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Wednesday, July 26, 2017

PEP Trip to Conner Prairie

Our church has a ministry to seniors in the community. It's called PEP, which stands for "People Enjoying People." There are monthly lunches, with entertainment provided, and monthly day trips on the church bus. On June 27, Doug and I went along on one of those trips to Conner Prairie Interactive History Park near Indianapolis.

I'll borrow a paragraph from Wikipedia to describe this park:
Conner Prairie is an interactive history park, or living history museum, in Fishers, Indiana, United States, that preserves the William Conner home, which is listed on the National Register of Historic Places, and recreates part of life in Indiana in the 19th century on the White River.
There is so much to see and experience here that I think we need to go back again. There is an 1836 Prairie Town, an 1859 Balloon Voyage, an 1863 Civil War Journey, an 1816 Lenape Indian Camp, the William Conner House, and more.

I'm just going to include some random photos from our short visit.

Jan is one of our Associate Pastors and our bus driver. It was his birthday.

The helium-filled tethered balloon rises 350 feet above the park, carrying up to 20 people in the gondola.

A scene in the 1836 Prairie Town

Wigwam (under construction) in the 1816 Lenape Indian Camp
William Conner House, built in 1823

Dress and Portrait in William Conner House

This covered bridge is part of the 1863 Civil War Journey at Conner Prairie.

We saw this little girl enjoying her lunch as we waited for the tram to return us to the park entrance.


17 comments:

  1. Beautiful photos, Linda! I love all the vintage here! Thank you so much for sharing.

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  2. Looks and sounds like a fun place to visit.

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    1. It is, Ruth. We plan to return, especially for the Civil War exhibit. By the time we got to that on this trip , we didn't have enough time to do it justice.

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  3. Beautiful photos, Linda, I especially like covered bridge. They just don't make bridges like the used to. Historical sites are my favorite places to visit. Thank you for sharing your photos.

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    1. You'd love this place, Toni. The people dress in period dress and are shown performing activities that might have been performed in that era. We were there for only two or three hours, so not enough time to immerse ourselves in it.

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  4. What a neat park ---and so much to see and do there... I can understand why you want to go back sometime... Love the covered bridge. Did you go up in the balloon? George would love the Civil War area...

    Hugs,
    Betsy

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    1. The balloon was an extra charge, and we're charter members of the Tightwads of America; so we didn't do that. We've since learned, though, that veterans get in free; and it's half-price for up to six members of the veterans immediate family. So, when we go back, we might be able to afford that balloon. :)

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  5. This must be a relatively new park -- I don't recall hearing about it when I lived in Indiana many years ago. Be that as it may, it looks absolutely fascinating and a great place to visit.

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    1. I looked back at the history, George; and it's been there since the thirties. But I don't believe it was really developed and promoted much until the last 15 or 20 years. We saw only the first stop in the Civil War area, and it was extremely well done. That's the area we most want to see when we go back. It's based on the little town of Dupont, Indiana, which was the scene of Morgan's Raid, the longest raid of the Civil War behind enemy lines and the most important event of the Civil War on Indiana soil. I think you'd love it.

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  6. This sounds like so much fun, Linda! I am so glad that you and your husband were able to make the trip. My husband and I enjoy things like this, too! Thank you for sharing with us.

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    1. It was fun, Dianna. I wish you were close enough to go with us to this place sometime. That would be even more fun.

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  7. This place and miNistry looks like fun!

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  8. My iPad froze but I was gonna say the old house looks in good shape, love the Indiana hut, cute little girl....

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  9. Sounds like you spent an interesting and entertaining day in the Park, Linda. I love that balloon, what a view it must offer, and also the dress, simple and elegant.

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    1. It was an enjoyable day, Petra. We might give that balloon a try next time. I was intrigued by the dress since it was also pictured in the portrait. I wondered if the dress had been preserved all these years or if some creative soul had managed to make a new one identical to the one in the portrait. If we go again, I must ask someone. Of course, they're all trained to respond as if they're still living in the period, so they would just say that both the dress and the portrait were contemporary.

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