Just another geeky Monday

On Monday, we had our annual staff retreat at work. I guess they're supposed to be bonding experiences for us, and I suppose they are, but the best part is getting paid to go do really geeky stuff. Last year, we got to take behind-the-scenes tours at two libraries. This year, we went to two historic resorts, the French Lick Springs Resort and the West Baden Springs Hotel. Before you start giggling, "French Lick" is not as dirty as it sounds:

This valley has long been an attraction because of the many mineral water springs found here. The free-flowing mineral water left a residue of salt on the rocks surrounding the springs that attracted the animals, such as deer and buffalo, to lick the salt off the rocks, making this one of the many "Licks" in what is now southern Indiana. Most historians agree that there were probably French fur traders and French missionaries in this area during the time we were part of "New France."

We went to French Lick first, and while we were waiting for our tour guide, I saw these in the gift shop:



And to think...I used to be too embarrassed to photograph ridiculous items in stores. Now I have no shame, because it's For The Blog!

They didn't have Shakespeare or Poe. I looked very carefully, because they would've made great back-to-school gifts for Teacher Incognito. Alas!

Then our tour guide arrived, so it was time to get our collective geek on.


The French Lick Hotel was built around 1897, after the original Windsor hotel (built around 1845) burned down.

The hotel only closed for one year during recent renovations, and otherwise has been an operating hotel since the beginning. The outside of the building (which I didn't get a picture of, unfortunately) and the lobby have been restored to their original condition. There's 5000 square feet of gold leaf in the lobby alone.

(photo from the official website)
The "marble" in the lobby is actually scagliola, a faux marble plastering technique. During renovations, the columns were stripped of multiple layers of paint an inch thick, and then had to be restored. I think our guide said only three people in the United States know how to create scagliola (maybe it was ten), and two of them worked for the restoration company that had been contracted to help restore the hotel. This stuff is pretty cool--I have a geology degree and I didn't even look twice at the "marble" columns and wainscoting.

The original mosaic floor was dug out from under black and white linoleum and carpet:



Here's a restored original painting on the ceiling of Orpheus and Eurydice:



The owner of the hotel during its heyday was a powerful member of the Democratic party, and the French Lick Springs Hotel became the unofficial headquarters of the Democratic National Committee. In 1931, FDR was at French Lick when he first began to rally the support that would later carry him on to claim the Presidential nomination.

People used to come from miles around (I've heard from as far away as the East Coast) to drink the "healing" waters of the natural mineral springs. At the height of its popularity, fourteen trains ran to the hotel every day. Water from the mineral springs--especially the Pluto Spring--was reputed to cure a whole host of maladies. The water has a high sulfur content (and man, the spring we went to smelled horrible), and also, it turns out, contains small amounts of lithium. As our tour guide pointed out, no matter what disease you had, if you drank enough Pluto water, you probably weren't all that upset about it anymore. Standing downwind of the Pluto Spring was decidedly unpleasant.






Yep, sulfur water is a laxative. Fortunately for everyone, now that lithium is a controlled substance, no one is permitted to drink the spring water. You can still take mineral baths in the fancy-schmancy spa, though...I wonder if the baths reek of rotten eggs?

This is in the super cool Power Plant Bar in the hotel basement, next to the buffet where we ate lunch. The switches are from a power plant building on the property that was demolished. When the current owners went to the plant, the switches were still drawing power, even though the plant hadn't been in use for 40 years. I sort of wonder how that never showed up on a power bill.



After lunch, we took a shuttle over to the West Baden Springs Hotel (or HO-tel, as our adorable little old lady tour guide pronounced it). I actually liked West Baden Springs better than French Lick. It has definitely retained more of the old-school resort feel. The grounds are beautiful, and the hotel feels old. At French Lick, the lobby was gorgeous, but walking through the halls, it just felt like a nice hotel, not a particularly old one. At West Baden, I could easily imagine the way the place had been back in the old days, and could almost see the ladies in long dresses wandering around or known guest Al Capone rolling in for some illcit gambling.




West Baden Springs didn't have quite as much luck as French Lick as far as surviving the years intact. It was built in 1901, and was only an operating hotel until the Great Depression led to its closure in 1932. In 1934, the hotel was sold to the Jesuits for $1. Now, I'm pretty fond of the Jesuit order, but I'm quite cross over the fact that they poured concrete down the property's four springs, which remain sealed to this day. The Jesuits sold the property in 1964, and it was a private college until 1983, when was abandoned and fell into disrepair.

Luckily, a lot of the exterior features survived and were able to be restored.

By the time restoration of the hotel began in earnest, only the 200-foot-diameter central dome was salvageable. The building had been constructed in three rings--an inner ring of rooms facing into the atrium, a hallway, and an outer ring of rooms facing the grounds. The outer ring's exterior wall had collapsed in places, and everything outside of the domed atrium had to be gutted and rebuilt.


Each of the steel support structures inside the dome weighs 3 tons. The tour guide said that the architects figured the dome would've lasted forever, even without renovation. All the canvas on the dome was cleaned and restored, and the decorated drum at the top is original.

The inner ring of rooms, facing into the lobby.

The gnome is Sprudel, the "patron" of the resort.

one of the original windows the Jesuits added to the library

In the back of the hotel's restaurant, there's a chef's room. You can reserve it for $1500 for dinner for ten. The Swarovski crystal lamps are pretty nice, but the glass wall behind the table is by far the most bad-ass part, going from frosted to clear with the flip of a switch:



Oh, and the table is set with fifteen thousand dollar Versace china. Yowza.



I really loved the grounds of West Baden Springs. I could totally dig a relaxing weekend roaming around this place.

the Apollo spring, sealed now
this was a billiards hall and bowling alley
in one of the other sealed springs, which the Jesuits used as a chapel
This used to be a fountain in the center of the lobby, but was moved outside
and converted to a flower bed before the hotel closed.

All in all, not a bad way to spend a work day.


Reading:  Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince

Playing:  Howl by Black Rebel Motorcycle Club