When I saw how beautiful the weather was going to be over the July 4th weekend I decided to hit up some Indiana State Parks to hike. I have a goal to hike in every Indiana state park I have not already hiked in by the end of the year. I needed a goal, so here I am haha. I love the serenity of hiking. Sometimes I go alone, and sometimes I have a friend, or friends, join me.
Before I get into hiking for the July 4th weekend, I want to tell you about a little gem of a town I discovered near Harmonie State Park. It's called New Harmony, IN. I don't recall ever having been there, but my mom told me after I got back that we went there as a family when I was a teenager. I truly don't remember it. I stayed at the New Harmony Inn Resort, which was massive for such a small town (population 719 as of 2019). The best part for me was that it was pet friendly. I like to take my Havanese dog, Jovie, with me whenever possible on driving trips.
Back to New Harmony. According to indianamuseum.org, New Harmony was "the site of not just one, but two early American utopian communities. The Harmony Society, led by George Rapp, arrived in the United States in 1804 and settled in Pennsylvania before purchasing 20,000 acres on the Wabash River and moving to Indiana in 1814. The harmonists were religious Separatists from Germany who pursued Christian perfection through every aspect of their daily conduct."
The town exudes serenity. There are beautiful tree-lined streets with stately brick homes surrounded by what appears to be professionally landscaped lawns. Flowers lined the sidewalks and front yards. I came across a couple of places that had the 10 commandments etched into them, or other scriptures. When I arrived to the town it was evening; all the shops were closed. As I had been driving for several hours I decided to take Jovie for a walk around the downtown area, which was mostly deserted. So neat and tidy! Here are some pictures of my walk:
There were several memorial gardens, too. The one with the fountain is called Carol's Garden, and I can't remember the name of the other one, and couldn't find pictures of it to find out. Here are my pictures. So pretty!
The Harmonist Labyrinth was a beautiful place, too. The labyrinth was in the center of an area surrounded by tall trees. I wasn't tall enough to get a great picture of it, so if you would like to see an aerial view go to https://visitnewharmony.com/location/harmonist-labyrinth/:
According to visitnewharmony.com, the Cathedral Labyrinth site "offers an opportunity to walk and meditate on an ancient single path labyrinth. The pattern of this labyrinth duplicates the original at Chartres Cathedral, built in the 12th century near Paris, France."
One of the highlights of New Harmony for me was the Roofless Church. According to the sign placed outside, this church was built as "A House of Prayer for all People". The gates were topped and inlaid with golden adornments, which is what drew my eye to this. The domed structure you see here had the most amazing acoustics. A young lady was singing a hymn underneath it when I arrived, and it sounded really beautiful. As the name suggests there was no roof on this. It was simply a large garden-type area surrounded by four walls.
Those are the highlights of New Harmony. I confess I did no research before I came to this town, but I was mesmerized by the beautiful, natural settings.
I had a really hard time leaving this little town to go hiking because it seemed like there was a new treasure to see around every corner. This would be a great place to go for a long weekend and just relax.
Tell me what you think about it!
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