A dear friend of mine from college harkens from a very small town in southern Indiana. A college students we took several trips to her home and I subsequently took several more after she married. Each trip took me by a huge structure in West Baden, Indiana. I actually just called it French Lick, but the tiny town does have it’s own name. I heard someone (as in I took it to heart and had many day dreams about as I drove by) say it had been once upon a time a culinary school. (In reality it has been a Monastery and a Business College. The history is interesting as some sites say the current building was modeled after Baden Baden and others say Wiesbaden; none really say Carlsbad was the impetus for the building. I have not seen anything like it before or since and I have been to both Baden Baden and Wiesbaden) This huge round magical looking structure that I could not approach by car due to blockades, stayed in my mind. In the Mid 2000’s the hospital took us on some retreats to the French Lick resort (up the road a mile or so, don’t quote the distance), which were nice but did not quench my desire to see the mystical building of my dreams.
Jodi got “dog coverage”” and I started considering where we could go for a weekend. It has been a long time since I had seen my friend, and in the meantime said mystical building has been refurbished and apparently a lovely spa opened. At first I considered the cost and decided not to go, but I have a friend with a very ill family member and I remembered my feelings of being ill and the lessons I learned. I determined to try to be prudent but more generous with my people and with myself. So I made sure my friend and her hubby were free for dinner and pressed the button.
Pulling under a double entrance sign that reads “West Baden Springs, Carlsbad of America, this time I knew I would be able to enter.
Oh the power!, of time and the dollar! We passed (following signs) an lovely staired entrance, then another entrance on the right with beautiful gardens on the left, around to the ‘Back’ where our car was valet parked. We then trekked across the amazing atrium to the check in (The first set of stairs we saw) to register and get to our room. The elevators are small, must be due to the original construction. Originally there were 500 rooms, now about 250 as the original rooms did not boast bathrooms!
Getting to our room we settled in quickly as I wanted to go to the atrium and listen to the music, so we selected chairs and had a daiquiri (Jodi) and nice merlot (me).
After a while we decided to have a stroll in the gardens where there are still some of the buildings from before also, skirting the gardens.
On the way back in the front door we discovered another lounge with a band playing, “tomorrow night”, we said…
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