New Harmony, Indiana
My wife
and I recently took a trip to New Harmony, Indiana. It’s one of our favorite
places, and it is the place we were originally going to get married. We planned
to escape away, and get it done, at a place we love, and a place that is part
of our new life. But, we had some family considerations. Anyway, we got married
on November 2, 2019 and decided to take an overnight trip to New Harmony,
during the Thanksgiving weekend.
On the
drive over from Southern Illinois, when we were about 10 miles from New Harmony, I suddenly remembered that we did not bring our box fan. We cannot
sleep without the big box fan roaring. We hoped and prayed there was someplace
we could get a fan. When we entered town we found a Dollar General. After
searching every aisle we discovered they did not have any fans. But, when we
were checking out, I asked the cashier about it, in the off chance they might
have one, and they did. She went into the back and returned with a fan. She
said it was the last one. So, we bought the fan and some snacks. God saved us
from a very grumpy morning, in New Harmony. The fan worked great, and we slept
very well.
We love small trips, as a way to escape and
relax. This trip was wonderful, and was a mini honeymoon for us. Small trips
are also within the budget of any average family if they really want to escape
to somewhere.
We stayed
at the New Harmony Inn. The room was perfect.
The price was $75.00 for one night, for 2 people. After checking in we
went around town and shopped several of the local down town stores. We looked
at a couple of art galleries there as well. Then, we ate at The Yellow Tavern.
The food was excellent, and was around $20.00 for lunch. We had fried mushrooms
and a ’12 pizza.
After
lunch we continued, strolling through town till we came to the New Harmony
Library, which has a museum on the second floor full of all kinds of
interesting things. The building is beautiful. We strolled around checking out
the other sites of the town. There was a musical group playing at the New Harmony Theater. The tickets were $25.00 a piece. We did not go. The theater is
very active throughout the year.
We then
went and looked at the Roofless Church, which is where we thought about getting
married at. It was commissioned by Jane Blaffer Owen, founder of the Robert Lee
Blaffer Foundation. Legend says that, she was a very spiritual
person, and loved the utopian vibe of New Harmony, but her husband was not. He
did not want her to build the church, but she did anyway. So, on the day she
was opening the church she had a very reverent service going, while her husband
hired a circus Calliope to play and circle the church during the service to
irritate her.
New
Harmony was created by George Rapp and a group of Germans who awaited the
Second Coming of Christ. They left persecution in Germany, and first settled in
Pennsylvania, then moved to this place called Harmonie. They lived in a
communal fashion, farming, eating, and being celibate (at least when folks were
watching) they were successful, but decided to move back to Pennsylvania.
So, they
sold Harmonie to a European Utopian visionary, named Robert Owen. He wanted to
create a perfect society. Owen came to Harmonie, by the Wabash river in a keel
boat named “Boatload of Knowledge” it was full of experts who wanted to be a
part of Owen’s experiment. Robert Owen started life in great poverty in Wales,
but rose to wealth. He believed in better conditions for workers, and lifting
people out of poverty. He started implementing his ideas in Harmonie. But, he
was unable to keep control of who could come to the town and set up shop. This
led to the destruction of his system. In later years New Harmony became the
first to have a kindergarten, a free public school system, and first free
public library system. (Tales and Trails of Illinois, Stu Flierge, pgs 40-49,
University of Illinois Press)
After our
stroll, we went and worked out at the fitness center, then swam in the pool.
Then, after cleaning up, we went and had dinner at the Inn’s restaurant, The Red Geranium. We had salad, grilled shrimp, Bulgur and Vegetable soup, and Fish
and Chips. It was around $40.00, and was delicious. After dinner we went back
to the room, watched TV, and went to bed.
The next
morning we got up and walked in the mist to work out, and see more sites. We
went down to the Atheneum, and the Wabash River. We took pictures of the old
bridge that used to cross from Illinois, into Indiana but has been left by the
state to virtually rot. Not sure which state, but I would be willing to bet. We
then walked down to the boat ramp and up to the Granary.
After our
walk we cleaned up and loaded to leave. Then we had brunch at the Red Geranium.
Stacy my wife had New England Crab Cake Benedict, which was yummy, and I had
the standard breakfast, of eggs, biscuits, potatoes, and pancakes. It came to
around $35.00 and was wonderful.
The
entire trip, not counting the snacks, gas, fan and souvenirs, cost around
$170.00 round up to $200. A low cost escape that would be great for Valentine’s
Day
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