This review will be a little different than my others. I had a week’s worth of time off still on my schedule. Since my hire date was the first Monday of May last year, I had to use it up before that date or I would lose it. I’m glad I took the whole week off. It seems like Spring waited until this week to really get itself bloomed and green.
I enjoy doing things on my own. Don’t get me wrong, I love having company on my adventures. But there’s something a bit relaxing going around on your own. You can decide everything that YOU want to do and not worry about what others want, or if someone’s tired or whatever. So, I saw a Groupon for a B&B in New Albany, IN, and decided it would be fun to go on my own, during my little vacation. In this entry, I’m going to go in order of the places I went to, so here we go!
The Admiral Bicknell Inn
600 E Main St,
New Albany, IN 47150
1.800.981.8003
I’ve only been to one other B&B and it was a pretty awesome experience. The Admiral Bicknell had a high level of expectation to live up to, and it did pretty well. I stayed over on a weeknight and was the only person there besides the hosts. Valla Ann was great, but I didn’t see her much except when I first arrived and then in the morning for breakfast. That was probably due to my taking off as soon as I got settled in and then keeping to my room most of the evening. (The room was fantastic, which will explain my reclusion.)
I stayed in the Library, which has been converted into a lovely suite. The accommodations were perfect for a single traveler; in fact, I think if someone else had been with me, it would have been cramped. But there was a queen-sized bed and a bathroom with a clawfoot tub. The windows face west and north-by-northwest, and it’s actually right along the busy Main St. If you aren’t used to a good amount of street noises, then it’s probably not an ideal location for you, but I loved it. Especially the clawfoot tub.
There is a shallow pool behind the Inn and a lot of green space around the whole lot. Train tracks run directly behind the property along the Ohio River, but Valla Ann was recently able to get the Main St district labeled a Quiet Zone, one of only 11 such places in the state! This means, even though the trains run through it, they are not permitted to blow their horns, which is lovely.
Carnegie Center for Art and History
201 E Spring St
New Albany, IN 47150
812.944.9600
This is one of my favorite kinds of places to visit in a new town. I love checking out local art and especially local history. New Albany has an exceptional history with the Underground Railroad. They have a permanent exhibit about the places and people who were strategic in rescuing runaway slaves. They also accurately detail the full scope of the issue in their area. I knew the Ohio River was one of the places which slaves aimed for when trying to escape, but I lumped all of that to the Cincinnati area. Thankfully, there were many other locations on the River that were safe-zones and big stations on the Underground Railroad. There were many in New Albany who were abolitionists because of their spiritual/moral convictions, which was refreshing. Also, some people in powerful positions in the community were on board as well, such as judges, lawyers and real train conductors.
There is also a permanent exhibit of working motorized wooden dioramas – carved by one man, Merle Yenawine. They cover life in a small town of Indiana from before and after 1900. It was pretty cool how the tiny figures would move around and lights would flash underneath certain parts to make it look like a fire roaring. The scenes were pretty comprehensive too.
The Dandy Lion Boutique
310 Bank St
New Albany, IN 47150
812.944.9477
This little shop is absolutely adorable! It’s the only other place that I knew about in New Albany before going down, and it was on my “MUST VISIT” list. I’m glad I made it in! It’s run by twin sisters, Ani and Ali, and a lot of their stuff is on consignment from artists who handmake their wares and sell on Etsy. The items are quirky, cute, hipster, trendy…um, what other adjective could I throw in here…vintage, stylish, chic – basically, amazing stuff. I bought some earrings for a friend, some hair clips and a journal that was converted from an old “In the Year…” book. It’s one of those books that tells you all the things that happened in a particular year, but they spiral bound it and dispersed some of the pages among the blank journal pages. I’m so excited about using it! They are available on Facebook, as seen above, and the twins have their own Etsy, here! They do a lot of sewing and creating themselves, so you should really check them out!
I will continue with Part 2 shortly! Stay tuned!
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Xapa to the World 