Saturday August 10, 2019

Saturday August 10, 2019

Blog time 0830 sitting in breakfast area of Hampton Inn, Terre Haute, In

Up at 0600, dressed and headed down to breakfast.  Small crowd eating breakfast.  In fact most folks checked out without having breakfast.  

Having eaten complimentary breakfast at many hotels I would give Hampton Inn, Terre Haute a C-.

Morning activities;

Drove to the farm where Nancy spent her early years.  The Patton home is long gone replaced by the Club House for the Idle Creek Golf Course.  The area is very upscale with many beautiful homes.  Nancy did point out the creek that she and Judy use to ride their ponies to.  The lake on the course is called Patton Lake.  Very prosperous looking area.

Next stop was a visit to the Farmer’s Market located in the parking lot of the Meadows Shopping area.  Nancy bought several ears of corn.  She says you cannot beat Indiana sweet corn.  Also bought home made noodles and Amish made oatmeal cookies.

Deming Park is Terre Haute’s major park.  We drove around.  I was very impressed.  The park is well maintained with walking trails, ponds, swimming pool and sports fields.  It was a beautiful day and many families were having picnics.

Stopped at the Lutheran Church Nancy and family attended.  The church looked in disrepair.  We did take photos to send to family.

2152 Poplar was our next stop.  This was Nancy’s home through most of her precollege life.  The house looks the same but needs some lawn work and paint.  Nancy knocked on the door and asked the women who now owns the house if she could take photos.  The women said ok but she did not invite us inside.  

Continuing our tour we stopped at Nancy’s Grandparents home.  It looks the same.  Next door was Nancy’s Grandfather’s business, Hartmann Sheet Metal and Roofing.  The business is now closed but the building still stands.

My general impression of Terre Haute.  

TH like most Midwest cities has had some tough times.  Businesses have left and the population has declined.  The central core has areas of serious decline.  However, you can see efforts being made to restore this area with apartment housing and new business.  The main mall Honey Creek Square is in tough shape.  But outside this core we saw a lot of new restaurants and businesses.  You cannot starve in TH.

As a Civil Engineer I thought the streets and roads were in good shape.  Many main streets had been recently repaved.  

We noted some very upscale living areas.  Nancy wondered where do these people work to afford such nice homes.  

After a brief stay back at the hotel we headed out to make a dry run to the TH Country Club where tonight’s activities are to be held.  The entrance road to the club is off South US 41.  The clubhouse is about a mile from US 41.  Once again we drove through a very upscale neighborhood.  On our way in we saw a fox in an open field and on our way out we saw a fawn in the same field.  Today’s critter report.  The Clubhouse and surroundings looked very well maintained.

At the hotel we rested before showering and getting ready.  We left at 1730 and drove to the THCC.  Tonight is Nancy’s HS reunion number 60.   Two TH schools are participating, Wiley and Garfield.  Nancy went to Wiley.

I thought the event was well attended.  Formal class photos were taken as soon as we arrived.  More Garfield alumni were in attendance.  Both schools had about 180 folks in their graduating class.

A lot more folks were in attendance than last night’s.  One of Nancy’s best friends was in attendance, Mariete.  Mariete is a medical doctor.

I had a chance to talk to many folks.  Most of the Guys knew the score of the Wiley vs Garfield game.  Many folks traveled a long distance to attend.  Met folks from CA, Seattle, Texas and even Hawaii.  It was fun talking to all of Nancy’s classmates.  Everyone was in a great mood.  No political or medical issues were discussed.  It was all about 1959 and grandkids.

Buffet style meal which was very good.  Very short dance program before adjournment.  I think Nancy had a good time, I sure did.  Great day!