From Burnout to Balance
Autumn Is Upon Us, Fall Into Day-trip Delights!
by John David Kolter, MD
Fall is the ideal time to explore our region with the changing tones of nature and, blessedly, lower humidity. A narrated list of all the attractions, big and small, nearby could consume this entire issue. While nearly any local has likely taken in the excitement of a day at the races or teetered for a day along the Bourbon Trail, lesser-known sites lurk all around us. Paired with a hike, a picnic or an ice cream treat, many smaller attractions in our region can make for a fulfilling day.
I love a good day trip, and I engaged in them, with my kids in tow, heartily during COVID lockdown. Day trips spent exploring nearby sites were some of my favorite memories of COVID, which, admittedly, seems an oxymoron. However, during the height of COVID lockdown, with my children at home in online school and my movements through the world severely curtailed, exploring our region in brief excursions preserved our sanity and educated us in the history hiding all around us in plain sight.
A few highlights of our COVID wanderings, below, remain a pleasure in a world out of quarantine:
Madison, Indiana and Clifty Falls State Park
Madison, an easy 50-mile trip from Louisville, is an instant step back in time. Home to the nation’ s largest contiguous historic landmark district at 133 blocks, containing numerous individual national historic landmark structures, downtown Madison is a jewel. Owing to relatively little historic building stock loss, compared to other regional cities, walking through Madison feels almost as significant as a stroll through better known historic centers such as Georgetown, Annapolis and Savannah. Highlights include the Lanier Mansion State Historic Site, riverfront park and the Crystal Beach Aquatic Park( built in 1938 by the WPA).
Nearby in the hills overlooking Madison and the ambling Ohio River, sits Clifty Falls State Park. The park is a heavily wooded canyon
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