West Baden Atrium

We originally were

going to get an outside room

but I then decided to splurge

and get an atrium balcony one

I am glad we decided on this

The atrium is the main focus

of the resort.

View from the upper

parking lot

 

walking towards the valet station

 

When you walk in from the 

valet desk you

walk through the 

circle area where on the 1st floor

all of the shops, restaurants, bars 

lobby and amenities are

the second doorway goes into the atrium

 guest rooms are built in two concentric circles

 around the atrium on the second through fifth floors. 

Rooms on the inner ring overlooked the atrium; 

Some of the 4th and 6th floor rooms

 have balconies into the atrium

 

  

the rooms on the outer ring 

have a countryside view

 

In the morning the dome:

 

The tiles are 1 in squares - 12 million of them

 

 originally they coverd the whole atrium

but because the place sat unused for so many years

many were ruined

 We spent a lot of time 

people watching from our balcony

 

At night the atrium looked

completely different

The dome spans 200 ft 

 

 The fireplace in the atrium 

is so large it can accommodate

 logs as long as 14 feet

The colors of the disk

changed with the help

 of a computer program

These photos

can't even begin to show

the beauty of the atrium

French Lick Winery

Once we left the lake

we decided to stop 

for lunch at the cafe at

French Lick Winery

 When we walked in

the smells of 

bread and sauce greet you!

 

We got the supremo pizza 

and it was delicious!

On Monday we went back 

to do some wine tasting

You can sample 

any of the wines except

3 of the premium wines
for free

 you have to pay
a minimal amt to
taste the premium ones

It was hard for us to

narrow it down

The 3 we both liked were

They have a large gift

shop catering to

all kinds of 

wine inspired items

as well as apparel

Other posts:

On The Road

French Lick Winery

West Baden Springs Resort Atrium

Patoka Lake

 The first night 

of our vacation

we threw caution to the wind

and took a chance on

finding someowhere to stay

because the West Baden 

was closed for 

a wedding on Saturday

So we drove out to 

Patoka Lake 

and came across

Fisherman's Village

(it was the only place 

we saw a vacancy sign)

 (photo from their website)

Because it was late

and they didn't think that anyone would

take the cabin

they gave us a 2 bedroom cabin

for one night at a 1 bedroom rate

The place was really nice

Dining/Living Room

 

except for one problem....

see if you can see it....

 

Yup, it had 4 twin beds!

We decided just to laugh it off

We figured it would 

be one of those funny stories

as we did not ask 

and the innkeeper didn't mention it

We did go into the park

the visitors center

just had closed but we did

check out the grounds

 

The Jacob Moery Cabin

 

We were told we needed

to try Kayla's Kones

hand dipped ice cream

  We should've got there 5 minutes

earlier because the people 

in front of us

had a $60 order

of cones, sundaes and shakes

and there was only 

one person working

I have to say 

it was worth the wait

Sunday

We had breakfast at 

Terry's Pit Stop  

which was right next door 

to Fisherman's Village 

 

The inside is nothing fancy 

but the breakfast was very good

My husband recommends 

their pancakes...

 

Sunday morning

we went to the lake

to go swimming

We go there abt 10:30

and there were a few people

by the time we left at

12:30 it was getting quite crowded

 

 

It is a really nice

lake so if  you are in the area

it is worth the 12 mile drive 

from French Lick

On the Road

On our way to our vacation spot 

we stopped at a few towns

this is Salem IN

The town ins based around the 

courthouse in the center

and you drive around

it in a rotary

(click on the photo to enlarge)

 

 

What fascinated me

abt this building was 

that it was built in 1989

It blends in well

 We walked around the square

 and almost missed this eatery

Christies on the Square

It is such a nice place

and the food was soooo

very good!

My husband had the

Pork Tenderloin Sandwich 

and said it was one

of the best he has ever had

I had the 

Black Angus Hamburger

and it was very tasty!

 

On the road 

we got to see a lot 

we tried to take some

smell the roses moments

As we came around the corner

we thought it was a 

field of melons

so we were surprised to see all these

lily pads

 

 

a little farther down

we saw 6 pairs of swans

 

 

A few of the pairs were to far 

to get photos of

Next post is 

Click here: Lake Patoka

We stopped by to check it out

 Saturday night

Other posts:

Patoka Lake

French Lick Winery

West Baden Springs Resort Atrium

S'more Bars

I recently made these for a family reunion party - I adapted it a little bit

The original recipe :Lovin' From the Oven

My Version:

S'more Bars

1 cup butter, room temperature
1/2 cup brown sugar
1 cup sugar
2 large egg
2 tsp vanilla extract
2 2/3 cups all purpose flour
1 1/4 cup graham cracker crumbs
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1 12oz bag of chocolate chips
2 cups marshmallow creme/fluff (not melted marshmallows)

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350°F. Grease an 10x 13 in baking pan.
2. In a large bowl, cream together butter and sugar until light. 
3. Beat in egg and vanilla. In a small bowl, whisk together flour, graham cracker crumbs, baking powder and salt. 
4. Add to butter mixture and mix at a low speed until combined.
5. Divide dough in half and press half of dough into an even layer on the bottom of the prepared pan. Place chocolate chips over dough 
6. Spread chocolate with marshmallow creme or fluff. 
7. Place remaining dough in a single layer on top of the fluff (most easily achieved by flattening the dough into small shingles and laying them together).
8. Bake for 30 to 35 minutes, until lightly browned. Cool completely before cutting into bars.
   Makes 10x 13 in pan