Coal-Fired Plant

Trip To Madison, IN
My wife and I took a motorcycle trip to Madison, IN in early June. This blog post is part of a series which presents each step of our journey. If you missed the beginning, the story starts here.

Clifty Falls State Park's shortcoming . . . if it has any . . . would be the coal-fired power plant which sits between it and the Ohio River.

This isn't an issue for most of the park acreage, as it is rugged and wooded and vast . . . So much so that unless you visit the Park's extreme southern end you may be unaware of the power plant's existence.

To visitors of the Inn, however, the power plant is inescapable, since its smokestacks occupy part of the River View afforded by the Inn's spot on the hill. This bother some folks more than others.

This photo of Clifty Inn is courtesy of TripAdvisor

I'm among those who didn't find it objectionable. There were no filthy clouds of smoke. No raining of ash. The most noticeable aspect of the power plant, aside from its twin smokestacks, was the muted sound of heavy equipment loading coal from huge riverside stockpiles into conveyors, which I presume fed the great beast its steady diet of fuel.

Thankfully the din had subsided by evening.

Perhaps coal is only moved during daylight hours.

This photo of Clifty Inn is courtesy of TripAdvisor

Madison River Front

Trip To Madison, IN
My wife and I took a motorcycle trip to Madison, IN in early June. This blog post is part of a series which presents each step of our journey. If you missed the beginning, the story starts here.

After dinner at the Broadway Hotel, my wife and I strolled down Broadway Avenue toward the river. We passed coach houses with walled gardens, and a historic swimming pool built in the 1930's. The riverfront was alive with people enjoying the pleasant summer evening.



Looking around it could easily have been a scene from the 1950's . . . Before cell phones, before video games, before all manner of digital entertainment turned our entire culture inward, indoors. Here was a baseball game being played. Here were picnics overlooking the river. Here were kids on bicycles.

We watched the sunset along the river, and snapped a few photos.  No photo could capture that hometown feeling.

Though the light was fading I snagged a couple of photos of the fountain outside the First Presbyterian Church.  The steeple of this church is easily discernible from our balcony view at Clifty Inn, a mile to the west and a hundred feet higher on the hill. 

We milked as much enjoyment out of that day as we could, until the light was gone. We mounted our bikes again, pointed them West out of downtown and toward Clifty Falls State Park. Mindful of the twisty roads, and the nocturnal beasts which night at any moment emerge onto the roadway in front of us, we tiptoed back to the Clifty Inn for the night.

The Broadway

Trip To Madison, IN
My wife and I took a motorcycle trip to Madison, IN in early June. This blog post is part of a series which presents each step of our journey. If you missed the beginning, the story starts here.

After catching up on my sleep, we geared up, got back on the bikes, and rode into Madison (which is just a mile down the road from Clifty Falls State Park).

Madison has a quaint and historic downtown with lots of old buildings turned into restaurants, antique shops, and bookstores. 

Madison's location on the Ohio river made it an important trade center in the early 1800's. Goods and passengers bound for Indiana arrived by riverboat, and transferred to stage coach or train at Madison.

As other forms of transportation took over, Madison's importance in industry diminished. Today it survives as a tourist destination nestled along the beautifully wooded banks of the Ohio River. The town has preserved many historic buildings and converted them to shops, restaurants, and hotels. The architecture of a bygone era and the small-town feel make it an enjoyable weekend get-away.

We parked our bikes in free parking along main street, walked along the shop until we spied The Broadway Hotel, which claims bragging rights as Indiana's oldest continuously-operated Inn. Former patrons include John Wilkes Booth.

The food was delicious and plentiful. The staff was friendly. My wife and I ate our fill for under thirty dollars.