This sculpture trail was a delightful find in the middle of some of the most beautiful countryside…read moreof Indiana. This is a family owned park where artists work to build sculptures of anything that their imagination can create, all out of metal. The shop where they do their work is on the grounds, and visitors can walk the trails and witness the work being done live. The landscape would be great to hike in by itself, but the art and imagination on display adds an element of wonder and fun to see what is around the next corner. And let's face it, sculpting art out of metal is awesome!!

This place is definitely worth the drive. Kick on your navigation app and head out! It is…read moreabsolutely beautiful, and the placement of the various sculptures keeps you on your toes. There is decent gravel parking, and also a little donation box to drop a few bucks to show them you appreciate what they are doing. It's free, so why not say thank you with funding? There is a lot of abstract art, and it's all beautiful. If you do a full walk through, you will surely find pieces that speak to you. I don't know what it's called, but there is one that is either really called Sun Goddess, or I just call it that. It's beautiful, and has been there on both of my visits, which were about 10 years apart. The sculptures are generally metal, with some being metal and stone, and some worked into trees or other bits of nature. Some have clearly repurposed old pieces of metal, which is nice to see. It does seem to have had a few pieces move or change over a long period of time, which could be for any number of reasons. I think it's the sort of place that would offer you something different if you visited during different seasons. It's worth the trip!

Since the Hoosiers did so well this year NATIONAL CHAMPIONS I thought of a great place in…read moreBloomington. The Wonderlab!!! It's a nice sized science of wonders in my opinion. They have a bubble room! It's awesome. A place where you can parachute little figure people over and over again. Shoot I laid down on a bed of nails once here. They have a huge climbing vine that you can climb all the way up to the second floor. But, you have to climb back down it doesn't exit on that floor. They have a cool water science area for kids complete with rain gear - which is optional do what you want ha. It's just a cool place. It's not too big and it's not too small. It the perfect sized science museum. They have the coolest gift shop! I still have my Wonderlab water bottle from years ago. If you've never been make a day of it!

Tucked in amidst the buildings step into this wonderland for kids to explore science. All sorts of…read moreexperiments and things to learn, places to climb and things to do. Good for all ages! There is even a gate enclosure for toddlers to play separately.The older ones,even adults, will enjoy seeing what it's like to be laying on a bed of nails! It is a very busy place however so do keep an eye on your littles as they may feel the desire to walk to the next activity without you! If this were closer then I believe we'd take my grandkids more often, but it makes an excuse for a little road trip, although I'm always easily persuaded to be on the go!

Beautiful place! It has such a scenic setting with large pond and walking trails…read more Had a few tasters to check out wines from Oliver we hadn't tried yet. The staff was accommodating and warm. We were unfortunate to be able to take the tour but maybe another day!

Beautiful gardens! Affordable wine! Fun times.....Service was good but wine was better!!!read more

1.) We hit the weather jackpot for this year's Indiana Wine Fair…read more 2.) Story, Indiana is ridiculously charming. The Inn itself *is* the town. Half the charm of this event is the drive down from Indianapolis. 3.) We parked in a field and moseyed our way through the Inn's garden which is filled with produce they use in the on-site restaurant. 4.) 30+ Hoosier wineries offering samples (spirits this year too! -Huber Winery (Starlight) and Cardinal Spirits from Bloomington (one of my personal favorites) 5.) the setting is super laid back in a field with live music and a BYOC vibe (bring-your-own-chair) 6.) Maybe next year I'll snag a room at Story Inn and make a weekend of it? ;)

If you love wine, this is the event for you! I went with a group of girls and we had a great girls…read moreday. Bring your dog, bring your friends, bring everybody! There were even a lot of men winos too. The event can get pretty busy, so the places to sit fill up very quickly. It's a long event, so I would recommend bringing chairs, blankets, or somewhere to sit at. Standing on your feet the entire event and drinking, especially if the weather isn't ideal (90 degrees when I went, woof!) is exhausting, so having a comfy spot is ideal. Come with the attitude that you're there for a great time and will have plenty to drink! The lines can sometimes be a little long, and there were rude comments from people about others getting more than one sample per booth. We're all there for a good time, and they won't run out, so hold the negativity! The food and drink vendors are amazing! Everyone was nice, helpful, and offered recommendations. There's something for everyone -- including beer and liquor vendors. It is primarily wine but there is plenty of variety! The only thing I would recommend improvements on is the bathroom situation. There are maybe 10 portapotties with long lines and they were NOT kept up with well. Dirty, no toilet paper, and the hand washing stations weren't working. The only negative in an otherwise fabulous event. Make it a whole weekend. Brown county is beautiful. My group rented a cabin and then enjoyed the wine fair. It was perfect!

On West Franklin, Paint Box has been around for decades featuring local artists. Each has their…read moreown area to display their works, but the spaces are quite small. So, some take their works all the way to the ceiling! From what I can tell, the artists take turns inside the shop being the sales person/adviser about the works on display. Most of what caught my eye were paintings. Different styles were on display, but I'm kind of a plein air fan and so I definitely had my favorites. The art was reasonably priced/affordable for many homes. My only wish is that the space was a little larger so that each piece could be displayed with its own space, not quite so closely arranged. Note: I believe this is one of the shops that is up for auction at the end of Oct'19, so it is hard to know how that will affect this business. I hope the new owners treat these businesses fairly. Review #3243

This is a fun event that is helmed by the Bloomington Independent Restaurant Association…read more How it Works: Buy a ticket and then enjoy the live entertainment along with being able to get 'samples' of food from the restaurants for just $1/item. 4-5 'samples' totally make a meal. The goal of the event it to get people (especially new IU students) to know about the many independent restaurants that are located next to campus. A great concept and a fun event. What is Great: 1) Music - the live world music was great! 2) Food - I loved being able to try items that I had not had before, I trying new items at old favorite restaurants will greatly increase my patronage as I know more of what I can get, move craves = more visits, 3) Restaurant Entry - I liked that for some of the restaurants, you had to enter the building to go to the food - it was a good mix of on the street and in the restaurant, 4) Beer/Wine Tent - I didn't patron it but it looked like they had a nice selection, 5) Safety - the organizers did a great job laying out an emergency plan, there was a brief note on the 'program' to let us all know what to do in the event of a emergency - rad, 6) Volunteers - I feel like I spotted a lot of event volunteers - and volunteers make every event better! Room for Improvement: 1) Better Name - I heard a LOT of people referring to this as '4th Street Fest' - which is a completely different event entirely - there is a branding issue here - I think words like 'international' and 'independent' are more important than the location, 2) Ticket Price - I understand that the point of this event is to get students to know about the restaurants but with an entry of $5 for students and a whopping $10 for everybody else, the price bias is just crazy - I think the double fee for those who are not students is a great way to make enemies, I mean, you are basically asking non-students to not come...which is crazy, 3) Participation - I was a little bummed out that some of the restaurants didn't participate, 4) Marketing - I could have used a Facebook event or just more direct awareness coming from the BIRA FB page.

The Jamaican Rum and the Bourbon syrups are my favorites. All are smooth and flavorful. The rum and…read morebourbons in the background are jut right, subtle.

These folks sell maple syrup at some Chicago farmers markets, and let me just tell you that this is…read morethe best syrup I have ever had. Better than various fancy maple syrups I sampled in Vermont. Better than the maple syrup I recently brought back from Canada. This is the kind of maple syrup that will make you understand and appreciate the entire genre of maple syrup, which I previously regarded as pointlessly sweet and a way to squander perfectly good pancakes. They have some varieties aged in various alcohol barrels -- the rum-barrel and bourbon-barrel syrups were really good and had a distinct character that would make them fun to play with in cocktails and at the stove. But the best one is their straight-up super mapley Farm Grade "B" maple syrup. It cost something ridiculous ($20, I think) for one 12 oz. bottle, but it was worth it. UPDATED: 2/28/2016. Everything I said above about the awesomeness of the syrup remains true, but I can now add that they have awesome customer service as well. I ordered several bottles of syrup for Christmas gifts. On 12/23, I realized that one of the bottles hadn't arrived. Tim Burton himself drove to my house(!) on Christmas Eve to hand deliver the wayward bottle, to make sure that Christmas morning was complete. I already gave them five stars, but now I would like to give them six.

I always loved watching movies at Starlite throughout college and finally returned this weekend to…read moregive our international friends a true drive-in experience. The film quality is great, especially because it gets so dark out in the wooded area. You can always see a sky full of stars while the movies are playing (shooting stars have been seen)! Everything is affordable, all soda drinks and popcorn sizes have endless refills, and as you can see in the photo, you really don't need a refill if you get a large!! I highly recommend visiting for some movies if you get the chance.

Beautiful drive in with grass. First run movies and a great concession stand. What more do you want?read more