This weekend, I took a quick little road trip over to Crawfordsville and Williamsport, Indiana to do some skatepark-documenting for the guys at Concrete Disciples. Armed with the recent know-how regarding the "video" feature on my camera and a brand-new YouTube account, I'm finding that these skatepark-documenting runs are becoming easier and easier all the time. And "more enjoyable", as well.
Truth be told, I probably get more out of this gig than the heads at The Disciples do. It's a great motivator for me to keep on getting out there, keep on checking things out, and keep on skating. I'm guessing that I'm probably one of a very tiny handful of people that can claim- and, to a large extent, prove- that I've skated literally every single skatepark in Indiana (and Kentucky), as well as most of the skateparks around the midwest.
One thing that is very important to me in my travels, is not only checking out the "major" skate scenes around the heartland... but also, the "minor" scenes as well. Which pretty well describes both Crawfordsville, and Williamsport... although, for very different reasons.
Rotten Robbies Cycle in Crawfordsville... my first stop of the day. It's a nice little skateshop/bike shop... although it would've been really nice if I could have gotten a few photos of the inside for you guys. The kid that was working the shop seemed a little "discombobulated" [at best], and told me that I could hang out until 7:00 PM, and talk to the owners if I wanted to. Well, this was at 2:00 in the afternoon, and I had places to go and shit to do. So, there was no way in hell that I was gonna chill in Crawfordsville for five hours waiting on permission to take one silly photo. With that, I asked the kid if he knew where the skatepark was [he didn't], so I packed up and shipped on out.
Crawfordsville's skatepark, an overview. It was fairly crowded, considering that it only takes a few kids in this little park to make "a crowd".
Crawfordsville's skatepark video overview. It's still very "brand-new", and you can see the mud being tracked around everywhere. Also note the razor scooter kid, and me waving "hello" to you guys in my shadow. We love our readers...!
"Crawfordsville's brand-new, concrete skatepark came as quite a surprise to us here in Indianapolis; Crawfordsville is less than a half-hour away from the city. Medium-sized, well-built, but overrun with BMXers, this park is tight, but flows well. The shallow horseshoe quarterpipe at the end of the park is a nice design element (that rarely gets used), and the half-bowl looks great. This park also features some novel "street" elements and unusual quarterpipe features. It's well worth the drive from Indy, and it looks like it might be a great road-trip stop for roving skateboard nomads as well. -Bud Stratford, The Solitary Life..."
- My report to Jeff at Concrete Disciples
Sometimes, I get a little bit "random arty" while I'm traveling from town to town. This rusted-out Chevy flatbed made for a good let's-get-creative photo-op as I was leaving Crawfordsville.
After Crawfordsville, I made my way to Williamsport via Attica. Williamsport is way out in the boonies, a pretty typical midwestern farm-town. I was actually kinda surprised that there was a skatepark out there at all... but, lo and behold, there was even some [sketchy] photo-evidence of it at The Disciples. So, I was mostly heading out there for a nice afternoon drive, and to wrangle up some more thorough photo-documentation.
US 41, en route to Attica, Indiana. Just a vast, endless cornfield for as far as the eye can see.
Gassing up in Attica... at $2.87 a gallon. I shoulda gotten gas in Crawfordsville, like I was going to. Ah, well.
On the other hand: The cashier was kinda cute though. You win some, you lose some.
A video overview of Williamsport's small Sunramp skatepark.
Williamsport's skatepark is actually located on the Warren County Fairgrounds, which I found to be kinda humorous (4-H is huge around here), but also kind of endearing at the same time. As far as parks go, this one wasn't among the best by any stretch of the imagination... but still, it's something in a place where, by right, there probably shouldn't be anything. Also: The park was actually pretty clean and tidy, which is always a treat. But I'm not so sure if that can be credited to "responsible skaters", as easily as it could be credited to "nonexistent skaters". So, I decided to go into town to see if I could find some skaters to ask about all of this.
"This little skatepark has been in Williamsport since approx. 2007, when a small group of 7 skaters banded together and petitioned the town for something to skate. It consists of two railslide bars (one square, one round, both about 1' tall and 6' long), and a very narrow prefab halfpipe that's around 6' tall, and 8' wide, with about 6' of flat. Williamsport is way out in farm country (off I-74 west, heading toward Danville), and it's a tiny crossroads town, so I'm really quite amazed that there's anything here to skate at all. -Bud Stratford, The Solitary Life"
- My report to Jeff at Concrete Disciples, on Williamsport
More "artyness". Cannon outside the Williamsport couthouse, with historical placard in the background.
And, the town clock. Every midwestern farm town has one of these... but this one might be one of the coolest ones that I've encountered thus far.
Williamsport's "claim to fame": The highest free-falling waterfall in the state, at 90 feet tall. This photo came from Wikipedia, by the way.
Problem was, there were no skaters anywhere to be found. Actually, there wasn't much of anything to be found. Most of the storefronts on the main drag were either temporarily, or permanently, closed. The only "open" store that I found was what looked like some sort of junk dealer on the corner across from the courthouse.
"The Blue Elephant" in Williamsport. Their tagline?! "We Sell Junk!" No, seriously! It's even on their business card and everything...!
In the shop was this really nice, older lady named Denise that was the proprietor of the place. As I looked around at all the stuff lining the floors, ceilings, and walls while she gave me the history of the skatepark, I ran headlong into one of the most out-of-place things that I could ever imagine: An old Black Snow "Halfpipe 125"! I was stunned: I just could not frickin' believe it. Y'know what's even more shocking?! The asking price was a measly $2.00. Yup, you read that right: Two Measly Bucks, dude...!
The Black Snow Halfpipe 125, sitting on the floor of The Blue Elephant in Williamsport, Indiana. As I'm typing this, it's standing right beside my computer desk, waiting for some snow to fall so I can take the neighbor kids out, and let them have a go (or two) on a piece of true 1980's snowboarding history.
I was so excited to find this little chunk of plastic snowboarding history, that I actually forgot for a second that I wasn't carrying a lick of cash on me. You see, kids... for a lot of today's pro snowboarders, this was their first-ever, crappy-ass snowboard. So, it truly is "historical", even if it is a less-than-functional, totally plasticized knock-off of a "real" snowboard. Denise was so touched/impressed by my enthusiasm, that she actually decided to "play Santa", and just give me the snowboard. I couldn't believe it! Free...?! I totally offered to send her a few bucks when I got home (I felt bad), but she wouldn't hear of it. "That'll take all the fun out of giving the present!", she squealed. So, I decided to simply do my best to give this little Black Snow a happy home where it'll be forever appreciated, and leave it at that.
On the way home, I decided to do one last bit of "touristy sightseeing" for the day. On my way to Williamsport on I-74, I'd seen a few signs for some sort of "armor museum". So, when it popped up again on my way eastbound, I bounced off the exit... and immediately got lost. For like, a half an hour. This place was proving to be kinda difficult to find. And by the time I found it, it had long been closed for the weekend. Dammit...!
Well, me being me, I decided to go right on ahead and barge in anyway. That's sort of how I roll, reading public. I think I get away with it because I'm generally friendly, respectful, and sort of innocent looking. Okay: I'm a gigantic dork. You caught me.
The Ropkey Armor Museum, somewhere off the beaten path between Crawfordsville and Williamsport, Indiana.
A Russian Antonov An-2 cargo biplane. The Ropkey Museum grounds had a ton of Russian military stuff sitting around, just hanging out in this amber field. It kinda weirded me out, actually.
That's a serious-sized naval gun that I'm checking out right there, while my trusty Toyota Econobubble patiently waits way off in the background to take me home.
