An oasis in the middle of nowhere. That's the words we would use to describe this little resort town tucked away in a valley in French Lick, Indiana. Dave grew up going to French Lick every Easter weekend. His parents had him convinced that the Easter bunny frequented there to take a dip in the hot springs.
We decided to go check this place out for Jess's birthday since she had never been. French Lick plays host to two incredible resorts which feature world-class spas with special mineral water from the town's natural hot springs. West Baden Resort is known as the "8th Wonder of the World" because of its incredible architecture.
8670 West State Road 56
French Lick, Indiana 47432
(812) 936-9300
While West Baden's dome is absolutely gorgeous, we chose to rest where Dave's family always stayed growing up, French Lick Springs Resort. French Lick Springs Resort is a little cheaper than West Baden and it has all the entertainment. We'll get to that in a bit. Built in 1845, this hotel literally takes you back in time.
8670 West State Road 56
French Lick, Indiana 47432
(812) 936-9300
The best thing about French Lick is how small the town is. You can check out both resorts via an old school trolley that travels between the two resorts. It's only about a ten minute ride and it's free... Bonus!
You can literally spend an hour just checking out all the sites and sounds of the French Lick Springs hotel. It's so massive!
We started in the basement at Pluto's Alley. Complete with a bowling alley, watering hole, a game room and Pluto's Pizzeria, this fun zone is a must see.
One of Dave's fondest memories of this place is this little ice cream shop that sits just off the lobby. For Dave, this hotel is exactly the way he remembers it as a kid, only completely remodeled. That makes sense because from 2006-16, the resort got a complete makeover.
Like we said in the beginning of the post, the reason French Lick is famous is because of its hot springs. Known for healing powers, the mineral water (which reeks of sulphur might we add) attracts millions of people from all over the world. Pictured is the most famous spring of all, the Pluto spring.
One of the main attractions of French Lick is the 1875 Steakhouse. You're going to want to save up for this one; it's pretty expensive!!
The french onion soup (served in an onion) and lobster bisque were our favorite parts of the dining experience. The bone in strip steak is pretty good too.
A birthday treat is always a nice little surprise...
Overall, we thought 1875 was good, but not great. Disclaimer: we are food snobs and have been blessed to get to eat at some of the best restaurants around the country. We just thought the prices were a little high for the product.
Especially when it came to the death by chocolate cake... $19 for a slice of dry cake isn't very user friendly. Yeah, you read that right. Almost $20 for a SLICE of cake. There is a reason they don't show you a dessert menu and just wheel out all of the options for you to look at, lesson learned!
After dinner, check out the casino. Be ready to smell like an ashtray when you go. The smoking is AWFUL. The ironic part is you have to walk quite a bit through the smoking part of the casino (the majority of the space) to get to the non-smoking section.
No matter what, it's a fun way to end the night, even if you're not a big gambler. Just sit back and people watch. Or, the indoor pool is a good place to check out if you have kids (or are big kids) as it's open till midnight!
On your way out of town, try out the French Lick Winery. You get free wine samples and they have one of the best chicken calzones we've ever had. You'll really enjoy the winery if you're in to sweet wines. This definitely isn't Napa, but it's hard to compare with wine country.
French Lick has incredible kids activity camps that cost very little money. What a great way to get a couple hours to yourselves if you have kids, right?
Even though we made the trip in the winter, we recommend visiting French Lick in the spring when the flowers are in bloom. French Lick offers an incredible Easter brunch and afternoon tea.
Whatever you do, do not spend $19 on the chocolate cake dessert at 1875... because it definitely isn't worth that.
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