Empire Quarry

Ever since I saw the movie "Breaking Away", I have wanted to visit one of Indiana's old limestone quarries.  It looked so beautiful in the movie with the clear aqua blue water and smooth rocks...  A couple of weeks ago, one of Hank's professors gave them a map and an assignment to explore some of these quarries.  I was so excited.  It was on my Indiana bucket list to see one of these before we left.  The map was hand drawn, reminding me of a treasure map.  And to my surprise, it totally was.  We drove from Bloomington down towards Bedford, which is a pretty drive...

And then the map said to turn into an old cemetary.  It is illegal now to trespass onto quarries, so the cemetary was supposed to have the best view of what is called the Empire Quarry.  I asked Hank where it got its name.  He smiled and said it's where the Empire State Building came from!  I couldn't believe it.  We walked past some beautiful old headstones in the cemetary towards what looked like a cliff.  As we got closer to the edge, I saw the most beautiful aqua blue water.  No wonder people trespass to swim here...

 

(I'm 6 months along now:)

 

It is amazing to think that this...

 

came from this...

 

I definitely consider this one of Indiana's hidden gems:)