The other night at Bunco, several women were talking about French Lick, Indiana. (Prior to this conversation they were talking about the security of their wireless Internet and keeping is protected against the eyes of PRYING neighbors. Oops. Thank goodness I don’t live in THAT neighborhood.)
And we’re back from that brief tangent.
One of the women asked me if I’d ever been to French Lick. I shrugged and coyly said that I’d never heard of it. “Oh? You’ve never heard of it,” she questioned. “Well it’s a blah, blah, blah, blah, blah place…” I wasn’t really listening to the last part because I was thinking to myself, “Is it weird that I don’t know about French Lick, Indiana? And I hope they don’t find out that I steal my Internet connection.”
The thing is, though, is that maybe I have heard of it. I mean, I’ve HEARD of Hartford, Connecticut and El Paso, Texas and Istanbul, but they don’t have any special meaning for me. The next day at lunch I asked Tate if he’d ever heard of French Lick, Indiana. I whispered it quietly across the table of the semi-crowded restaurant because I sensed that NOT knowing about this place was like standing up and shouting “I HATE NOTRE DAME, PURDUE, AND the HOOSIERS.” (I don’t, by the way.)
Tate gave me a most exasperated sigh and shook his head. “It’s where Larry Bird was born.” [imagine that he was looking at me like, YOU NUMBNUT] “French Lick, Indiana?,” he said as if repeating the words French Lick, Indiana would now somehow magically make it all click in my brain.
“Why would I care about where Larry Bird was born?” I asked truly wondering why in fact I WOULD care about a 1980’s Boston Celtics, short-shorts wearing basketball player.
“It matters. We live in Indiana now, Jennifer. Basketball MATTERS,” Tate explained. And that was the end of the discussion. At least for he and I anyway. Now I’d like to include all of you in on the talks.
I have since googled French Lick, Indiana and learned that it is a resort area, but it’s also “known” (I use the term verrrrry loosely) for being Larry Bird’s birthplace . However, I’m still befuddled. Is it weird that I don’t know much, okay ANYTHING, about French Lick, Indiana? Did everyone except me take a class titled, “The Low Down On French Lick…Everything You Must Know to Have a Fulfilled Life?”
Kori
March 5, 2008 at 10:50 am
Um, never heard of it, didn’t know who Larry Bird was until I read your post, and honestly, I don’t really care. I hate basketball; actually all sports except, maybe, the one I think of when I hear the words “French” and “Lick” in the same sentence.
Kori’s last blog post..Quirky, Shmirky
Kori
March 5, 2008 at 10:51 am
And I am kind of being a smarty pants here-I DO vaguely remember the short shorts. And for those sickos out there who think I have a dirty mind, well, I REALLY meant the sport of French as in Fries, lick as in ice cream!
Kori’s last blog post..Quirky, Shmirky
Jess
March 5, 2008 at 11:17 am
French Lick is treated like it was the birthplace of Jesus in Indiana. I am sure there is more than one shrine in Larry Bird’s honor in that town. Even though I have lived in Indiana pretty much all my life I have never visited French Lick. They recently got a casino and that might be enough incentive to head over there.
Jess’s last blog post..Who Approved This???
justmylife
March 5, 2008 at 12:16 pm
I will confess I have heard of French Lick, but I can’t recall why I have heard of it. Being from Bama, I have no interest in basketball, so it was not because of Larry Byrd. I would guess it stuck with me because it just made me laugh. Much like you do!
justmylife’s last blog post..The powers that be are trying to tell me something…..
Heather
March 5, 2008 at 12:31 pm
I’ve been to French Lick (snicker) and it’s not all that great. Unless you like smoky gambling boats and overpriced drinks, there’s not too much to do there that you can’t do somewhere else. But there is a really big yellow hotel that’s old and kind of cool, and lots of boating.
And I don’t much care for basketball either, so I guess living all your life in the basketball state doesn’t make a *lick* of difference.
Where you do need to go in Indiana is Brown County – specifically Nashville, IN. They have all these cute crafty little stores and in the fall it’s insanely busy because everyone goes to “look at the leaves,” but really they’re shopping… well, that’s what I’m doing. (It’s fun in the spring and summer too.)
Heather’s last blog post..Tasty Tuesday – Pot Roast
Jen
March 5, 2008 at 12:54 pm
okay, so maybe I found you because you were one of the only ones to take pity on my newbie-ness and to respond to my blogroll request. (Thanks by the way) – but you are seriously way funny! And all I have to say is, who is Larry Bird? (Just kidding).
Jen
Jen’s last blog post..Crash the Party
Megan
March 5, 2008 at 1:00 pm
I am impressed you know that Larry Bird played for the Boston Celtics. I couldn’t even tell you that much! Sports trivia is not my thing. But, how fun would it be to say French Lick everytime you talk about your hometown!
Megan’s last blog post..Do not refrigerate. Shake well.
Sadie
March 5, 2008 at 1:14 pm
Okay…listen…
I live in Indiana. I’ve lived in Indiana for (a total of) half of my life. I HATE basketball, I don’t give a flying fig about Larry Bird or the Hoosiers or the Pacers. I had NO idea that Larry Bird was FROM French Lick. I knew that he was (maybe still is?) owner of the PAcers…or somehow related to them in recent years.
Honestly, I DON’T CARE. I’m the “Hoosier” (and I use THAT term lightly) that you WANT to know *giggle*
Seriously…I’ve heard of French Lick…never been there, know nothing about it other than the name…and the fact that I may have been through it before…may have, but I’m not sure.
Nashville is what you want to know. Kitschy little crafty-shopping town next to Brown County State Park (gorgeous views). Yeah, SHOPPING is what’s important to me…not basketball *lol*
Sadie’s last blog post..That’s a friend…
Shannon
March 5, 2008 at 1:57 pm
I have never heard of it….and I definitely didn’t know that Larry Bird grew up there.
mandy
March 5, 2008 at 2:40 pm
Never heard if it. I could care less about basketball. Seriously, as I doubt Larry gives a crap about where I was born. I thought you were leading up to something sneeky, french lick.
mandy’s last blog post..10 lbs gone!
mpotter
March 5, 2008 at 3:16 pm
i’ve never heard of it, but am w/ you- it sounds dirty.
it sounds like one of those towns you hear about and laugh at- say- prospertiy, townville, pumpkintown, sc
i know there are a million more (not in sc) but i don’t feel like taxing my brain.
unless you’re a larry bird fan, i wouldn’t expect anyone to know it.
however, if it’s worth going there to get your own french lick, well—- maybe worth checking out.
mpotter’s last blog post..…yet the gloating continues
anne
Twitter: AnneBtweets
March 5, 2008 at 4:17 pm
I live near an Intercourse, Paradise, Blue Ball and Bird in Hand. Seriously.
anne’s last blog post..The operation continues
Janet
March 5, 2008 at 5:14 pm
Obviously, you’ve never traveled much through the Pennsylvania Dutch Country! If you head north from Paradise you will encounter Intercourse, but if you go too far, you will get to Blue Ball! No kidding! I went to the Lancaster area 1st as a teenager and have not been able to forget the town names – I even got a t-shirt!!
Janet
March 5, 2008 at 5:16 pm
AHH Man! I just saw Anne’s post – I thought I was the first!
Lori
March 5, 2008 at 5:23 pm
I took that class, but it wasn’t about Indiana, that’s for sure!
Lori’s last blog post..The Royal Family
Dawn
March 5, 2008 at 5:35 pm
We have a Sugar Tit and a Beaver Lick. Ya can’t make this stuff up.
Dawn’s last blog post..Kissing John Cusack
Clink
March 6, 2008 at 1:09 pm
…Dawns comment made me snort water out of my nose and I totally forgot what I was going to say!
Clink’s last blog post..outside the obvious
Sus
March 6, 2008 at 3:02 pm
fellow hoosier here… the new french lick/west baden resort/spa is actually gorgeous, worth a weekend trip with somebody you love (who is an adult).
Then again, even without the resort and spa, I would totally go to Sugar Tit and Beaver Lick, just to say I’d been. What state is that?!
Sus’s last blog post..Snuffling Little Red
my minivan is faster than yours
March 6, 2008 at 6:08 pm
I only knew that because Woody mentioned it on an episode of Cheers once!
my minivan is faster than yours’s last blog post..Kicking Ass and Taking Names
melissa
Twitter: rockdrool
March 7, 2008 at 9:03 am
french lick…bwahahahaha…er…never heard of it. but, i’m from michigan…we have places like hell, here. much, much classier sounding cities…
french lick…bwahahahahaha…sorry.
the thing that kills me is…larry bird and his short shorts!! so, of course he’s from french lick…
» That’s what I get for letting him watch tv before age 3.
March 18, 2008 at 12:03 am
[...] That’s The Bird. And NOT the one born in French Lick, [...]
Sara
May 27, 2008 at 7:45 am
I just happened to stumble upon this (and I realize this comment is coming a couple months too late) and thought you might like to hear from someone who grew up next to French Lick. Here are a few tidbits that will make you look like you know all about French Lick.
West Baden and French Lick are basically the same town since they literally run into each other….they just have different post offices. And for some reason the school system is not named after either town, it is named Springs Valley. And Springs Valley High School is on Larry Bird Blvd. (When I was in school they had Larry’s old jersey hung up in the gym.) Various places around all of Orange County still boast old Larry Bird “treasures”…..and we all grow up knowing exactly where Larry Bird’s house is.
French Lick is not only the home of Larry Bird…..it also has Pluto water (which stinks to high heaven!) and the mineral springs. It is thought that the name French Lick may have come about from the “salt” the mineral water left on the rocks. The wild animals (deer mainly) would come and lick at the salt and create “Licks” which are found all around here. I guess that was combined with the French who had settled into this area to create French Lick…..apparently they didn’t have a dirty bone in their body! haha
The West Baden Resort (known to us locals as “the Dome”) was once the largest suspended dome in the world and considered the eight wonder of the world. It is a beautiful place that was once a college. It has an amazing design and they still give tours even though it has been re-opened to guest for a little while now.
The new casino is next to French Lick’s resort. The French Lick Resort was once one of the “it” places to be in the 1920’s. It is said that famous gangsters (Al Capone is supposed to have been one of them) use to come “hide out in the hills” at the resort when they needed to lay low for a while. There is also the rumor that there are secret tunnels out of the resort so that they could make a quick escape if needed.
Well, I hope you enjoyed your French Lick lesson! Don’t worry about not knowing….there are so many stories in the beautiful hills of Southern Indiana that you can live here all your life and still learn new ones!
Matt
July 25, 2008 at 7:39 pm
This is my first foray into your blog today and I love your style. I am from Illinois originally and although I have heard of French Lick I didn’t know about the Larry Bird thing so I think that should help your pain somewhat. I am subscribing to your blog… you make me laugh in a midwest / southern kind of way that I miss sometimes. I live in the west now and I dont think there is a French Lick California and if there were one, it would probably be something created by the porn industry.
Matts last blog post..Best Flashlight Store
Becca
November 4, 2009 at 12:18 am
I am a long-time transplant from Michigan. I will NEVER consider myself a Hoosier, although I have lived here most of my life. Yeah, I know about French Lick. Yeah, I know Larry Bird was born there. Big whoop. Can’t stand basketball either. The spa that is in French Lick is supposed to be really nice. Maybe I’ll go sometime. There used to be a liquor store in town named French Liquors. Now THAT is funny. My husband and I spend the larger part of our summers down by French Lick, but it is certainly NOT for the town, or for Larry Bird, or for the new casino or the spa. We go to camp at the nature sanctuary (Our Haven Nature Sanctuary) that is about 15 minutes outside town. Beautiful southern Indiana woods, listening to the birds, frogs, crickets, and critters. Now THAT is the life. Don’t worry about not “knowing” French Lick, Jennifer. There isn’t a Hoosier mandate on it. (rolling eyes)