4th of July weekend Festivities!

So this past weekend was 4th of July and I had a 3 day weekend! I haven't had one of those in quite a long time, so it was the perfect opportunity to explore Indiana! I can't believe I've been here for a month now, making me officially halfway done with my internship!! Time is flying by so I needed to go on a weekend adventure to see anything I haven't yet! Here I am sporting my red, white, and blues...aka...my New England Patriots shirt. I'm in Colts country, so I felt very brave wearing my Pats shirt this weekend! Only got comments from 3 people ;)




          Friday night after work I rode my bike into town to take part in Food Truck Friday again. It was delicious of course. I got a chicken gyro and vegan grasshopper ice cream from The Chocolate Moose. Yum!

Saturday morning I rode my bike down to the farmer's market which was crazy!! The weather was beautiful and everyone was out enjoying it. I didn't end up buying any produce but on my way back to my bike there was a small French restaurant that was serving people right out of the side of the building! So I ordered an Andro Croquet (please forgive me if I spelled that wrong!) But it was tasty! here's a pic of the croquet and the cute building it was served from!

Feeling like I had the whole day ahead of me (which I did) I decided to reference my list of places that people have recommended to me. I have been asking everyone I meet if they have any recommendations on places to go. Linda (the manager at Woodland Restaurants) was telling me about all the beautiful hiking opportunities around Indiana and told me how beautiful Turkey Run State Park was. Because I was feeling spontaneous on Saturday I put Turkey Run into my GPS and just drove there! It was a 2 hour drive, but boy was it worth it! There were quite a few established hiking trails so I just went in with an open mind and explored! There were some trails that had me walking right through a creek, and other trails only accessible by climbing steep, man-made ladders! There were canyons, and visible sandstone erosion, but everywhere was beautiful. It was worth the drive. Here are a few pictures from my hike:

Sunday:

I met a friend here who is from New Hampshire and we decided to go out for brunch and go on a distillery tour. Cardinal Spirits is a distillery in Bloomington that has only been open for 2 years. But they make quite a lot! For brunch I enjoyed a coffee drink that had coffee liqueur which they make by soaking local coffee beans from Hopscotch Coffee (shop in town) in vodka. It was tasty! After brunch we went on a tour of the facility and then got to try samples from their entire line which includes vodka, bramble vodka, gin, rum, tiki rum, whiskey, and 2 liqueurs. 

Monday: Happy 4th!

I decided Monday to visit Nashville, Indiana. A small, tourist town that is about 30 minutes from Bloomington. My first stop was Brown County Winery for a tasting. I actually bought a bottle of red which for those who know me...know that's not my style. But there are a lot of wines out here made from different fruits and I tried a red blend that was very tasty. When I was leaving I noticed Bear Wallows Distillery was across the street and open on the holiday so I went to check it out. They primarily make whiskey and bourbon but they do a lot of infusion with their alcohol which was interesting to see! I'm not ashamed to admit that I purchased Moonshine Pickles (haven't tried them yet). But I did stay for one drink- I had a blackberry moonshine lemonade. Very tasty!

 I spent the rest of the day in town going to all the different shops. It was such a quaint little town. I got some goodies like soy candles and a birthday present for my mom. I ended the day with a "Hillbilly Footwash." I have to admit, I was apprehensive at first, but my feet feel amazing now! It was such a simple idea too! Put your feet in a bucket with bath salts, throw 5-10 golf balls in the bucket to massage all the pressure points, then they give you a sugar scrub to scrub your feet with while still massaging your feet with the golf balls. No one touches your feet but you, all the products were natural and smelled amazing, and I haven't had any foot pain since! (I suffer from plantar fasciitis). Only $15!! (they didn't pay me to advertise, I swear)
 It really was a great ending to a great weekend.


Only 4 more weeks of my internship! Gotta make it count!