darlaville: a day trip to Madison

Earlier this month Lonnie and I were getting tired of being at home and so we decided to go for a drive to find something different to look at.

Since I like to have a plan (but stay flexible with it), I chose Madison Indiana as a destination. It's a good distance for a day trip and Lonnie's son had just been saying how some of the sleepy little towns in southern Indiana have really been growing and developing. It would be a chance to see what he was talking about.

So, we crossed into Indiana and took State Rd 62 on up through Charlestown. It had been years since we'd been up that way and yes, it has really grown. Lots more housing developments and every single food and store franchise one could think of.

From there to Madison it was more of the scenic countryside drive that we like.

Here we are in Madison at the riverfront. Not a good day for taking photos...cloudy and gloomy skys.

Just down river, is a coal burning power plant. That's the chimney, constantly streaming smoke.

Not so pretty to look at now but this place will be jam packed with people in July when the Madison Regatta is held.

Looking across to the Kentucky side of the Ohio River you can see farms and homes there along the bottom land. Then, look up at the homes on the crest of the hill. What a spectacular view they must have.

Here on the Madison side of the river, historic old homes. This is the Lanier Mansion. It's normally open for tours but I'm not sure right now, because of Corona virus.

Also along the river are a lot of small parks for families...playgrounds, basketball courts and so forth.

Wouldn't you know it though...not one had an unlocked restroom😖.

In the distance is the courthouse dome...

We drove all the main streets of town, looking at the old homes. I didn't really get many pictures because I was driving.

Here is the Broadway Fountain. Not operating in the cold weather months, of course.

On summer evenings they have live music and concessions for a "bring your own chair" event in this area.

While driving around, we noticed a place called Red Pepperoni, always with lots of cars crammed in the lot...a trusty indicator that the food must be good.

We stopped in for a pizza and a salad. It was good. Lonnie is pretty particular about his pizza and said he thought the cheese should be better quality...but he ate every bite! Service was good too.