A Nice Getaway

French Lick, Indiana. I'd never been there, but thought it was some golf place, at least I know my friend's husband used to go with his buddies there to golf. When Jay and I were trying to come up with a not-too-far getaway spot, we decided to check out French Lick. (Bonus, you go through Louisville to get there, so an excuse to stop and see the most beautiful grandbaby in the world!)

So, Friday night we took off for Louisville and stopped at the Fasciottos to have dinner with Rach/Sylvain/Jordan (I made vegetable lasagne and took it along, and it was pretty pretty darn good, thank you.) We got to spend time with the Nugget and got to do the "bedtime thing" with her since mommy and daddy took off to see a movie. We spent the night at the Hampton Inn near by, then headed to French Lick Saturday morning, about an hour away. The town of French Lick is the pits, but the resort, which sits right along the main road (not up on a hill away from the ugly city) was simply beautiful. It's made up of 2 hotels, French Lick Hotel and West Baden Hotel. Since F-L hotel has a casino, we opted to stay at West Baden thinking it would be more quiet. Good idea! West Baden was simply gorgeous! By far the prettiest hotel and room I'd ever stayed in.

Since we got there early, we started out by walking around F-L hotel and cruised through the shops (where I bought an awesome coat - 60% off!). This hotel was built in 1845, and all the great old time stars visited there over the years. Back then, they came by train and horse and buggy, coming for the mineral spring water. Ten years later they built the West Baden, connected by a trolley. There are wonderful pictures in the lobby of the shambles WB had become by the 1990s. It was bought by a wealthy family and $500 million renovation took place and restored it to it's glory around 1997. It really is something to see.

Then we went to the casino (added about 5 years ago) and low and behold, they had video roulette!! It was so much fun! Only $2 minimum, and no one shoving you or smoking in your face. We had a ball and even won a little money. There's also a spa, bowling ally, indoor and outdoor pools, hiking trails, horseback riding, and in the summer all kinds of kidsfest things. And there's golf, but $350 to play, according to the shuttle driver.

Then we headed to the other hotel to check in and it was spectacular. The rotunda in the main lobby was so impressive. We had dinner at their restaurant, Sinclairs', and I had the best salmon of my life. We went back and gambled a bit more, as shuttles take you back and forth all night. Won a little more money, then called it a night.

Sunday morning we checked out and went to Mass at a tiny little Catholic church right down the road. The priest was the best! The parish was obviously very poor, but what a dynamic priest at the helm. It was a great ending to such a great weekend. If it weren't so expensive, it would be a wonderful place to take the whole family.