Fun in French Lick, Indiana

The Mrs. and I took some time off work before and after the Labor Day weekend to have a little family summer vacation. Several months ago, the Mrs. found a good deal on-line for a night at the Valley of the Springs Resort in French Lick, Indiana, that included admission to the attached Big Splash Adventure.

These are our stories (insert dramatic two-note "Law and Order" sound here).

French Lick is a little over two hours from the Indianapolis metropolitan area, so it was just long enough to feel like we "got away" and short enough that we didn't blow half of our trip on driving. The last part of the trip, in particular, from Bedford to French Lick on US 50 and US 150 is pretty: winding, hilly roads through wooded areas.

Valley of the Springs Resort

If you're relying on Google Maps to find the hotel, they have you looking on the wrong side of the road. The hotel is on your left as you travel south on State Road 56. You're barely out of West Baden Springs and into French Lick when you get to the entrance. The resort could invest a little money into signage, as they only have a small wooden sign at ground level. Thanks to Google Maps and the small sign, we missed it on our first pass and felt lucky to have seen it on our second pass through town. There is a Subway sandwich shop directly across the street from the entrance to the resort. If you reach the train museum, you've gone too far.

That minor irritation aside, we drove up the steep, winding driveway to find the resort and large water park at the top of the hill. There were hardly any cars in the parking lot, but we got there right at check-in time, so we figured it would fill up as the night progressed.

Inside, it's decorated in a nautical theme throughout the lobby. It still smells like new paint and new carpet, so I asked the very friendly desk attendant when the facility opened. She said they opened for business in March of 2009. It's also a non-smoking facility throughout, so that helped to keep it smelling fresh and new. (For those who smoke, you can smoke outside, and there are a number of places to safely dispose of butts without littering.)

At check-in, they fixed all four of us up with wristbands. Now, I'll admit that I don't travel much, but I thought these wristbands were really cool. The bands that the Mrs. and I wore had electronic chips in them, and when we held a band up to the electric eye on our room door, the door unlocked! (I have a cousin who is a hotel manager in California, and if he's reading this, he's probably howling with laughter right now, but this is the first time I've encountered this kind of thing in my limited travels.) Want to eat at the hotel restaurant and charge it to your room? They scan your wristband! Want to buy something in the sundry shop and charge it to your room? They scan your wristband! The wristband was also our pass into the water park, and they were, of course, waterproof. So we never had to carry a hotel key, our wallets, money, or credit cards around. It was very convenient!

In a nutshell, our room was very nice. It had two queen beds in it, and they were comfortable. We had a nice wooded view out of our window. Free wi-fi in the room. TV with about 30 channels. All the usual amenities. I wouldn't describe the rooms as "luxurious," but it was quite comfortable. The resort is very family-oriented, the staff was extremely friendly and helpful, and the whole place was new and clean. We ate dinner at the restaurant in the hotel, and we paid normal prices for a sit-down dinner. I had a huge Cobb salad with a grilled chicken breast on it for $10. The Mrs. had a big cheeseburger and fries, and it was around $8. The kids' meals--around $6 a piece--were enormous. They each got spaghetti, and they got a large bowl of it. Plus they got two sides and a drink with their meals. And while we waited for our food (which took a lot longer than it seemed like it should, since we were one of only two families in the whole place at the time), they provided Olivia and June with crayons and paper.

The sundry/souvenir shop is as expensive as you'd expect from a hotel. We got the girls each a t-shirt for $13 a piece, and you pay the normal $2 for a bottle of pop, but I've been gouged worse at other hotels.

Our package included a free breakfast, but we discovered that the resort seems to offer that free breakfast to all of its guests. It was certainly more than a continental breakfast. It was a buffet, so you helped yourself to whatever you wanted, which included fresh fruit, cold cereal, milk, sausage patties, bacon, sausage links, scrambled eggs, pancakes, cinnamon French toast sticks, Amish bread, juice, coffee, and probably more that I don't remember. And take as many trips up there as you want. I was absolutely stuffed after I was done.

Big Splash Adventure

On the second floor of the resort, you walk directly into Big Splash Adventure Water Park, a 40,000 square foot park with stuff to do for everyone of all ages. Our girls (ages 3 and 2) spent most of their time in the kiddie pool, which was 3 inches deep on one end and gradually increased to 9 inches deep in the "deep" end. There were swings in the middle of it that swung, bounced, and twirled around. There were in-pool fountains to play in, and there was a small bucket overhead that filled up with water and occasionally dumped over, soaking whoever was under it. At the 9-inch end was a small water slide that our girls absolutely LOVED!!

They had enormous water slides, some that you navigate with tubes (single or double, provided free) and some that were body chutes. I did both body chutes. One is blue, and the other is yellow. If you like being enclosed in a completely dark tube while rocketing downward and twisting and turning with absolutely no forewarning whatsoever, try the blue chute. If you prefer enough light to be able to see what bends are coming up, take the yellow chute. Both were fun rides, but I preferred the yellow chute. The Mrs. did one of the slides that require a tube, and she said it felt like she was free-falling in parts. She looked a little shell-shocked when she got back.

In another section, they have much more mellow slides for younger kids. Again, the blue chute is pitch dark, while the yellow chute allows plenty of light inside to see where you're headed. Olivia wanted nothing to do with those slides, but June was more than happy to go down the slides with me over and over and over again. That entire apparatus has a huge bucket at the top that fills with water and then spills over, and there are all devices all over the place that dump or spray water all over you.

Meandering through about half the park is a lazy river where you can float on a tube. I think I recall it being 3'6" deep (the Mrs. remembers it as 2'6", so it's somewhere in that neighborhood), and you periodically get showered with water by various devices as you float through.

There was another pool that we never got in, but it had basketball goals on the sides, a big floating dolphin that kids could climb on, a rope ladder to walk across the water (or fall off of into the water), and it seemed like there was something else in that pool to do that I now can't remember.

There was an adults-only area that was fenced off. It was basically a big sitting pool. We never got in it, so I don't know if the water was heated more than the rest of the park, but there's at least a safe-haven for adults who want to soak without having kids splashing all around them.

The entire facility has a retractable roof, which was open both days we were there, allowing plenty of natural sunlight in. But even if it's cold or rainy outside, they can close the roof and keep the water park going. The water is heated, so it was very comfortable to be in or out of the water.

They also had an outdoor pool. It started at zero depth and gradually increased in depth as you waded in. It had some fountains in it, and some more basketball goals, but the water was pretty cold, so Olivia preferred the indoor activities. June, however, kept the Mrs. occupied in the outdoor pool for quite some time.

There are several lifeguards on duty, and they actually pay attention. Every now and then, we'd hear a whistle chirp as someone's horseplay got to be too much, they'd slow running kids down to a walk, and one of them even (very politely) stopped me and Olivia in the lazy river because I wasn't properly in my tube. They carry flotation devices around their torsos, and while I don't think the water anywhere is more than 4 or 5 feet deep, it was nice to see attentive lifeguards on duty.

For $6, you can purchase a locker wristband that works the same way as your hotel room wristband, allowing you to use one of the many lockers to put your stuff in while you play. It was worth it to us, as we had clothes for four, plus our camera to secure. It's not like there was riff-raff lurking in every corner, and thanks to the hotel wristbands, we didn't have to bring our wallets to the pool, but once you get playing in the water with your kids, your attention is not on your stuff sitting poolside. So it was $6 well-spent, as far as we were concerned.

There were nice, big, clean bathrooms in the water park, and right inside, there were a handful of video games that spit out tickets that could be turned in for some cheap crap. Olivia got herself a plastic princess wand and two little plastic bracelets from her winnings. They also sell candy, pizza, pop, water, sandwiches, and assorted other food there, and they have several changing rooms. They also provide towels for the water park at no cost.

It was a great experience there. The entire time we were there, it never got even remotely crowded, which shocked us, since it was a holiday weekend. But I certainly wasn't complaining, given my loathing of people in herds. There were lots of other kids there, many of whom were our kids' age, so I wasn't overly horrified when our girls tried to single-handedly dismantle the restaurant at dinner, because two tables over, someone else's kids were doing the same thing.

The staff was terrific. We didn't meet a single staff member who was anything but friendly and helpful. The place was clean, the prices were decent, and everything you could want for a family stay was available.

On Saturday afternoon after check-out, we ventured over to the train museum in French Lick, since our girls are big fans of trains. They got to climb on some old trains, and there were options to take one- or two-hour train rides, some of which included a realistic train robbery along the way. While we didn't take the train rides, the girls enjoyed their time with the choo-choo's. They have a small gift shop there, too, that also sells popcorn, drinks, and some candy. If you can avoid it, though, don't park in the parking lot directly in front of the train station. There is angled parking on each side, but only one way in and out, so it's a breeze to get in, but a complete nightmare trying to get out. There is a parking lot across the train tracks from the museum that is a normal sized lot. I'm not sure how you get in there, but I wish we would have.

On our way home, we stopped at the French Lick Winery and got a couple bottles of cherry wine that my sister recommended. Since she was willing to dog-sit for us at a moment's notice, we left one of the bottles on her countertop when we picked up the dog. We've yet to try our own bottle, but we probably will tonight. We were just too exhausted last night when we got home. But the winery looked nice, and they have a restaurant inside. It's probably worth checking out if you're without children, or your kids are older than 3 and 2.

French Lick also has grand hotels and casinos there, but we didn't get to those. The Mrs. and I are interested in heading back down there, though, sometime when we have overnight childcare. I do enjoy video poker! And I'd like to check out that winery in more depth.

We got to French Lick and back on half a tank of gas. So if you're in central Indiana and looking for a fun but relatively inexpensive get-away, keep that area of the state in mind. I highly recommend Valley of the Springs Resort and Big Splash Adventure Water Park.