Last month, my writing bestie, Liz Flaherty, and I went on our biannual retreat. Even though we talk every day on gChat, these retreats are our shared personal moments of Zen. We’ve been going on retreat together every late winter and early fall for at least ten years. The late winter is usually four nights, 5 days in a place that offers decent restaurants, a few shops, and quiet places to set up to write. Think boutique hotels and state park inns. We’ve actually been going to the same boutique hotel in the hills of southern Indiana for several years, but this year, we tried a new adventure.
We chose the hills of southern Indiana again, but this trip, we booked four nights at an inn in New Harmony, Indiana. Neither of us had ever been there before, so we were taking a chance, but the website looked good and the history looked downright fascinating.
New Harmony is the site of two early American Utopian communities formed when “out West” was the frontier in what is now the Midwest United States. George Rapp, who began the Harmony Society settled on the banks of the Wabash River in 1814. The Harmonists, a religious sect, believed that Jesus was coming back very soon, so they lived their lives in striving for perfection in everything they did. They formed a community together, building over 150 log structures and creating the town of Harmony. They were entirely self-sufficient, although they did trade goods with towns along the Wabash, Ohio, and Mississippi Rivers, including places as far away as New Orleans and Pittsburgh.
In 1824, Rapp sold the community to Robert Owen, who had enough money to simply buy the whole town. Owen was more of a secularist, focused on social equality and education, as well as nature rather than perfection. The people who settled in New Harmony were progressive thinkers, scholars, even early feminists who all lived together communally. New Harmony was bastion of social progress out on the frontier. They founded one of the nation’s first co-ed public schools, they had trade schools, and they studied nature, in particular geology. The experiment thrived in some ways, but also failed due to internal conflicts, lack of strong leadership, and a lack of skilled labor and production.
The town is now a National Historic Landmark, and although it is no longer a “Utopia,” they’ve done a great job at preserving the stories of the utopias and ideals that both Rapp and Owen tried to create. The whole town just reeks of history, and Liz and I found something new to explore each afternoon after we got done writing for the day. It’s different from other small tourist towns in that it doesn’t cater to shoppers, it caters to lovers of history. The town is quite walkable. As a matter of fact, we saw more golf carts than cars.
The thing we noticed most about our stay in New Harmony was how incredibly peaceful the town was—the quiet, which could’ve been disconcerting, was actually extraordinary. We wandered–oh, how we wandered! All through an old hilly cemetery, through the spectacular cathedral labyrinth, past home after restored home, and into a lovely old church that remains open twenty-four hours. The beautiful magnolia trees, the spring flowers, the friendly folks we met while walking, the labyrinths and museums, even the restaurants exuded the harmony and peace that was the cornerstone of the town in the early nineteenth century.
This place was the frontier, the West in 1814, but it wasn’t the Wild West. It wasn’t cowboys and cattle drives and saloons and ranches. Rather it was one group of people’s vision of what paradise could be.
What’s your vision of paradise? Mine varies—sometimes it’s a house in a small town on Lake Michigan that is easy walking distance to the lake where I can walk the beach whenever I want. Other times it’s a small cottage in Provence, living among the lavender fields and vineyards. But my paradise always includes Husband, my kids, my friends, and books!
FYI: Make It Real, book 2 in my Walkers of River’s Edge series is still on sale for just 99 cents, but only for a few more days! If you haven’t been to River’s Edge yet, now’s your chance. More sweet, small town romance in beautiful southern Indiana!
Nan Reinhardt is a USA Today bestselling author of sweet, small-town romantic fiction for Tule Publishing. Her day job is working as a freelance copyeditor and proofreader, however, writing is Nan’s first and most enduring passion. She can’t remember a time in her life when she wasn’t writing—she wrote her first romance novel at the age of ten and is still writing, but now from the viewpoint of a wiser, slightly rumpled, woman in her prime. Nan lives in the Midwest with her husband of 52 years, where they split their time between a house in the city and a cottage on a lake.
Sounds like a lovely retreat!
I love the mountains of Northeast Tennessee, but I also love the waves lapping at the beach.
Oh, yes, the mountains are so lovely!
I have been blessed with being happy in many places and situations, which is quite unusual for a girl growing up as an only child on a small rural farm. When I went to college, my uncle thought I would come home, too homesick to stay, but he was wrong. I’ve always made myself at home wherever I was.
That’s a wonderful gift to have , Janice!
I’m originally from that area of the world, growing up in southern Illinois. I love the flat lands and the forests. Where I was from the soil was great for growing anything and I well remember the day when my mother threw out some popcorn that had worms in it. We had quite a few corn stalks grow up from there.
Great post.
Thanks, Karen. How cool that the corn grew from wormy popcorn!
Mine does include my family. I would love to have a place to walk in woods at the foothills of mountains.
Sounds grand, Debra!
I have never lived in a small town, but I would love to try it. I do enjoy walking on the beach and in the mountains.
I haven’t either, Bonnie, except in my stories. So whether I’ve got small town life right or not in River’s Edge and Marietta–it’s how I’d like it to be.
For me, paradise means being among redwood trees in Big Sur or Humboldt County California.
Oh yes! My mom’s idea of paradise was Asilomar State Beach. It is just gorgeous in California.
Hubs Aunt & Uncle lived in Harmony for many years and were instrumental in updating several of the old buildings there – the town is also known for all the pecan trees too and the state park that is full of deer nearby! We spent many a family weekend there too. Betty and Dave Rice were their names!
Oh, how cool, Teresa! The town is just so lovely and peaceful. We didn’t get to state park, but we fully intend to go back again!
What a clever blog title, Nan! My version of paradise – like you, I suspect – is our lake cabin. The cabin is small, the lake is small, but that’s the beauty of it all. No jet skis or traffic. Just peace, beauty, wildlife . . . our family’s treasure!
And what a gift you and Liz have together – friendship, travels, and a love for writing!!
Thanks, Pam! I wish our lake was free of jet skis and traffic–well, it is during the week. But weekends are just kinda crazy, which is why we try to avoid them. Liz and I always say we are each other’s gift for making it this far in life. 😉
Paradise to me is the Big Horn Mountains in Wyoming. I love camping by the Tongue River. The mountain flowers are generally exquisite. Wildlife is awesome to watch and I love it when ranchers bring their cattle up the mountain for summer grazing. Sheep are also grazing and basque sheep herders are keeping the flock grouped together and guarding the herd. The dogs are interesting to watch as well as they manage the flock and protect them. We Atv in the mountains and the waterfalls, caves, and terrain are gorgeous. I love Wyoming.
Good Tuesday Afternoon, Nan,
A nice quiet place surrounded by books would be my paradise on Earth! 🙂
Thank you,
Julie Bullock
My paradise is sitting on our patio swing that is in our backyard. I can read there or just sit there and listen to the birds singing away and I can watch the butterflies or the bees getting their fill of nectar from the flower, while our pup is sniffing around the backyard and my husband is sitting beside me on the swing. Have a great week.
I grew up in the Adirondack Mountains in Northern New York on Lake Champlain and now live in Northeast Tennessee in the foothills of the Blue Ridge Mountains on the North Carolina border. We also lived in Colorado Springs for 3 years on the edge of the Rockies, among other places. I love the mountains. As a teen, my family had an old camp on a small mountain lake. That left many great memories and cabins on lakes have always been favorite places to stay.
At the same time, there is a big world out there with so much to offer. I love exploring every type of town, city, valley, mountain, jungle, desert, historic and cultural experience out there. It is still nice to have our old, victorian, country, farm house on a hill overlooking the mountains to come home to.
If you want an historic area to visit, you might visit Jonesborough, TN. It is the oldest town in the state, the downtown has retained its mid-1800 character (except for the candy store Yoda), it has the restored Historic Eureka Inn on Main Street, a museum and historic log house across the street and lots of history. The town is the home of the National Storytelling Center. They hold an International Storytelling Festival every first weekend of October. There are tellers from around the world and it is a great people watching opportunity. The area is steeped in history and only a little over an hour from Asheville, NC, home of the Biltmore Estate. there is always something to do.