Story Indiana Ride with Great Friends

We had been planning this ride for about a month. However, it was getting into the time of year where you just do not know if the weather was going to be on your side.

Don started his day early on the computer writing to his Louisville MoFo around six o'clock in the morning. I was still in bed. I was going to get all the rest I could get in. This was going to be my first long ride I had been on. By what I mean, I was not going to be riding  my own motorcycle. I have taken short little rides but never fifty or one hundred mile rides in one day. And I was not going to be riding my motorcycle. I was going to be on my friend’s motorcycle as mine needs a back tire and would possibly have not made the trip.

I finally arose out of bed just about seven o’clock in the morning. I had my clothing already laid out as I wanted to be ready. As I thought I was going to wear my bean jeans, a few sweat shirts (as I am a cold natured person as I was dressing in layers so that when and if it did warm up I would be able to take the layers off) and my chaps. Well, as I was unzipping my chaps, the zipper broke so I was unable to wear my chaps. Then, Don had the idea of me not fixing breakfast but instead going to Frisch’s Big Boy.   So that is just what we did. At a little past seven we were in the restaurant having our coffee and our breakfast waiting on another couple to arrive to take part in this great day. The couple was my sister, Erondia, and her husband, John. They were not going to be on a motorcycle but driving in their truck. Erondia and John so wish they could ride but they were hit by a truck last year when they were on a charity ride with the Christian Motorcyclist and they are still attending to their injuries. Getting out of the house and just being around people is great for them. It was a quarter after nine when we left the restaurant and was on our way.

Don asked me if we should take the expressway or take the highway. I said, I think we should take the expressway as we are leaving later then we had planned and need to be in Crothersville by ten. I took a look at my watch as we were pulling up into the driveway of Sandy and Wade’s home, it was just about ten o’clock when we arrived so we did just fine on timing. We stuck around their home for a bit. We chatted with them and their children awaiting on others to arrive that they had invited to take this great ride with today. The others did not show so we started off on our ride. Sandy was on her Harley. Wade on his Honda. Don on his Kawasaki. And I borrowed Sandy’s Rebel.      

Riding out of Crothersville we gassed up then headed North on Hwy 31 and West Hwy 250 passing along the way small puny towns such as Retreat, Uniontown, Dudleytown, and Wegan. We stopped at a gas station in Brownstown which I did not recall the name. Wade went in and bought a bottle of water. We stood outside as we were waiting on others that were supposed to be showing up there to meet up with us to ride as well. Guess what no one showed up. We chatted for some time. Sandy educated John and Erondia a little about the history of Story Indiana.

We had only ridden about sixteen miles by this time, I believe. It was just about a quarter after eleven and we took off on our way. Still heading West on Hwy 250 till we arrived at the junction meeting North Hwy 135, so advancing on warded on North Hwy 135 we passed other small towns once again such as Freetown. We did not stop at any of those towns either. Our stop was just around the corner. It was Story. I just really thought it was going to be a bit bigger but the information was correct. All I saw was about four to five building which were not really buildings they were more like houses. However, it was grand.

Wade drove in first then me, Don, Sandy, and then John and Erondia lead up the rear. I made sure I retrieved the camera from the saddlebag on Don’s bike as I am the photographer. Not really the photographer of this group but in general. Sandy forgot to pick up her camera and I forgot to remind her as we had been discussing it when we were at their home. All in all the whole ride I only took nearly ninety photos. If I had had a larger memory card I would have taken so many more photographs.

Anyhow,  after dismounting our motorcycles, we spoke for a while waiting on Erondia and John to get out of their truck. They decided not to walk around as their legs were in some amount of pain. I told them I would make sure I took pictures so they could see. So Wade, Sandy, Don, and I walked on up to the Inn and then downstairs to the bar tavern area. As Sandy and Wade had been here before the bartender guy knew them so they were catching up a little. I took a few pictures down in the bar area. I like the two signs which I took photos of . . . One read, “WINO CROSSING” and the other stated something like if you rode in on two wheels you were limited to two drinks. Sandy had a nice drinking glass of wine, Wade had a beer,  Don had a soda, and I had a coffee. Which if you prefer Equal you may want to bring your own. I carry my own so no worries there. We walked outside and as they chatted away I walked around taking all sorts of photos. When taking one photo over by The Treaty House sidewalk, I nearly stepped on a baby snake. I do not know what type it was but I took a couple photos of it and it slithered away.I walked back over to the others and we walked around some while I still took even more photos. We all got ready to mount once again to fulfill the rest of our journey till one of our bikes would not start. I will write about that situation in the next part. Story Indiana is what they say, “One inconvenient location since 1851." Or maybe that is the Inn they are speaking of, who knows. By-the-way, here is the address and telephone number to The Story Inn (6404 South State Road 135, Nashville, In. 47448, 800-881-1183 or 812-988-2273) just incase someone would like that information. It is the least I could do to share this great place with others.

A Brief History of the Story Inn:
This area of the state now appropriately called Indiana was opened to European settlement on September 30, 1809, upon the consummation of a treaty between Governor William Henry Harrison and the Miami Indians.  The so-called "Ten O'clock Treaty" opened three million acres to settlement, the boundary being a line running from Raccoon Creek on the Wabash River near Montezuma to Seymour, marked by a shadow cast at 10:00 a.m. each September 30.  That line passed right through the heart of what would become the town of Story.  Today, that line is denoted by a carved limestone monument in the center of Story's village green. The village of Story itself was founded in 1851, with the grant of a land patent from President Millard Fillmore to Dr. George Story. This original land patent is on display at the Story Inn.  Dr. Story was a medical doctor who hailed from a clan of timber harvesters in southern Ohio.  He and his progeny built many of the structures which distinguish this town today from the then-ample supply of domestic hardwoods.  Most significantly, his home and medical office nearby both managed to survive the forces of entropy. Story soon became the largest settlement in the area. In its heyday (1880-1929) the village supported two general stores, a nondenominational church, a one-room schoolhouse, a grain mill, a sawmill, a slaughterhouse, a blacksmith’s forge and a post office. Story never recovered from the Great Depression (1929-1933), as families abandoned their hilly, marginal farms in search of work elsewhere, a departure plucked from The Grapes of Wrath.  Brown County lost half of its population between 1930 and 1940. This exodus of people paved the way for the creation of the Brown County State Park and the Hoosier National Forest, as farmland escheated to the government for nonpayment of taxes.  For that reason, Brown County is 80% forested today (second-growth, but still impressively mature). The economic hardship also fostered a cottage industry producing bathtub gin of rather dubious quality, an activity which apparently kept the grain mill at Story occupied well into the 1930's.  Sheriff Clarence Moore made local headlines in 1932 when he captured a still at Story; today his aged daughter discloses that several gallons disappeared from the evidence room.  Sheriff Moore's grandson now serves as the Story Inn's wine steward. The brain trust known as the United States Army Corps of Engineers flooded the area in 1960, creating Lake Monroe, Indiana's second largest lake, but consequently inundating the little town of Elkinsville and cutting Story's access to Bloomington via Elkinsville Road.

Elkinsville Road is Story's main street, which now dead-ends four miles to the west at a fallen iron bridge, just past the marker denoting the spot where a town had to die so that the Bloomington Yacht Club could be born.  Thus isolated, Story's economic fate was sealed.  Story’s General Store limped along until the Nixon Administration, dispensing Moon Pies, Nehi sodas and leaded gasoline (at the then outrageous price of nearly 40 cents per gallon).  The Gold and Red Crown Standard gas pumps today stand as silent witness to that pre-OPEC era of profligate energy consumption. This paucity of capital was, in retrospect, a blessing. No new construction followed the Great Depression, and fortuitously, no one attempted to "modernize" the venerable but aging structures at Story when the rest of the nation embarked upon a McCarthy-esque campaign to eliminate unsightly wooden floors, stamped tin metal ceilings and globe lighting and replace them with shiny asbestos floor tiles and dropped fiberboard ceilings sporting snazzy new recessed neon bulbs. Amazingly, the town was not even electrified until 1949.  For that reason, Story is perhaps the best preserved example of a 19th century small town that survives in the American Midwest. The entire town of Story, Indiana is now a country inn/bed & breakfast, offering fine dining, catering, and lodging. The second floor of the Old General Store (briefly a Studebaker buggy factory in the 1920’s) has been renovated into four quaint bed & breakfast accommodations notable for their year-round occupant, the "Blue Lady." The Blue Lady is a mirthful albeit innocuous apparition with flowing white robes, whose cheeky behavior has been observed by Story Inn employees and recorded in guest books since the 1970’s.

Current management notes that the frequency of her appearances increased markedly after 2001, coinciding with the arrival of a complementary bottle of privately-labeled Riesling in each room. The Treaty House, Doc Story’s homestead, the Alra Wheeler homestead, the Carriage House, the Old Mill, and other historic buildings around town have each been tastefully and authentically renovated into guest cottages, many with kitchenettes and hot tubs. You may take a virtual tour of the rooms by clicking here. Story’s Old General Store, replete with its creaky wooden floors, pot-bellied stove and long-retired Standard Oil Crown gas pumps out front, is now a celebrated gourmet restaurant known as the "Story Inn." In this unparalleled ambiance, guests can now enjoy such dishes as locally-raised Bison Fillet, New Zealand Imported Rack of Lamb, Marinated Boneless Breast of Duck, or Linguini al Frutti di Mare with a fine California Cabernet or German Gewürztraminer, and topped with a fresh fruit cobbler or crème caramel. The restaurant is open every day but Monday for breakfast, lunch and dinner. Dinners are by reservation only. Seasonal hours may apply, so we recommend that you call in advance November-March, just in case we’ve gone fishing. Nature has reclaimed most of Brown County, and today the area surrounding Story is wild and natural. Story sits at the edge of Salt Creek, a labyrinthine 100-mile system of quiet, slow-moving tributaries which now form the backwaters of Lake Monroe. This moist bottomland, now under the protection of the Indiana Department of Natural Resources, is a spectacular spawning ground for fish and fowl alike, a place of serenity and raw beauty found nowhere else in Indiana. (www.storyinn.com/history /history.htm)

Charitable Giving Policy

The Story Inn supports many charitable and civic organizations, both with cash and in-kind contributions.  We frequently receive requests for gift certificates, which not-for-profit organizations then sell or auction to raise cash.  We have also conducted concerts or other fundraisers at our facilities for such organizations as the Humane Society, Big Brothers-Big Sisters, and the Southern Indiana Center for the Arts.     

We remain committed to building ties with the community and expect to increase our charitable giving.  However, we cannot honor every request for assistance which comes in the door.  If you are a philanthropic organization and desire a contribution from us, we ask that you first review the guidelines below. TAX EXEMPT STATUS.  Our policy is to limit our support to organizations which have been recognized as tax exempt under Section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code.  
SECULAR ORGANIZATIONS.  Although we are mindful and appreciative of the charitable work done by religious organizations, it is our policy only to support secular organizations.
GEOGRAPHIC LIMITATIONS.  Although we do not limit our giving to local organizations, we do give preference to organizations which support the local community in some fashion.
EXEMPT PURPOSE.  We give preference to organizations which are dedicated to the following activities (in no particular order below):

1.  Environmental protection, preservation of clean air and water, the planting of trees, and the preservation of natural habitat.
2.  Soup kitchens, or other programs designed to feed, house, clothe or directly assist the needy.
3.  Preservation of buildings, property, monuments or structures of historic significance, and the preservation and recording of local history.                  
4.  Prevention of domestic abuse.
5.  Prevention of cruelty to animals, including the spaying and neutering of domesticated animals, and the placement of stray animals into caring homes.
6.  Literacy, education and child development.    
 7.  Prevention of tobacco, alcohol and substance abuse.
8.  Public health, particularly the immunization and screening of children.
9.  Family planning, including those organizations which support a woman's right to have an abortion.
10.  Amateur athletics, team sports, physical fitness. The Story Inn
6404 South State Road 135
Nashville, IN 47448
(800) 881-1183
(812) 988-2273
Fax: (812) 988-6516