2006 Vacation/Travel Supplement

The roads less traveled: Outings offer unique experiences at interesting Hoosier places

By John Shaughnessy

Sue Thomson prides herself on creating unusual one-day experiences for people who love to take behind-the-scene looks at the state of Indiana.

Her trip to the Indianapolis Motor Speedway includes a tour of the track, a visit to an owner’s suite in Gasoline Alley and the opportunity to stand on the platform where the winner of the Indianapolis 500 raises his or her arms in victory.

Her visit to the Amish country of northern Indiana includes a ride in an Amish buggy and lunch at the private home of an Amish family for a meal of chicken, mashed potatoes and green beans.

Her trip to the Circus City Festival in Peru in northern Indiana includes a tour of the Circus Hall of Fame, a make-up lesson with a clown and the opportunity for a close-up view of an elephant or a tiger.

“Her trips are unique,” said Tom Weakley, a member of St. Matthew Parish in Indianapolis. “You do things you wouldn’t normally do. You go to places you normally wouldn’t go to. The Amish trip was an interesting experience—clip-clopping down the road in an Amish buggy as the cars whiz by you.”

The trips are a labor of love for Thomson, the owner and planner of the Indianapolis-based Milestone Travel Club.

“I love it because the people who travel on my trips want to learn things, and they seek out activity and adventure,” Thomson said. “Going out in the community and other places makes you more interesting. As someone once said, ‘Once your mind is stretched, it never goes back to where it’s been.’ ”

Joan Logan had that feeling after she recently joined one of Thomson’s one-day tours called “A Blessed Experience.” Taken during the week of Easter and Passover, the bus tour included a Mass at the historic Carmelite Monastery of the Resurrection in Indianapolis, a Seder meal at the Indianapolis Hebrew Congregation and a tour of the mosque at the Islamic Society of North America in Plainfield.

“It was an educational day and quite full,” said Logan, 75, an Indianapolis resident. “I like the day trips. At my age, they’re easy to take. You don’t have to pack the suitcase or arrange for the cat.”

Thomson said the Milestone Travel Club is geared toward travelers 50 and older, but it’s open to people of all ages.

“I did a Mother’s Day cruise and I had three generations of women from one family—the mother, the grandmother and the granddaughter,” Thomson said. “We’re going up to see the King Tut exhibit in Chicago in July, and one of our travelers asked if her 12-year-old grandson could go with her. We’re going up to Peru to do the parade and the circus. People can bring their families.”

Thomson especially enjoys the trips that offer unusual experiences, like the excursion she has planned for Aug. 16.

The northern Indiana trip will start with a visit to Kokomo and the Elwood Haynes Museum, which honors the Hoosier inventor of America’s first car. The journey continues with a private tour of the Culver Military Academy, followed by a stop at the Lake Maxinkuckee home of Richard Ford, an Indiana philanthropist who is inviting people on the tour for wine and hor d’oeuvres—and a sailboat trip.

“Because of Richard Ford’s connections, we’ll be sailing on a three-mast schooner that doesn’t sail much anymore,” Thomson said. “The average person wouldn’t have the chance to do this. What makes us a little unique is we’re able to find people who will open their doors to places that generally aren’t public.”

Weakley is already booked for the Aug. 16 trip.

“I’ve taken many, many trips with her,” he said. “I like the cost and it’s all-inclusive. When you go somewhere with her, you have lunch and usually a breakfast. It also includes the admissions and the unique destinations.”

A tour on June 2 will head to Terre Haute and the western part of the state, visiting Saint Mary-of the-Woods College, the Terre Haute Brewing Company and the Exotic Feline Rescue Center near Center Point, which is home to lions, tigers and other large cats that have been abandoned or abused. (See a related story on page 18 and 19.)

“Usually, we can take about 50 people on our bus trips,” Thomson said. “People get off the bus, hug me and thank me, saying, ‘Thank you for a lovely day,’ ”

That reaction is just part of the reward for Thomson.

“I’ve learned a lot about Indiana and the people,” she said. “There are things I didn’t know were here. It’s nice to be able to say, ‘I’ve been here. I saw this. I learned this.’ It brings something new to the conversation and to life.”

(For more information about Milestone Travel Club outings this year, call Sue Thomson at 317-254-8945.) †