I'm off....yea!

[tlcoke]

Checking in quickly, had a great time yesterday at the park. Again didn't take a lot of photos, we spent the entire day at the park including dinner. Hit some Ice Cream and just played at the cottage. Today we are just chill'en then going to see a dinner show about Lincoln.

Can't wait to hear what you think about the Lincoln show...They have been advertising it like crazy around here.

 

[dpuck1998]

Decided to take the kids for a treat.

The avalanche at Santas Candy Castle, 64oz of frozen hot chocolate with lots of whipped cream. It was yummy! We finished it in about 5 mins (with a little brain freeze)

Made a stop at the Santa Claus Museum, it was free so it was worth the stop. The kids were able to write a letter to Santa and mail it for free.

Next stop was Lincolns Pioneer village and museum about 20 mins away. It was worth the trip. It was only about an hour to see everything, but we really enjoyed it (or at least I did). About 12 or so pioneer houses and lots of Lincoln items and items from the era.

We made sure to spend some time in the Lincoln Schoolhouse.

Back at the cottage resting, dinner at 6 and the show at 7:30. Hopefully the kids enjoy it.

 

[dpuck1998]

Just back from the show, it was excellent. The acting wasn't top notch, but the show was very good. I think all the kids actually enjoyed it. I'm glad we went to see it. We spent a few hours going to the Lincoln Boyhood Memorial and Farm first then went to dinner before the show. The kids got to play some games from the "era" and listen to some music. All around a great time.

 

[dpuck1998]

Well, home again from our vacation. What a great trip. Quick thanks for the recommendation of Schnitzelbank Restaurant! Best meal of the trip for sure.

Going from Bowling Green to Santa Claus was a nice combination for a trip. Getting to see so many caves and tourist attractions I remember as a kid sure was a lot of fun. GunTown Mountain was a stand out, while cheesy and run down, I remember going there and it was a treat to take my kids. Lost River Caves in Bowling Green was the best cave experience, the history of the cave and boat tour were unique. Kentucky Down Under was a great way to finish off out visit in the area. The cave there was the prettiest of all the caves we saw, and the animals and shows were lots of fun.

Our trip from Mammoth to Santa Claus a roller coaster ride in itself. The roads we took to get there were very hilly and curvy. When we pulled into our cottage we couldn't have been happier about where we booked. Santas Cottages is a real gem. It was beautiful, clean, friendly and comfortable. The staff/owners were amazing and quick to help with anything we needed. We will be back and we will stay there. The kids loved fishing every morning, playing on the play ground, just waking up and sitting on the deck by the pond was a real treat. I almost hated leaving to go to Holiday World, which was another pleasant surprise.

I had high expectations for this park, it claims to be the cleanest and friendliest park in the country. Not only did they met, but they exceeded my vision for this place. We spend two pretty full day there and every minute wonderful. Each and every staff member was kind, friendly and outgoing. I think you could toss a paper on the ground and before you count to 10 someone would have picked it up. The rides were a surprise also, three great wooden coasters, the Voyage is the best wooden coaster I've ever been on, anywhere!

We also spent time visiting sites around the area. Santas Candy Castle was a nice respite and run by a very energetic, outgoing man that does a great job bringing christmas to life for the kids. The frozen hot chocolate is reason enough to go there!

Our last full day was spent relaxing in the morning then sight seeing. We took in the Town of Santa Claus, the Santa Claus Museum and the Christmas Store. The museum was free and worth a visit. If for no other reason, the kids can write santa a letter and get a response on Dec 15th for free. Other places in town charged for this activity. The Christmas store was beautiful and the santa on hand was the best we saw the entire trip. Even our 9 year old was questioning if this was the real santa or just a helper. We decided to start our Dept 56 Christmas Village while we were here! I've always wanted to get one going, so seemed like a good place to start. This is the one that will start the collection.

The rest of the day we spent doing all things Lincoln in the area. First stop was the Lincoln Historic Village and Museum. About a 30 min drive, it was well put together and a good way to spend a couple of hours. Lots of cabins put together in a village to give you an idea of how Lincoln lived when he was in Indiana. We had dinner and show tickets for the Lincoln Amphitheater so we visited the Lincoln Boyhood Memorial and living farm, then off to dinner and the show. The Dinner wasn't anything special, but decent. They had actors playing games and playing music while we ate. The show was excellent. As I already mentioned, the acting was just ok, but the we all really enjoyed the show. I learned a lot about Lincoln that I did not already know.

We spent the next morning packing and fishing, hit the road and headed home. Stopped at the World War II victory museum and car museum on the way home, in Auburn, IN.

I think the trip went wonderfully and everyone had a very good time. The highlights for me were the cottages, Holiday World and the off the beaten path fun that we had. The boys really enjoyed the cave tour they took without us, they were able to crawl around and do some real spelunking. I think Santa Claus and Holiday World could be every other year vacation destinations. I doubt we will return to Mammoth for a while, but we did really enjoy it.

Thanks for reading and big thanks for all the DIS'ers that helped me out along the way. Its nice to always have locals to give us tips and tricks when on vacation.

 

[ADP]

Good stuff Don. Thanks for taking us along.

Like you, I was surprised to see how many hills there were in southern Indiana and northern Kentucky. Beautiful scenery though.

 

[tlcoke]

Well, home again from our vacation. What a great trip. Quick thanks for the recommendation of Schnitzelbank Restaurant! Best meal of the trip for sure.

Glad you enjoyed your experience there. It was recommended to me last summer by a friend who use to live in Jasper. I really like their food, I took another friend there in November. Once I saw their Catering Trucks, I realized they had catered a very good meal at our church a year earlier.

We also spent time visiting sites around the area. Santas Candy Castle was a nice respite and run by a very energetic, outgoing man that does a great job bringing christmas to life for the kids. The frozen hot chocolate is reason enough to go there!

I'll have to plan to go into Santa Claus on my next trip over to the Jasper/Ferdinand area. I go over in November for ChristKindle Market, the best Christmas Craft show in the region. All Artisans - no commercial stuff.

Thanks for letting us follow along on your adventure.

 

[elemusing]

Hey Don,

I haven't been on here in a month - off from school and my normal routine, so I just haven't been Dis-ing in a while. I see that you stopped at Big Mike's. Did you take the Mystery Tour? Our kids LOVED that place - cheesy tourist attraction at it's finest!

Glad you had fun on your trip! I loved the pics!

Angie

 

[dpuck1998]

Hey Don,

I haven't been on here in a month - off from school and my normal routine, so I just haven't been Dis-ing in a while. I see that you stopped at Big Mike's. Did you take the Mystery Tour? Our kids LOVED that place - cheesy tourist attraction at it's finest!

Glad you had fun on your trip! I loved the pics!

Angie

We did stop at Big Mikes, but missed the Mystery Tour. Non of the kids wanted to go, we were pretty run ragged at that point and heading back to the hotel. We did enjoy it though and all the kids bought something at that stop.