Flowing Well Park, A Return to Conner Prairie, and Some Fall Odds and Ends

This is a continuation of a fall travel series.  If you missed any of my previous posts you can find them here:  Bird Watching at the La Crosse Marsh, A Return to Galena Illinois, A Visit to the Lincoln Home, A Visit to the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Museum, and The Lincoln Tomb and Historic Springfield,Turkey Run State Park, and Fisher's AgriPark Fall Festival

Today wraps up my fall midwest travel series, and just in time for my Christmas blog break!  If you missed any previous travel posts of our fall vacation, just click on any of the links in the first paragraph.

In this post, I am covering just a few more fun activities we did while visiting the kids, along with our Thanksgiving break.

Conner Prairie Kiln

                           Flowing Well Park

One of the activities we did with the grandkids was to go to "Flowing Well Park".

"Flowing Well Park" is a sweet little park in Carmel Indiana that has an artesian well which visitors are free to bring their empty water jugs and "fill up".  My kids do this on a weekly basis because they believe the water is so much better to drink than city water.  But in addition to the free artesian water, the park also has a mile long nature trail through the woods and along "Cool Creek". The creek is a great spot for fishing and wading.

The grandchildren love wading in the creek and finding seashells and rocks.

The nature trail through the woods is pretty cool too!  It's the perfect size trail for little feet!

Conner Prairie

I already did a very extensive post on Conner Prairie HERE, so I will not elaborate much more except to say that this is a place that constantly has new programs and activities every weekend and throughout the different seasons.  We went back in the fall because they had a lot of fall activities, plus they have a huge fall festival.   One of the events on the day we were there was was their "Kiln Burn" which they only do ONE day out of the whole year, and we were lucky enough to be there on that day!

But first, we took some time to grab more family fall photos.

And now, onto the kiln burn.  This was fascinating, and scary to watch.  We couldn't believe the heat, and the fire and smoke that came out the top.  Be sure to watch the video below to really get the full picture,

After the potter forms the pottery, it is placed in the fire. Yes, right inside that very hot fire!  We could see the pottery live but it's hard to find in the photo and video.  The staff, dressed in period costumes, explain the process and fuel the fire...and they were hot and sweaty, let me tell you!  It's not a job for the faint of heart.

They also sell the finished pieces on site.  They are pricey, but the proceeds help support the Museum.  I purchased a small mixing bowl for $30 and a soup mug for $22.  I use them a lot too!  They are so strong!

This is the building where the kiln is located.

Of course Atticus' favorite part is always the carpentry shop.  Here he was learning how to make a rake.

Elisha enjoyed exploring the old town wagons and stores.

Thanksgiving

The kids came up to us for Thanksgiving.  Baby Lazarus isn't crawling yet, but somehow he manages to move around and found himself under my curtains, of which we proceeded to play a game of peek-a-boo.

The grandkids were up early and played hard everyday.  They often fell asleep wherever they were at.

I make the same "3 Cheese Ball" every holiday because it is a family favorite, but this was the first time I turned it into a turkey.  The grandkids and I had a lot of fun making this turkey.

The kids have been dying to see "Moana 2" so we decided to treat them to their very first movie theater experience.  Their reaction was priceless:

They really enjoyed having their own reclining seat, especially Elisha,  he would not stop playing with those buttons! 😆

We had the tradition meal of turkey, mashed potatoes, sweet potatoes, cranberry sauce, rolls, beans, corn, and stuffing, plus our special occasion beverage:  Sparkling Juice!  Everything tasted great.  The grandkids especially loved my "Make Ahead Potatoes" which are loaded with cream cheese, sour cream, and butter...what's not to love?  😆

 All in all it was a great Thanksgiving week and a great fall!  So much to be grateful for.

See you in 2025 with my newest travel series:  "Yellowstone and More!"

Have a Great Day!  Amy

Linking Up with these Fabulous Blogs HERE!

A Visit to Conner Prairie, Indiana's Living History Museum

This post is part of a travel series of our road trip in the midwest where we traveled to four states:  Ohio, West Virginia, Kentucky and Indiana.  We visited one state park, two national parks, and a historic farm..  To start at the beginning, go HERE.  The rest of the posts in consecutive order are HERE,  HERE,  HERE, HERE,  HERE, HERE, and HERE!

On the final leg of our road trip in the midwest, we ended up where we began, in Indiana.  We drove from Cave City Kentucky to Fishers Indiana to meet my daughter, son-in-law, and grandchildren at Conner Prairie.

Conner Prairie is a 1000 acre living history museum that preserves the William Conner home (which is listed on the National Register of Historic Places)  and shows what life was like in Indiana in the 19th century. 

They have a 1859 Balloon Voyage experience.  This costs extra so we didn't do it, but you can take a ride up in the sky to see the surrounding landscape.

They have so many fun activities for the children.  I loved the idea of how they created a play ground to resemble a farm.

In the Featherston Barn there are different activities to participate in all the time.  On the day we were there they were sharing samples of different types of cheeses.

You don't have to ask me twice to sample cheese! 😁

The William Conner House is the highlight of the grounds.

The grandchildren loved exploring the old house and learning all about the Connor family.

My daughter Ashley and I got a chuckle at this sign.  However, we both agreed we are the 'rulers' of our kitchen in our homes too.  😁

We marveled at how they used to cook food in these big open fireplaces. 

Next we headed to the Loom House to learn all about how they made rugs, blankets, etc. with looms.

In the back of the house is a cute bridge, a farmer's field, and a spring house which is how they kept food cold in the hot summer months.

There was an Heirloom Garden but it was mid-May so there wasn't too much growing yet. 

Our next stop was at "Animal Encounters" where we learned all about the historic breeds of livestock and the importance of preserving them.  I got yelled at for picking up the baby goat.  That was embarrassing.  I tend to get yelled at wherever I go for some reason 😁. The employee said they "don't want the goats to get too tame".  I'm still perplexed by that.  They are domesticated animals.  Why wouldn't you want them tame?  I would be afraid to have an untamed goat around all these people and children.  Plus, I live in farm country.  We all love on our farm animals, so I was just doing what I was use to doing.

I loved watching the goats come in for lunch.  Yup, you don't want them to get too tame. 😆

Next, we had lunch at their picnic grounds which was conveniently located next to the playground.  After lunch we went to the Indian Camp.

Here we learned about the language and culture of the Lenape who lived along the White River in the late 18th and 19th Centuries. 

Elisha loved running from one cabin to another.

They had the coolest trading post inside the Indian camp where you learned all about the types of items that were sold or traded.

Next up was my favorite:  Prairetown!  It was an entire town, complete with actors in costumes, showing life in a pioneer days.

Every single house/building was open to explore.  I loved going inside and seeing these old homes!

Every home was different depending on the family who lived there.  Some were more extravagant if the family was wealthy (like pictured below) and others were more simple.

I loved how all the costumed actors stayed in character.  If you tried to ask them a contemporary question they always answered it as if they were still in the 1800's.  My husband tried to trick them, but she never cracked up or broke out of character. 

Here's an example of a more simple home.  It's just as quaint as the more extravagant ones in my opinion.  I could see myself living in any of them.

My grandson loved learning about all the different types of tools in the carpentry shop.

They even had an old hotel;  just look at those prices.  We learned how differently hotels operated in those days compared to today, like how people shared beds and rooms with complete strangers!  Could you do that?  I certainly could not.

Aren't these oxen beautiful?  Here the employee is showing how they yoked the oxen together to plow the fields. 

Above:  view of an old barn from the hotel window.  Below:  the inside of the barn.

I can't even imagine wearing these costumes on a hot day, and Indiana had a pretty hot summer this year. 

The blacksmith shop was my grandson's favorite.  Atticus has dreams of a welder someday, so he was pretty excited to see an actual welder!

The General Store was so fun!  I loved the lady outside soaking her feet as she quilted.  We engaged in conversation over how long it took her to finish a quilt.  I think she said she was working on hers for over a year.  Now I don't feel so bad, since it usually takes me years to finish mine too ha ha!

The inside of the General Store.

A One Room School House.

After exploring Prairietown, we headed to Treetop Outpost where kids can connect with natural materials in the world around them.  There is a fun tree house to explore and also a nature walk.

Grandpa was excited by all the musical instruments. 😀

And finally we headed over to The Junction which has this gorgeous covered bridge crossing a river.  There wasn't much going on over there that day, so we didn't spend much time there.  Like I said earlier, we were there in mid-May, before the summer tourist season, so not all attractions were open.  I heard they have an amazing splash pad in The Junction, which my grandkids enjoyed later in the summer.

And that concludes my Spring Midwest Road Trip Travel Series.  If you missed any of the earlier posts, there are links to them in the very first paragraph.

Next week I will share what hubby and I did for our anniversary, and then, I'm headed out west again to see Yellowstone and the Grand Tetons! I can't wait!

Have A Great Day!  Amy

Linking Up with these Fabulous Blogs HERE!