Get Out of Your City Immediately!
By: Christine Flohr
Okay, that sounded a bit dramatic, but families and couples ARE making the easy 1- 3 hour drive to Wabash, Indiana for weekend getaways. Sometimes it’s just to escape the street hustle of the urban jungle and reconnect in a place where the threat of being hit by a taxi is literally not even an option. Don’t let the rural location of Wabash instantly lead you to thoughts of overalls (which are back in style, BTW) and Hamms Special Lite.
Check out the Wine and Cheese Shoppe. Guess what they specialize in? It’s a wine wonderland of all makes and models and a cheese selection that complements anything that you pour into a glass. Free tastings and wine flights daily. Both the Wine and Cheese Shoppe and Ice Cream and Candy Shoppe are located inside of the Charley Creek Inn, a boutique hotel that puts their guests to bed on handmade mattresses.
Many a celebrity has slipped between the Egyptian cotton sheets of the Charley Creek Inn. With the Honeywell Center’s Ford Theater located one teeny block to the west, main-stage stars like Ron White and Jeanne Robertson enjoy the comforts of small-town luxury at its best.
Once you drag yourself out of bed, guests (and locals) find themselves hitting up Modoc’s Market which is just outside the front doors of the best night’s sleep of your life. Fully staffed with the nicest baristas around, you can fuel up with one of the thousands of coffee combos, grab a homemade scone, and hit the streets of downtown Wabash.
Boutiques, art galleries, eateries, antiques, home décor, and books are all within a four-block radius. Downtown Wabash is pedestrian, hand-holding, and stroller-friendly. Warn your Instagram followers now! You’ll be posting so many selfies with all of the creative backdrops downtown that you will probably break the internet.
Once you arrive, you won’t even need your car/van/SUV/crossover/motorcycle unless you want it. Parking is always free, so park it and leave it or pull up quick to retrieve it and head out to explore one of our five nature preserves. Unlike one of my favorite TLC songs, you can go chasing waterfalls at Hathaway Preserve at Ross Run. This Acres Land Trust property is a spectacular gorge with waterfalls, reef fossils, and 75-foot vertical cliffs. Basically, it’s an opportunity to capture ANOTHER amazing selfie to share with your social media fans!
The picture storage on your phone should now be full. You have signed up the monthly email from Visit Wabash County, so you can immediately start planning your return trip. Next time, you might rent a cabin at Lukens Lake. Next time, you might just invite your friends and leave the kids with Grandma. But you know there will be a next time because Wabash just does that to you. It makes you remember why weekend escapes are always in style, just like those Saved by the Bell-inspired stonewashed overalls that you’ll be wearing the next time you’re in Wabash.
