SMALL TOWN

We headed to our next stop in Bluffton, Indiana. Along the way, we passed through the little town of Markel which had a hilarious mural which advertised Pickle Power. We always enjoy seeing the quirky sites along the way and the mural did not disappoint.

Buster and I love John Mellancamp. He’s a cat from Indiana and famously still has a farm there. We drove by Seymour, which is his hometown. We didn’t see him. He sings about small towns (Small Town) and things that happen in small towns (Jack and Diane and Little Pink Houses). One of our impressions of Indiana are how close together the small communities are and how the communities have their own distinct identities.

We arrived in Bluffton which is nicknamed the “Parlor City” for its history of having some of the first paved streets in the area. Most of the streets at the time the town was founded were dirt. A parlor is associated with being the cleanest room in the house for receiving guests, hence the nickname. The town had a very cool vintage shop with all sorts of wonderful treasures. It’s called American Salvage Company. The site is on instagram or etsy with @AmericanSalvageCo. The store does most of its business there. You can get a good taste of the items we saw. The interesting county courthouse is constructed with limestone blocks and is set on the town square.

We were excited to visit the Saturday farmer’s market, but it was a bit sad. There was a single booth with a few vegetables and several more with crocheted do-dads and beaded jewelry. Not a catnip booth in sight!

Our next stop was Scottsburg, Indiana in a lovely campsite. Mark and Marnie were our hosts. They were busy cleaning, clearing, and upgrading all of the sites in our village.

We took a day trip into Madison, which is a historic city located in Jefferson County, Indiana, just north of the Ohio River. Madison has over 1500 buildings on the National Register of Historic Places. The town only has a population of 11,967 humans. So many lovely homes and dozens of mansions. Its streets look much like they did in the nineteenth century. A famous landmark is the Broadway Fountain. It was made by a French sculptor and it features four tritons with spouting horns.

Before heading back to the campground, we stopped for a delicious cup of coffee at the Red Roaster. We give the coffee five paws on our scale of five. It was a lovely day.

More to come,

Betty and Buster

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