state by state speak your mind about...indiana

[countryjake]

18. Parke Co. covered bridges...

Last edited Sat Feb 18, 2012, 04:02 AM - Edit history (1)

My family began going over to Rockville to admire those covered bridges when I was young...driving the backwoods roads, peering over the next rise to spy a rustic bridge hidden away amongst the spectacular colors of October. There were something like 40 bridges in that one county back then and they eventually began an attempt to capitalize on them, holding a big tent flea-market/crafts fair on the courthouse square. Creating marked routes to make sure drivers would miss none of the sights, with most county residents creating nifty fall scenes in their yards, setting up stands to sell homemade jellies, produce reaped from their gardens, antiques pulled from their haymows, woodcarvings, classic quilts and other amazing handiwork. Farmhouses turned into sleepovers, with extra rooms made available to long-distance travelers. At the bridges themselves, sitting on bales of straw to eat soup beans, cooked over an open fire in huge cast-iron cauldrons, with fresh baked cornbread.
I tried to never miss Parke County's Covered Bridge Festival when I lived in Ohio, but haven't been back to it for thirty-some years now. I do still have many of the beautiful pieces of exquisite folk art that I bought there; seeing the bridges, alone, made visiting worthwhile, but the ingenuity and creativity of the residents in those days was incredible.