Save some $$$ with our Hometown Tourist Coupons

The 2010 Hometown Tourist Coupons are in, as a part of our 2010 Harrison County Travel and Tourism Week celebration.

Coupons are valid May 1, 2010 through May 31, 2010 and are only valid for Harrison and Crawford County residents.

Printable versions of all of the coupons are available at the Blaine H. Wiseman Visitor Center (310 North Elm Street in Historic Downtown Corydon), the Chamber of Commerce of Harrison County (119 East Beaver Street in Historic Downtown Corydon) and on www.thisisIndiana.org.

For more information about the coupons call, 888-738-2137.

* Cave Country Canoes

Buy one canoe trip, get one FREE of equal or lesser value. (Coupon Code: HCCVB)

* Derby Dinner Playhouse

Buy one ticket for evening performance at regular price get one FREE (Tuesday or Wednesday evening performance May 18 through May 26). Limit 2 based on availability. (Coupon Code: HCCVB)

* Scout Mountain

Buy 3 begetable plants get 3 FREE. Limit one offer per household. (Coupon Code: HCCVB)

* The Bookworm

Buy one paperback book at half price get on FREE of equal or lesser value. (Coupon Code: HCCVB)

* Colokial

50% off all handmade Colombian Fique purses. (Coupon Code: HCCVB)

* Marengo Cave

Buy one cave tour get one FREE of equal or lesser value. (Coupon Code: HCCVB)

* Squire Boone Caverns

Buy one cavern tour get one FREE of equal or lesser value. (Coupon Code: HCCVB)

Hayswood Theatre Presents "Camelot"

Hayswood Theatere's curtain will rise to the production of Camelot. Under the direction of Bob Trinkle and musical director, Tim Baker, Camelot will be on stage May 7 though 23.

Performances will take place on Friday and Saturday nights at 8 p.m. and 2 p.m. on Sundays. Tickets can be purchased at the Blaine H. Wiseman Visitor Center or by calling toll free, 888-738-2137. Tickets are $12 for adults and $10 for children (17 and under) and seniors (65+).

5-K Family Fitness Day at Buffalo Trace Park

Enjoy a day at the park with the family while improving your health. Buffalo Trace Park, located at 1540 Hwy. 150 in Palmyra, will have a 5-K Family Fitness Day this Saturday, May 1.

You can participate in a 5-K run or walk, play games with the entire family or just enjoy the park atmosphere. Pack a picnic lunch or dinner and make an entire day out of it.

Spring Salad Luncheon

The Corydon Presbyterian Church will host a Spring Salad Luncheon on Friday, April 30 from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. This event is a fundraiser for the church. The luncheon is $7 for adults. For more information call the church at 812-738-3929.

IT'S OFFICIAL: These are the Best Wines in Indiana

Wine Fair Judges Select Medalists in Seven Categories Newcomer Scout Mountain Impresses Judges in Blind Tasting ★★★★★★★ For Hoosier vintners, the Indiana Wine Fair at the Story Inn is a debutante party. For Dr. Allen Dale ("Ole") Olson a/k/a the "Pontiff of Palate", the Indiana Wine Fair is serious business. Ole has the delicious privilege of establishing criteria and assembling judges to determine the best wines produced in the Hoosier state. "It is a fact, often overlooked, that Indiana is an agricultural state" says Ole, who selects the wine list at the Story Inn, Indiana's oldest bed & breakfast. "We have more than 30 wineries that match up to the best of the Californians, and that is, unfortunately, a well-kept secret." The Story Inn is Indiana's oldest bed & breakfast, located south of Nashville, which has hosted the Indiana Wine Fair for eight consecutive years. On Thursday, April 22, Ole's judges blind-tasted 138 submittals from 19 of Indiana's best wineries. "We award Gold, Silver and Bronze medals to the best three wines in each of seven categories: Dry Red, Sweet Red, Dry White, Sweet White, Dessert, Non-traditional/Non-Grape, and Blush" says Rick Hofstetter, owner of the Story Inn. "The cumulative highest point total gets 'Best of Show', and the highest scoring wine grown here (regardless of category) gets the 'Indiana Gold'. Then we feature the medalists at the Indiana Wine Fair the following Saturday, and add the gold's to our wine list." This year's panel consisted of dentist Lisa Baker, WFIU broadcast journalist Yael Kysander, WJAA-FM owner Robert Becker, French-trained chef Joan Olson, and print journalist/photographer Joe Persinger. "These folks all know wine, but none is a Sommelier, which gives us a good, representative and fair assessment" says Ole, who was available to break a tie if necessary, and, in point of fact, broke an unprecedented four ties. Each judge was accorded five points in each of four categories, or twenty possible points per judge. There were one hundred points per wine. "We create a level playing field here, with no pre-conceptions" says Hofstetter, who brown-bagged with the judges that afternoon, keeping his preferences a secret. The results were staggering. "We were blown away when we tallied up the scores." The "Best of Show", with bragging rights to being the best wine in Indiana, was the sweet red Scout Mountain Red Tailed Hawk, from Corydon. "Smooth, complex, fruity, elegant, and way above its category peers" according to Ole. The close runner-up, in the "Dry Red" category, was Easley's Governor's 2007 Reserve Zinfandel. Hofstetter described the competition between the two as a "dog fight". A dead heat is more like it. The "Red Tailed Hawk" and the "Governor's 2007 Zinfandel" had statistically improbable identical scores. Ole, pressed to break the tie, deferred to the obvious. "Different wines, different categories, different strokes for different folks. There was no way to compare the two side by side, so we looked into the judging, and saw that the 'Hawk' beat its rivals by a bigger margin" said Ole, who declared the 'Hawk" the winner (literally) by a nose. Hofstetter had this to add: "Astonishing to me is the fact that Scout Mountain is a brand new winery, and this is their first entry into this competition. I'm totally blown away." Scout Mountain also won a bronze medal in the "Blush" category for its Chambourcin. "This has never happened before" adds Hofstetter. Huber Winery in Starlight claimed the gold for the best wine from fruit grown in Indiana, the 2008 Chardonel. "We have difficult growing conditions here in Indiana" Ole explains. "If we are to make a real impact, it will be in the white grape hybrids." Hofstetter adds: "If we offered a silver and a bronze in this category, Huber would have gotten those too." Ole and his wife Joan enjoyed a bottle of the Huber Chardonel at dinner following the competition, with scallops. Multiple medals were awarded to the following: Scout Mountain (Corydon), Oliver Winery (Bloomington), Easley Winery (Indianapolis), Turtle Run (Corydon), Chateau Pomije (Guilford) and Huber Winery (Starlight). For a complete list of the final judging results, click HERE. As a condition of judging, each winery has agreed to make the medalists available to the public on: Saturday, April 24, at the Indiana Wine Fair in Story, Indiana. Gates open at 12:30 p.m. Admission is $20, parking is free. For more information visit www.storyinn.com. For human contact call: Dr. Allen Dale ("Ole") Olson (812) 479-3568 Rick Hofstetter, Story Inn (317) 590-3207

Share your Spring Break pictures for a chance to win $100!

Don't forget to share your Spring Break memories with us and enter to win $100 cash!

Post your Historic Corydon and Harrison County Spring Break trip photos on our blog page at thisisindiana.org and you will be entered into a drawing for $100 cash! Simply become a User of thisisindiana.org and post your photos and comments on our blog page. Enter "Show Us What You've Got" in the Title. You can enter as many different photos as you like, as many times as you like between March 1 and April 30, 2010. One winner will be drawan on May 3, 2010 and notified via email. Must be 18 or older to enter. Show us What You've Got!

Magdalena's to host their 1st Annual Spring Tea

Magdalena's Restaurant and Cafe on the Square will have their first Annual Spring Tea featuring a chef inspired menu, a candy buffet, Victorian decor, special music, poetry reading, a "Tea Talk", door prizes and more. Seating will take place at 2 p.m. and is $25 per person. You can purchase advance tickets now by calling the restaurant at 812-738-8075 or visiting them at 103 East Chestnut/Beaver Street in Historic Downtown Corydon.

2010 Friday Night Summer Band Concert Series Line-up Announced

Bring your lawn chair for an evening of laid-back, small town entertainment. The Friday Night Summer Band Concert Series is a tradition with roots back to the late 1800s. Surrounded by history, you’re in the shadow of Indiana’s First State Capitol.

Free community concerts Friday evenings Memorial Day through Labor Day at 7:30 p.m. Food services are provided by different non-profit groups each week beginning at 6 p.m. Concerts are held outdoors on the Hurley D. Conrad Memorial Bandstand and are subject to the rules and regulations of the Corydon Capitol State Historic Site. Concerts may be cancelled due to dangerous weather.

May 21 Holy Name Concert Band
May 28 Mixed Blessings
June 4 Moonlight Big Band
June 11 Commonwealth Brass Band
June 18 River Cities Concert Band
June 25 Katie Toupin & Matt Myers
July 2 Traveler's Dream (Indiana Territory Festival)
July 9 Corydon Dulcimer Society
July 16 Kosair Concert Band
July 23 U of L Community Band
July 30 Bourbon City Brass Band
August 6 Crawford County Community Band
August 13 River Cities Concert Band
August 27 Hot Brats German Band
September 3 Wapituli/Dennis Hill and JP Mattingly

For more information call the Blaine H. Wiseman Visitor Center toll-free at 888-738-2137 or visit thisisIndiana.org.

Rememberance Day This Weekend

For a trip back in time, spend the day in New Amsterdam celebrating Rememberance Day. Rememberance Day activities will take place from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. with a parade at 11 a.m. Activities include bus tours of the New Amsterdam Quarry (beginning at noon and at 2 p.m.), the Valley City Church and Mulzer Crushed Stone. Other festival activities include several flea market booths, lunch at the Fellowship Hall of New Amsterdam Church, spinning, quilting and woodworking with Merle Behr and Family, several demonstrations including two shows by 6 Guns Entertainment, a children's fishing tournament and much more. Some activities may be canceled, call Faye Shaffer at 812-732-4616 for more information.

Spring Wine and Cheese Blast at Scout Mountain Winery

Celebrate spring with Scout Mountain Winery's wine and cheeses from Capriole Farm. Fine wine and cheese, from noon to 6 p.m., can't get any better than that!

Scout Mountain Winery is located at 2145 Scout Mountain Road in Corydon. For more information call 812-738-7196.

Butt Drugs featured on the Ellen Degeneres Show

The Butt Drugs, Inc. commercial has made it all the way to the Ellen Degeneres show.

Check it out: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A44rEC3TLjU.

Alpaca Shearing at Flatwoods Farm

The Alpacas at Flatwoods Farm will have their winter coats removed mid-morning on Tuesday, April 27. Flatwoods Farm welcomes anyone that would like to watch the annual special event.

Flatwoods Farm, owned by Willie and Kristin Ems, is located at 2155 Flatwood Road in New Salisbury. Here, you can enjoy the luxury of alpaca fleece, once reserved for Inca royalty. They offer alpaca sales, free farm tours and close up alpaca visits with a wide variety of alpaca fleece products available for purchase. Please call 812-364-4644 to make an appointment to visit or for more information.

JIMMIE BEST TO VISIT CORYDON

Jimmie Best, formerly of Corydon, will visit his hometown during the first weekend in June. Several events have been planned by the Historical Society of Harrison County and will be held at Hayswood Theatre, Gerdon Youth Center, and the Harrison County Community Foundation.

Mr. Best will present two performances of his one man show, “In His Own Words,” at Hayswood Theatre in Corydon. The first performance will be Friday, June 4 and the second performance will be Saturday, June 5. Both performances will begin at 8:00 p.m. Tickets are $30 each and include a reception with snacks to give attendees an opportunity to meet Mr. Best. Tickets are on sale now and can be purchased in person at the Blaine H. Wiseman Visitor Center in Historic Downtown Corydon. Only cash or check (made out to the Historical Society of Harrison County) will be accepted. Hayswood Theatre seats seventy and tickets for both performances are expected to sell quickly.

A brief ceremony to honor Best will begin at 2:00 p.m on Saturday, June 5, followed by a book signing at the Gerdon Youth Center (former Corydon High School, which Best attended in the 1940's.) Best will be autographing copies of his new autobiography "Best in Hollywood: The Good The Bad and The Beautiful." Books will be available for purchase at the event for $25 or can be ordered from www.jamesbest.com. Autographed photos will also be available for purchase. This event is free and open to the public.

Prior to Best's arrival, the Historical Society of Harrison County will host an educational film festival on Monday May 24th, beginning at 4:00 p.m at the Harrison County Community Foundation Building in Corydon. A chronological marathon of highlights of Best's movie career, possibly including "The Attack of the Killer Shrews," "The Guitar Player" from Andy Griffith and a "Dukes of Hazzard" episode, in which Best played Sheriff Rosco P. Coltrane, plus other works from Best's Hollywood career. This event is free and open to the public.

For more information, directions or suggestions contact Karen Schwartz, President of the Historical Society of Harrison County at (812) 736-2373 or (812) 738-2828 or email karengleitz@hotmail.com.

Dinner and the Blues at Indian Creek Winery

Indian Creek Winery will host a Dinner and the Blues event. This event will feature roast beef and Italian baked chicken, salad, potatoes, bread, veggies and dessert. Wine will also be served. Appetizers begin at 6:30 p.m. followed by dinner and Blues music from 7 p.m. to 10 p.m. Cost is $25 per adult or teenager and $10 per pre-teen.

Indian Creek Winery is located at 6491 County Line Road NE in Georgetown. For more information call 502-396-6209.

Get Out and Play!

It's official - Spring has sprung in Historic Corydon, Harrison County! The trees are budding, the temperature is rising and family fun is in the air. Let us help you start planning your spring weekend getaway now so you can "Get Out and Play" in Indiana's Hometown! Here are some ideas for planning your getaway and making memories to last a lifetime. Be sure to contact our travel counselors at the Blaine H. Wiseman Visitor Center at 888-738-2137 for additional assistance in planning your trip, or come by the visitor center after your arrival for great trip tips, maps, brochures, discount cave tour tickets and additional visitor information. We hope to see you soon!

Get Out and Play at These and Many Other Harrison County Attractions:

Alpacas at Flatwoods Farm
2155 Flatwood Road
New Salisbury, IN
812-364-4644

Alpaca sales, farm tours and close up alpaca visits with a wide variety of alpaca fleece products available for purchase. Call for appointment. No admission charge.

Marengo Cave
400 East SR 64
Marengo, IN
888-702-2873

Come explore Marengo Cave! Cave tours, gemstone mining, The Crawl, nature trails, cave exploring and much more.



Squire Boone Caverns
100 Squire Boone Road
Mauckport, IN
812-732-4381

Explore caverns discovered in 1790 by Squire and Daniel Boone. Enjoy the spectacular views from the land down under, including beautiful waterfalls and formations thousands of years old. One-hour guided cavern tours are available.


Enjoy hiking, camping, picnics and other fun activities at many of our county and state parks.
*Buffalo Trace Park
*Hayswood Nature Reserve
*South Harrison Park
*O'Bannon Woods State Park