WEST BADEN SPRINGS HOTEL

Recently my mom and dad passed away, and my cousin, Tracy, came to stay with me a couple of weeks to help get me comfortable and back on my feet. It just took a couple of days to convince me to start trying to venture out again. In an effort to have a day of normalcy, we drove up to French Lick, Indiana, which is just 25 miles from my house. There's a casino there, and the two of us, huge gamblers that we are, lost our $25.00 after a couple of hours and scooted up a couple of miles to see the West Baden Springs Hotel. It has been recently renovated and I knew there was a lot of hoopla associated with the place, and as close as it was, which is pretty common for people who live near a landmark, I had never seen it since it was done. The last time I saw that old historic hotel it was a shambles and renovations had not yet been funded.

The place is a huge draw for celebrities and I couldn't imagine why anyone would want to visit French Lick/West Baden, even if Larry Bird WAS born there and lived there, and occasionally does still live there. I have seen photos of the newly remodeled hotel, but until you walk in there, you cannot even imagine the beauty of that place!

Tracy and I walked in and the first thing we saw was a group of models doing a photo shoot, modeling wedding gowns and other more upscale clothing. After standing there with my little camera, in the midst of probably some of the most famous photographers in the Country, we wandered off to find our own chaise lounge to pose on. I won't post those photos. LOL!

But from the top:
Photo #1: A "few" of the rooms inside the dome. The lobby was so spectacular we really didn't need to look much further.

Photo #2: Looking up at the dome. Tracy had to put her hand on my back to keep me from falling over backwards while I took this.

Photo #3: Part of the huge front porch. We sat there in a rocker and had to force ourselves to get up and finish our own little walking tour.

Photo #4: The fireplace in the lobby. How magical, don't you think?

Photo #5: A woman graciously offered to photograph Tracy and me together. Aren't we adorable?

Photo #6: A view of the porch side from the gorgeous gardens.

There were more pictures and I'll do a separate blog a little later. Just wanted to share quickly!