Short Excursion into Middlebury, Indiana

September 1, 2023

On Sunday (August 20), Bruce wanted to go out to eat breakfast. He found The Hilltop restaurant in Middlebury on Google. It had great reviews, so I agreed to try it. In looking at the route to the restaurant, I noticed Kinder World’s Fair Garden close to the restaurant. I thought that might be fun.

The food at The Hilltop met our expectations based on the good reviews. I even tried fried mush for the first time – think fried polenta. It was delicious!

Next to the restaurant is a rails to trails trail, called Pumpkinvine Nature Trail. We walked on the trail past a very clever arboretum. The power company was demonstrating which trees were safe to plant near power lines.

We walked along the Pumpkinvine Nature Trail to the Kinder World’s Fair Garden.

In 1933, Kinder Nurseries created a display garden for the 1934 Chicago World’s Fair. The cost for the display was about $10,000. More than 250,000 people visited and signed the guest register. In a brilliant bit of marketing, Kinder Nurseries used the guest register list to become the largest mail order nursery in the United States.

After the World’s Fair, part of the exhibit was moved to 2.4 acre plot across from the Kinder Nursery headquarters. The display garden on the plot is called “Kinder’s World Fair Garden”.

After Kinder Nurseries closed in 1990, the garden fell into disrepair. The garden was restored and and dedicated as a Middlebury park in 1995.

The Pumpkinvine Nature Trail goes right to the garden.

We crossed the road and started walking towards the pond. I took a picture of the pond and noticed some lumps on the side of the pond. Frogs!

We walked along the brick path to the main entrance of the garden.

We wondered through the garden. It was lovely.

We walked back along the Pumpkinvine Nature Trail. We turned down a street to walked to the Middlebury Memorial Park. Across the street from the memorial park, we could see the East Park. It looked like there was a pavilion and playground.

We walked back to the motorcycle, geared up, and headed back to the RV.

It was a lovely outing. I was pleasantly surprised I didn’t get any additional mosquito bites since parts of the garden are heavily shaded.