Farewell Indy Tour Day 5: Crown Hill Cemetery & Eagle Creek Park

Yesterday my mom and sister drove up to the city so we could go to Eagle Creek Park for a picnic and some nature observing. On the way there, I decided to show my mom my favorite places in Crown Hill. I'm not sure why, but as I prepare to leave here I feel compelled to share all my favorite parts of the city with those who are staying. We drove up to James Whitcomb Riley's grave, with my favorite view of the city. I had taken my sister there before, but my mom thought it was really cool, especially the fact that people leave change on the grave to be collected and donated to Riley Children's Hospital. We left what change we had with us.

the view from James Whitcomb Riley's grave

James Whitcomb Riley's grave, with coin donations on top

I also showed her the graves of President Benjamin Harrison, Richard Gatling (inventor of the Gatling gun), and John Dillinger. My sister left her last quarter on Dillinger's grave. As we left the cemetery and headed to the park it began to rain just a little, but we decided to go anyway, hoping the rain was temporary.

the armed forces graves received flags for Memorial Day

At the park we drove around for a while admiring the views and trying to figure out where we were because I didn't get a map when we entered the park. We stopped near the swimming beach (which was closed) to have our lunch at one of the shelters. Mom and Karissa had brought sandwiches, chips, and cookies. After lunch we walked down to a nearby dock.

Eagle Creek Reservoir

There weren't any trails in the immediate vicinity so we drove up to the marina, where we met an adorable little white German shepherd puppy whose owners were trying to socialize him. Unfortunately, both Winston and Coco (my mom's Chihuahua/Pekingese mix) were afraid of him. Winston was about five times his size and Coco lives with three other dogs, all of whom are much larger than this puppy was, so it was pretty irrational fear.

Winston at the dock

the view from a gap in the trees along one of the trails. 

We walked a trail near the marina, but with the overcast skies and dim light under the trees the trails weren't nearly as attractive as they would have been in the sunlight. We left the trail to explore some other areas of the park which led to us discovering a strange swamp area and encountering a host of deer.

swampy area

swampy area

After a while we became convinced we were in a time loop, as we kept seeing a group of three deer, then one deer, then the three deer again. We also saw the same groups of people repeatedly and somehow ended up going in a circle and passing the same blue shed twice. Eventually we found our way out of the time loop and the park, and we headed back to my house where I made spaghetti for us for dinner.