I was back in Richmond, Indiana recently. It's a city I used to spend a lot of time in during my…read moreseminary days, however, I don't return quite as often these days. Whitewater Valley Gorge Park seems to be one of those ever-improving parks. It's an over 100-acre park with gorge walls containing bedrock said to date back 500,000,000 years. The gorge runs 3-1/2 miles and ranges from 200-300 feet wide and 50 to 80 feet deep. In terms of history, smack dab in the middle of the park is the Starr Gennett building, a building that dates to the 1870s and held the Starr Gennett Piano Company and Recording Studio. Gennett made significant contributions to early jazz, country, blues, and gospel music. The park also has what I'd consider to be a park within the park - Veteran's Memorial Park. The park also has nature trails, a picnic area, an enclosed shelter, and it's just a really beautiful area. At one point, the Starr Gennett building faced demolition - I'm so glad that Richmond decided otherwise. It's weird. When I was in seminary, I hardly ever came here. Now that I'm out of seminary, a trip to Richmond isn't complete without it. There's ultimately not a lot of activity spaces here other than the fact that you can rent the space for events. Really, this is a greenspace, a reflecting space, and a historical space. It's definitely worth a stop if you're in the Richmond area.

The main feature of this lovely little park is a trail that honors Gennett Records and great music…read moreartists from the 1920s-1930's. The site was once home of several manufacturing facilities related to music. Remnants of the several old buildings stand as monuments of the thriving businesses that once stood on the site. Historical plaques describe the piano manufacturing and the Gennett recording studio that once stood and operated on the grounds. A concrete walkway runs through the park along the river. Along the trail at 27 ground plaques, each honoring different music giants from the 1920-30s who recorded here at the Gennett studios. I loved walking the path and learning about each of these legends including Hoagy Carmichael and Louis Armstrong! There are a few benches for seating. The walkways are easily accessible for strollers and wheel chairs. There is no charge to visit the park. There is ample parking at the north end of the park. The lot is surrounded by native prairie plants. In the winter a farmers market is held at the site. If you like history and architecture or are just looking for a quiet place to enjoy the day, I recommend a visit to the park.

Excellent, large park. I came looking for the aircraft, but it is so much more. They are nicely…read moretaken care of and displayed. There are also a few tanks. Plus many memorials, to most US wars across the years. Very fitting place to honor veterans. Also a very nice shelter house, a path along the river, and a "balcony" on the hill overlooking the park. Well done and well cared for. A bit hard to find, even with GPS- mine gave me the wrong street name to turn on. It said Johnson Street, but it's actually Goebels. Down the hill, under the tracks, and around the corner. Plenty of parking. Take your time and wander.

There are an awful lot of things to respect about Wayne County's Veteran's Memorial Park, an…read moreincredibly well developed park that sets the tone for this type of park in the state of Indiana. It begins with the little things - actually getting the domain name for the park so that people can easily find out about it. That's such a basic thing to do, but I'm amazed how many parks don't do it. The Park is located in the Whitewater Gorge and can be accessed via automobile via the Johnson Street entrance or via foot over the pedestrian suspension  bridge on Sim Hodgin Parkway or via the Whitewater Gorge walking/bike  trail. The park includes a variety of memorials worth mentioning including memorials for conflicts not often recognized. For example, there's a monument for conflicts from 1980-1996 including the Iranian Hostage conflict, Lebanon, Grenada, Panama, the Persian Gulf War, Haiti, and Somalia. There's a monument for POW's and those still MIA. There are individual monuments dedicated to area residents who served. There are multiple Vietnam monuments, markers, and benches. There's a monument to the Korean War. World Wars I and II are obviously honored. There's a monument to the U.S. Civil War that notes 320 Wayne County residents died during the conflict. Families can purchase memorial bricks, benches, and other markers for placement in the park. The website also lists the name of every soldier honored with a brick (again, this speaks to fabulous organization of the park). The park has a Memorial for Women Soldiers, a Purple Heart Memorial, two M3A3 Stuart Tanks, a HUEY Helicopter, an M60 tank, two naval guns, and more. It's a surprisingly large park that honors vets with dignity and respect and it's very well cared for. It was developed by veterans for veterans. The entrance to the park is just west of the Sheriff's building (super easy to find in Richmond). For veterans, this is a remarkable park to visit and for families of veterans in this area it's a wonderful way to honor your loved one. Richmond has a surprising number of monuments and is easily worth a day trip for a variety of spots. I spent several years attending seminary here and it's a wonderful little community and they've certainly done right by their veterans here.

If you wanted to plan a farmer's market space, I would suggest visiting the Jack Elstro Plaza. Not…read moreonly does it have designated spaces for stalls, but there is parking, restroom facilities, a lawn area for picnics, tables for visitors who prefer sitting on chairs, and a shaded area. And to make it look even more appealing there are dancing fountains on the east side of the plaza. The multi-shaded brick has been inlaid in zigzag pattern that lets you know this place has added a cool design to what was formerly just another parking lot downtown. Parking is good for three hours in the lot and if you are lucky, you can grab a spot along the shade trees. Overall, it's a nice place to pick up something from the market or to stroll over for a quiet space to enjoy lunch during the week. Review #1020

After my wife's chemotherapy this week, she needed some fishing therapy. She's caught 3 so far…read more I love to see her smile!

Beautiful lake!! We've taken the pontoon out here and also do paddle boarding. It's a spectacular…read morearea!

An awesome little getaway located on the north end of Richmond. A lot of childhood memories were…read moreformed here and it only gets better with time. It's been years since I've been to the reservoir and I'm happy to see that it is more beautiful than ever and waiting to create more memories for generations to come.

Caught this while fishing with my All Star Chase W. at the Richmond IN RESERVOIR. We had a ball!!read more

Hear me out... this is not my normal park post--but do you want a day trip to a 90s kids park?…read moreCheck out Memorial Park in New Castle, IN. it has a small toddler-friendly playground in the sand bring your bike or stroller and explore all the old 90s playground pieces throughout the park well-established park with tons of shade ponds for fishing (and don't forget bread for the ducks ) open grassy fields + beautiful mature trees = room to roam if your 3-year-old "golfs" like mine... there's a golf course This park has the sweetest history too--it was originally dedicated to Henry County men and boys who fought in WWI, and later rededicated to honor veterans of all wars. It's even on the National Register of Historic Places It's about a 45 minute drive from Indy, so pack a lunch, plan to stay awhile, and let your kids get a little dirty living out that 90s childhood

I was expecting a little more from the park considering how large it is and that it is next to a…read moregolf course. I think it was the layout that bothered me. The park is quite hilly and parts of the park seemed difficult to get to from a central road. Without a map of the park layout, I kept driving around trying to figure out if I could get to the playground from the central road. I never did find a way, so I left the park and pulled into a separate parking lot along Memorial Drive to access the playground, the creek, and the Wilbur Wright memorial. The majority of the park is densely wooded and contains numerous small shelters, many with stone fireplaces. On top of the hill, I found a clubhouse (?) with basketball, tennis, and volleyball courts that were in okay condition, but the netting needed tightening. There was also a natural amphitheater with some chairs arranged to face an "anniversary gazebo". The entrance of the park has a pull off lot for those visitors who wish to climb part way up the hill to see the veteran's memorial. There are several ponds on the lower property with fountains and usually, some ducks. Review #1196

Mary Scott Park is one of Richmond's smaller parks. It's a seven-acre park with an open-air…read moreshelter, playground, and a converted log cabin. As the late Yelper Ken N. notes, the cabin was built in the 1820s. It moved to this spot in the 1940s, and it experienced some significant renovation including losing one of its two stories, gaining a kitchen, gaining a meeting room, and also getting a fairly basic yet effective wheelchair ramp for access. Mary Scott Park was previously known as Northwest Seventh Street Park. It sits next to Parkview Elementary and Dennis Middle School. Mary Scott Park is on Richmond's northwest side, between NW 7th and 8th Streets. It was formerly named "Northwest Seventh Street Park." The park spans seven acres and sits next to Parkview Elementary School and Dennis Middle School. This certainly isn't a destination park. It's a comfortable, laid back neighborhood park. I suppose if you really wanted to see the log cabin, it could be considered a "destination." However, for the most part this is a relaxed, minimal activity park. My seminary is on the west side of Richmond, so experiencing Mary Scott Park was a pretty regular happening for me during those years. On my most recent visit, not much had changed but I still find the park a nice place to chill out. Because of the efforts at access, I'm moving up to a 4-star for this one. For most people, Ken N. is probably right in calling this your mid-range 3-star park.

This park on the west side of Richmond is nestled south of a school with its own private parking…read morearea. The park has a shelter and a playground with mature trees for shade. There is even a converted log cabin on site but it doesn't have any history posted so that visitors can find out the history. Turns out that the cabin was built in the 1820's and moved to this site in the 1940's. The renovation of the cabin reduced the size from a two-story to a single story and used the old wood to build the porch. A kitchen and meeting room were added to the back of the cabin after the modification of the height. The park has signs posted about no baseball or golfing allowed on the seven acres. I assume the city thinks there are enough other places to play those sports. Review #1021

A fun place to take the family out for some fishing, trap shooting or hiking. The hunting here like…read moremost other public land in the region sucks. During hunting season it's over run with yuppies and Hicks chasing the deer into the next zip code. I prefer coming out here in the summer when it's not crowded and I can fish.