Greencastle

The mystery destination of my anniversary getaway was Greencastle, IN.

The DH (dear hubby) had seen Greencastle listed as one of the top 100 places to visit in the Midwest, in the recent edition of Midwest Living magazine. Greencastle met his criteria as an interesting place within a one-hour drive of home.

Greencastle is part of Putnam County, which has a number of covered bridges. (We didn't visit any on this trip.) It is also home to DePauw University.

What did we do in Greencastle? What we do best on trips: walk. We walked around and around - through town, through the University, we walked all over! The DH and I both enjoy looking at buildings, gardens, neighborhoods, etc. I think there's no better way to get the feel of a community. Here are a few photos of downtown.

Courthouse; Greencastle is the Putnam County seat

Empty lot in the downtown square, which the city has turned into public seating. I like the multi textures on the wall.

On Saturday, we had lunch at the Almost Home "tearoom." While the tearoom is no longer active, this is now a very nice restaurant. The DH and I split a bowl of broccoli-cheese soup, a veggie wrap that was grilled (Yummy!) and a piece of walnut pie. This pie was delicious! I wish I had a photo. The filling was like a blend of coconut cream filling and cheesecake with walnuts and homemade crust. Perfect and yummy!

After lunch, we checked into the Walden Inn on the campus of DePauw. The Inn is in the midst of a remodel. Our room was very nice. We even had a flat-screen TV!

We spent the afternoon doing more exploring. Greencastle has a labyrinth in one of its public parks.


Me, walking the labyrinth

DePauw University has a beautiful campus!

Cool old building on campus

Cool new buildings on campus

On Sunday, we were delighted to discover the DePauw University Nature Park. This is a must-see if you're in the area! We ran from the hotel, through the quarry and around part of the rim trail, then back to the hotel. This was about an hour's run. We headed back later in the day to explore the Welcome center and to take photos. There are several miles (9, perhaps?) of trail opportunities. From the website:

"Between 1917 and 1977 the Nature Park was the site of a limestone quarry, where rock was blasted from the quarry walls, crushed into limestone aggregate and then transported off-site by rail. Limestone rock in the quarry began formation approximately 350 million years ago from the remains of animals living on the bottom of an inland sea that covered this area."

The quarry shut down when the railroad stopped serving the area.

The view from atop the Welcome Center

Early signs of fall

View from the bottom of the quarry (there is a path through it). The stone bottom of the quarry is one of the few places in the world (along with a volcano crater) where we can observe the process of Primary Succession, rock turning into vegetative matter.

On Sunday afternoon, we took the windy-hilly way home through small towns and rural countryside. It was a fantastic weekend.