TS Today - Creating a Vision for the Future of Vacation Ownership Issue #96 Nov/Dec, 2007 | Page 17

TimeSharing Today

Page 17

and accommodating. Reception/check-in was quick and easy
as Kitty went over the information binder to our unit. When we
reported a problem with the bathroom sink, a maintenance man
arrived in just a few minutes to fix it. When we had trouble with
the electric can opener, housekeeping exchanged it instantly for
a new one.
Several tour books and maps were available and on display
in the office. Video rentals were $3 each. Internet service was free
with a 30-minute time limit per session. Coin-operated newspaper
kiosks were stationed just inside the front door. A wide variety of
brochures detailing local and state-wide attractions was displayed
in the office lobby.
French Lick Springs Villas provided an on-site tour director
that conducted daily tours to local attractions, many of them
exclusively for Villas guests. Among these tour exclusives were:
(1) an all-day visit to a nearby Amish community with home visits
and lunch at an Amish country inn, (2) a tour of the world’s
largest underground warehouse carved out of 300 acres of limestone 200 feet below the surface, and (3) a chance to visit and
possibly drive (depending on weather conditions) a private collection of antique race cars. All tours were less than an hour from
French Lick and included lunch as well as time for shopping.
Other attractions nearby are Marengo Cave, a US National
Landmark, offering two different cave tours, both an easy walk
with several stops for tour guide recitations: the Crystal Pace
tour of 40 minutes duration and the Dripstone tour lasting 70
minutes.
Near Mitchell, about 45 minutes northeast from French Lick,
is the memorial to Virgil “Gus” Grissom, a local boy who became
one of the original seven NASA astronauts. In the same location
we found Spring Mill State Park as a counterpoint to the space
program memorial. Here there is a restored pioneer village of some
20 log cabins dating back to the early 1800’s and the largest
operating grist mill (three stories high) this writer has ever seen.
In the opposite direction, 25 miles southwest of French Lick,
lies the town of Jasper, claiming 72.6% German-American population. The DuBois County Courthouse is an imposing structure
and St. Joseph’s Catholic Church has a medieval bell tower reaching high above everything else. For those who love German food,
the Schnitzelbank Restaurant is tops.
A little further south, across Interstate 64 is the quaint village (population 64) of Santa Claus, IN, which postmarks over
400,000 pieces of mail each year. Imagine!
Just west of Santa Claus is the Lincoln Boyhood National
Memorial, a U.S. National Park Service facility featuring the
L.incoln cabin site and the burial place of Abraham Lincoln’s
mother, Nancy Hanks Lincoln. Abraham Lincoln lived here for 14
years, from age 7 to age 21, his formative years, before moving to
Illinois and eternal fame.
Back in French Lick, the Indiana Railway Museum offers a 1
3/4-hour train ride on the French Lick, West Baden, and Southern
line as it wanders across 20 miles of forested hills and through
the 2,200 foot long Burton Tunnel. The passenger cars are actual
coaches, unrestored, from former railroad companies.
A short walk from the railroad depot is another French Lick
home of distinction, the modest one-story cabin of former world
heavyweight boxing champion, Joe Louis.
There are two real extravaganzas in French Lick. Actually,
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Nov/Dec, 2007