92 County Tour: Madison County

Ohhhhhhhh you guys.  YOU GUYS!!!! What a beautiful day we had on Saturday. We haven't been on a county tour since June. We actually planned one for a few weeks ago, but we had to cancel it in favor of being responsible adults who had chores to accomplish. So when Ryan offered me one of his few, precious free Saturdays and asked if we could take a tour, my heart felt nothing but delight and love. This day was a gift to me, and I cherished it.

Our destination? Madison County.

It wasn't a long trip for us; Madison county borders ours to the south. It was named after James Madison, the 4th President of the United States. We actually visit this county fairly regularly, because it houses Anderson, which is a town we like to visit for dates.

Getting there on Saturday proved to be a bit of a nightmare, thanks to eternal construction on the interstate.

It would not be a Shaffer road trip to ANYWHERE without traffic delays. We collect them in place of normal things like t-shirts.

First up? A trip to a store I'd read about, called Sell it Again, Sam! They sell furniture, antiques, books, clothing, and all kinds of little treasures, and we had a blast walking around in there. {We didn't make any purchases...it was a little more expensive than our tastes, which border on half price garage sales.}

 This was a really cool vintage camera, though, and I found this life-size tea pot, too. No idea what you would use it for, but we had fun taking pictures with it.

After we finished shopping, we went for lunch at this cute local dive, called The Lemon Drop.

I wanted to go here because from the outside, it reminded me of the Comet Cone, the little dive we grew up with in Greentown. But I think this place was even tinier, and it was so character-laden, we just loved it. There were about four booths {maybe five?} and a counter with seats, and when we arrived, there were only a couple of seats left at the counter, so we sat there. That was fun! Throughout our visit, the place was always completely full and sometimes had visitors standing and waiting for a seat. {And the food is so good, people would stand and wait.}

Ryan had a breaded tenderloin and I had a burger {their signature burger is served on toasted regular bread} and we enjoyed talking to the people next to us, who overheard us say it was our first visit and chatted with us about the charm of the place. THAT was my favorite part, actually. It felt like what mealtime should be like in there - strangers who become friends over food.

And look at this? A basket of lemon drops!!

After lunch, we went to Mounds State Park to do some hiking. Mounds is significant to us, because that was where Ryan asked me to be his girlfriend a little over 3 years ago! Our hike this time was a little cooler, but it was still a GREAT day for a hike, and the park was relatively uninhabited, so we had the trails mostly to ourselves. {Be sure to ask Ryan about the trail where he said, "Hey let's climb up here" and then he climbed calmly, and I...well, hiking up vertical hills is not my first gift.}

Mounds gets its name from the actual mounds of earth found within it, believed to be created hundreds of years ago as a place to hold religious ceremonies and a way to mark directions and events on the calendar, like solstices.

The park borders the White River, which was so calm and serene. We enjoyed it! I also enjoyed our possible future home...a wigwam!

Our only remaining stop after our hike was {of course!!} a coffee shop. Normally, if we visit a county where I've been to some random coffee shop before, I'll try to pick a new one, just to spread the love. But Madison County houses the cafe at Gaither Family Resources, and I could not bring myself to go anywhere else.

Bill and Gloria Gaither founded this store in their stomping grounds of Alexandria, Indiana, and the property holds their recording studios as well as this store. {You can take a tour of the studios, and I have before, but I decided not to test Ryan's love for me by his non-love of southern gospel music.} We did look around the store, which is a fascinating blend of books, decor, music, clothing, and all kinds of fun stuff.

Ryan got fresh brew and a maple walnut pie that he said was quite tasty, and I went for a latte and a free scoop of coffee/chocolate chip ice cream.

We sat and savored our snacks while watching the video they played in the corner. {They always have one of their Homecoming videos playing.} Ryan cracked up at me, because of course I knew every single word of the video and could lip sync it all while drinking coffee AND eating.

And before we left, I HAD to get pictures with this table set in the yard. According to the Facebook reactions, I'm the only person who thinks this is the COOLEST in the world, but I don't care. I love it!

Thanks, Madison County, for a great date! We had such fun!

Linking up!