Our second stop in the 2019 Covered Bridge Festival was at Bridgeton, Indiana. The original covered bridge here was one of several that were set afire by an arsonist. The bridge was rebuilt as a replica of the original.
The Bridgeton Mill is still in operation. One can purchase a variety of flour products in the mill and see a portion of the dusty flour milling operation.
There are many vendors of antiques, crafts, clothing, food and beverages available at the festival. We were here on a Sunday afternoon and it was rather crowded. We had lunch here and, of course, had to stand in a line for awhile to get our meal.
As at the Casey County Apple Festival in Liberty, Kentucky, I noted that there were many Trump promotional items, but no corresponding items for the current crop of Democratic Party Presidential candidates.
I’m sure that within the nearby urban area of Indianapolis, one would find a wider variation in political views.
In addition to shopping, one can take a carriage ride, enjoy arts and crafts and listen to local musicians.
The nature of this visit was not conducive to carrying around a large, heavy DSLR; consequently, the images in this post are all made via an iPhone 7 Plus with post processing in editing software.
A subsequent post will have more photographs of some of the interesting items one can see at these type events.
In early to mid-October my wife and I drove to Indianapolis with a dual purpose, visiting her relatives in the area and attending a number of the Covered Bridge Festivals that were taking place at that time of the year.
Please note that all of the images in this post are via an iPhone 7 Plus. Since so many people use their phone cameras exclusively now, I think these images will indicate that it is possible to get good photographs, within limitations, with the cameras in these modern devices. Note that these images have been post processed to improve the aesthetic quality.
The day after we arrived, one of Barbara’s cousins and her husband drove us around, taking us to two of the bridge festivals, past and through a number of covered bridges, through Brown County State Park, other tourist sites and a visit to their rather large cabin, which they use as a second home and sometime allow others to stay in.
Our first stop was the Mansfield festival, where the historic Mansfield Roller Mill is located. The roller mill is still functional and is now operated as a museum. I enjoyed walking through the mill and seeing the old mill machinery.
The mill has multiple stories connected via stairwells, but there is also a service elevator for moving goods from floor to floor.
There are views from the second and third story windows of the creek and old water mill. The original water wheel has been replaced by a water turbine, which offers more technological advantages over the original water wheel.
The cover for a flower dresser has been removed to allow one to see part of the mechanical parts. The aged wood of the flower dresser and other items have a really nice patina.
There were numerous vendors here, but we spent a limited time browsing, since we wanted to go to one of the other festivals nearby. We did walk through the Mansfield Covered bridge, though.
I am grateful to Barbara’s cousin and her husband for their gracious hospitality and tour of the area. They went much beyond ordinary hospitality.
Subsequent posts will include more on the festivals and area covered bridges.