Getting to Know Indiana

This past weekend, Sara, Mark, Kristen and I went on a fun road-trip to Bloomington and Nashville, IN. Our first stop was at the Oliver Winery outside of Bloomington. We had a picnic lunch and then enjoyed an outdoor wine tasting. This was my third official wine tasting there, but thus far, I hadn’t had much luck at finding a wine I liked. See, I actually don’t enjoy the taste of alcohol, and so I cringe as I swallow until we hit the sweet wines, and even then, I’ve just not found one that I really enjoy the taste of. Guess I’ve lived for too many years on sweet things like Mountain Dew, Cherry Coke, etc. and so the bitter alcohol taste is not as appealing.

However, my luck with wines seems to have changed. This weekend I discovered a wine that I liked: Muscat Canelli. It’s got champagnesque bubbles in it, and it’s very sweet and light and not nearly as bitter as champagne. I liked it so much that I bought my first official bottle of wine. Yes, it’s shocking, I know. I’ve gotten wine from friends and as gifts before, but I’ve never actually purchased it on my own before. Now I realize to some that this sets me firmly on the path to a future AA membership, but I personally don’t see any harm in responsible alcohol consumption. I don’t drink to get drunk, but a glass of wine over dinner or dessert is more my style!

Our 2nd stop was Indiana University Bloomington, and this time I was visiting the campus with a specific mission in mind—to scout out good photo ops for an upcoming wedding. I am going to be photographing my 2nd official wedding job this month, and I definitely wanted to visit the location and get a feel for what I had to work with ahead of time. The wedding will be outdoors at Dunn Meadows, which is on the IUBL campus. There are trees, stairs, and some cute little bridges for poses nearby the actual wedding site, and so I think it will be a great location for posed shots as well. I definitely feel more prepared after this visit.

Our final stop of the day was a visit to Nashville, IN. This cozy town in Brown County was first settled in 1809 and later became an artist colony. Today it is similar to a miniature Gatlinburg with quaint shops and museums. This is not really the height of the busy season at all since Brown County is particularly noted for its beauty in the fall, but there was still plenty to see and do. We walked through a few stores and took the Nashville Express Rail Tour as we enjoyed some tasty ice cream. It was quite a pleasant first visit!