Description: My husband and I were fortunate enough to both get a Wednesday off, and needed to go to Brazil that night, so I grabbed my Indiana bag (with all of the tourism brochures I have collected from Indiana) and flipped through them. Rockville is in the county North of Brazil, and it just happened to be the week of the Covered Bridge Festival. Score!
We arrived at Rockville with no idea of what to expect. My main goal was to see the bridges and take some fun fall pictures. I was more than more than pleasantly surprised when we arrived to Rockville. The only dissatisfaction that I did have with this festival is that you really do need 2 days if you're planning to do the bridge tours -- and really, that's pretty much the opposite of dissatisfying.
We were able to park when we first got into town (arriving from the East on highway 36.) The cost was $2, although we could have been big spenders, and parked 2 blocks closer for $3. We parked across the street from The Old Railroad Depot.
There were a lot of booths and food stands set up along the street. The food varied greatly. After we both enjoyed my carnie fave corn dog, and shared a bottle of water ($8) we passed the American Legion's stand that had Chicken Noodle dinners. They were serving a small lunch for $4 or a full dinner for $6. We talked about getting that for dinner, but the day got away from us.
Around the courthouse there are many huge tents set up, shaped in a "C" around the courthouse, with more food vendors set up in the back, making the "C" almost a "D." There was awesome food there. Strawberry shortcake, pork chops, liver and onions, corn on the cob. It was a heaven of my childhood dreams (except for the liver.) The festival is open for 10 days, and one could easily go every night, get a different meal each night, and go home happy.
The booths in the tent sold a variety of items, from jewelry, furs, soaps, local food, and covered bridge shirts, calendars, postcards and books. Prices varied greatly, but seemed to be decent deals. I am not the big shopper, though I do regret not getting a covered bridge book.
The stores around the town square also had displays in the street. There was an amazing wooden furniture store, but they did not allow pictures of the furniture. Since they had furniture outside, I didn't want to try to photograph the front of the store.
The festival seemed very well attended to me, especially for a Wednesday afternoon, but as I walked through the very warm tents, I overheard a man talking on his cell phone and commenting that there was not as many people here as normal.
The best part of the festival for me was driving the bridge tours. They have a bus tour available for $10 an adult. I was disapointed to find out that the last Wednesday tour was at 2, but found that I was probably happier driving it on my own.
If you have lived in the Southwestern part of Indiana for more than 3 years, you have very little excuse not to have gone to this festival. I live Northwest of Indy, and made the drive, and it was great. Make sure to do at least one bridge tour, but be aware they are not quick drives. So, mark your calendar for the for the second Friday of October, grab your camera, and have fun.Close