcome to Bass Lake". Huh? We stopped at a smoky, smelly bar (still no gas stations to be found) and the nice man said, "you'd be surprised how many folks stop here looking for Winona". Well, misery loves company I guess. It turns out that there is a Winona AND a Winona Lake, and they are about 50 miles apart. On the road again.......
We drove, and drove, and drove (don't tell Wayne this part - he'll be fussing about the price of gas). We STILL couldn't find Winona Lake which was supposed to be near Warsaw. We drove all over Warsaw, found ONE sign for Winona Lake that said "to find the Village, follow the signs", yeah, WHAT SIGNS???? We stopped in a gas station (yes, we actually found one in Warsaw) for directions and some nice person took pity on us - we had a baby and all - and actually LED us to the Village and the BoatHouse Restaurant where we wanted to have lunch. Whew! Here we are in front of the BoatHouse - I thought we would look thinner since we were VERY hungry by now.....
Lunch at the BoatHouse was delicious! We devoured an appetizer of spinach con queso. It looked HUGE when they brought it, but quickly disappeared. Poor Maya was hoarding chips on her plate so the adults couldn't swoop down like the starving vultures we were. I had a black and bleu chicken (cajun seasoned and bleu cheese encrusted) that was awesome, awesome, awesome. It came with a sweet potato, mmmm, I love sweet potato. Grandma got the Bleu Steak Salad - equally yummy. Grandpa got a mushroom & monterey burger with rice instead of fries for Maya. She shared all of our lunches except my chicken which was "a bit too spicy for a little girl" (spoken with a British-Lola accent).
After we ate we started the "shopping" portion of the trip. The stores were delightful. We spent quite awhile in a jewelry store that sold hand-made jewelry and loose stones. There were some darling backpacks, perhaps when Maya gets a little older. Grandma bought her some cute toys, a top and a cylinder shaped toy that rolls forward and boomerangs back.
More about the history of the BoatHouse Restaurant...."On the shores of beautiful Winona Lake, the BoatHouse Restaurant continues a long love affair with the water. In the 1870's, three brothers by the name of Beyer purchased most of the land surrounding Eagle (later renamed Winona) Lake. They were interested in using the springs in the area to provide natural refrigeration for their dairy and egg products. By the late 1880's, the Beyers recognized the natural beauty of the area and began turning it into a lakeside resort. In 1895, they partnered with the Presbyterian Church to build a religious summer resort. One of the early buildings constructed, was the Boathouse. In the 1940's, the Boathouse was removed and a cafeteria built in its place. In the 1960's, it was converted to a roller skating rink. The current restaurant is built on the same foundation as the old cafeteria and is designed as an architectural reminder of the original Boathouse."
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