on being a tourist in your own town

When we moved to Muncie, we knew that we would only be there long enough for Blake to earn his master's degree -- about two years. Since we would only be calling that neck of the Midwest home for a limited amount of time, we wanted to make sure that explored all we could while we could.

On the surface, Muncie doesn't exactly sell itself as a tourist trap, but we quickly learned that that didn't mean there wasn't interesting things to explore. First there was the Jar Museum, which we visited at least a half dozen times. Who honestly knew that a museum (and I use the term "museum" loosely; this place was nothing more than some guy's enormous personal collection of old canning jars displayed/stored in the garage on the side of his house) dedicated to fruit jars could be so interesting? And yet, every time we stopped by, Mr. Robinson had something new to show us. We visited the Academy of Model Aeronautics a handful of times, as well as the grounds and mansions at Minnetrista. At the very least, we'd drive through the older streets of town, ogling at the architecture of homes and other original buildings, and spent Sunday afternoons getting lost on narrow country roads and exploring ancient cemeteries.

We also toured beyond the bounds of Muncie, driving over the Matthews Covered Bridge and stopping for ice cream at Ivanhoe's more times than I can count. Twice we drove to the north of the state to walk amongst the Amish in Shipshewana. We explored Indianapolis: downtown and the art museum, to name just a few stops. And then there was Mooreland, a little town about a half an hour south that you'd miss if you blinked at the wrong time. But even Mooreland had much to offer: it was the setting for two of my favorite books, and if you stopped by in August, you could enjoy Mooreland Free Fair by casting your penny vote for the fair queen, wandering around the fairgrounds, or watching the parade.

And we did our best to take advantage of our close proximity to other states. After a morning temple trip, we explored some more of Columbus, Ohio. We drove west to Illinois to visit family and to see Nauvoo. We never did make it up to see Chicago, though, which was a little heartbreaking because I really wanted to see it. Nor did I take the opportunity to see the Emily Kimbrough house in Muncie, which I seriously regret because I love her books. But I guess now I have some reasons to go back to the Midwest.

Anyway, the point I'm trying to make by telling you all this is that you don't have to live in a place like New York City to go out and explore (though, I won't lie, it doesn't hurt). If you keep an open mind, do a little research and digging, I can promise you that there is something near your home that you can find pleasure in exploring. Heck, if we could do it in Muncie, YOU can do it no problem. After almost every one of our NYC adventures, people tell me via comments on the posts I write about the experiences or during face-to-face conversations that it makes them want to go out and do something. And so I challenge you, all of you, to go out and "do something." Go exploring. Be a tourist in your own town. Don't waste another minute. After all, you might only be living where you are for a short time, and I'd hate for you to have to move away with that sinking feeling deep in your gut that you wished you had gone and done something, but just never got around to doing it. And above all, have fun!

Now if you'll excuse me, as soon as Garrett wakes up from his nap, I'll need to head up to downtown Brooklyn to see about getting excused from jury duty by way of the "caregiver clause." But before we pack up and head out, I think I'll do a little digging to see if there's anything worth wandering around for while I'm up in that neighborhood in the event that it warms up a bit. (Right now the weatherman is telling me that it's a windy 11 degrees outside, which is a combination I typically don't like to spend too much time outside in. So we'll see how much actual exploring I get to do today.)

Ciao!