Holiday Inn Express Hotel & Suites Crawfordsville

Shades State Park

by Toughluck

The river bottom and canyons were originally called 'Shades of Death' and became shortened to just "shades". Today, it is a state park and nature preserve. The trail into Pine Hills Nature Preserve leads down a steep embankment (wooden stairs provided) to the creek bottom. There are two loops both short. One stays along the river flats circling southward. The other circles north and you climb up on the Backbone. Here you'll be on a 6 ft (1.8 m) wide rock ledge with nearly 100 foot (30.5 m) drop on both sides. At the point, you'll find a trail leading down again to the river.

The change from the deep forest, to open cliffs, the sparse vegetation on parks of the river bottom with dense clumps intersperced makes for an enjoyable hour.

Shades State Park page

Lew Wallace after "Ben Hur"

by Toughluck

During Wallace’s lifetime, he had a moat on the east side of the building. He even had the moat stocked with fish. However, concerns about the building’s foundation and safety of neighborhood children prompted him to fill in the moat during his lifetime.

Today, Wallace’s study sits on 3.5 acres, which is entirely enclosed within a brick wall, which was an addition after Wallace’s lifetime. The General Lew Wallace Study is now a museum containing artifacts that chronicle every aspect of his varied life. However, the study grounds are an idyllic location for a picnic, stroll, or to relax with a good book.

The inside of the study was complete with electric and gas lights, a gas fireplace, coal furnace, an on-demand water system, and restroom. The main room contains white oak bookcases on three of the four walls. A frosted and stained glass skylight diffuses natural light into the main room.

General Lew Wallace’s study is a separate standing building that was constructed fifty yards north of his residence in Crawfordsville, Indiana. The study was built between 1895 and 1898 and cost the then remarkable sum of $30,000. The building is an eclectic combination of three types of architecture: Romanesque, Byzantine, and Periclean Greek. The building is composed of a concrete and steel undercarriage, brick walls, limestone for friezes and porches, and capped with a copper roof and cupola.