The Luck of the Draw

This weekend Kelly and I attended a tea dance at the West Baden Springs Resort in West Baden, IN. I've visited the resort before and marveled at its dome and turn of the century décor. In fact I got a chance to visit once before the place was officially opened to the public. The IHLF (Indiana Historical Landmarks Foundation) held a few tours of the property to raise capital for restoration before a buyer could be found. The only thing I got to do was walk the gardens and stand beneath the still-under-reconstruction dome. It was an amazing experience and it's only gotten better.

Today West Baden Springs is an operating hotel and it's been restored to a close proximity of its old glory. The Tea Dance was held in the atrium, that is to say under that 200 foot span of dome I mentioned earlier, to the tune of a big band out of Louisville. The acoustics – well, to be generous they were horrible. Though the hotel hosted dances under its dome it never was designed for the dancers' listening pleasure. The sound echoes and bounces and gets lost in space making it difficult if not impossible to keep track of the beat. Add to that you're dancing on a marble terrazzo floor – murder on the feet.

Still there's something about dancing under a dome that was built in 1907 that makes the poor acoustics and sore feet worth enduring.

We talked to a few people at the dance, most notably a lovely lady from Louisville who was kind enough to compliment our swing. When we mentioned being from Indianapolis she asked about the Indiana Roof Ballroom and we happily told her it was one of our favorite places to dance. She nodded and looked a little wistful, then told us that Louisville doesn't have any of its old ballrooms still in operation.

Sometimes in the hustle and push of day to day life I forget how lucky we really are to be dancing in Indy. It's easy, deadlines bear down and life can take some bad turns. After this weekend I've got one more thing to remember when those bad times come around. We've still got The Roof, Madam Walker, Fountain Square Theatre, and the West Baden Springs Resort. They're three grand old ladies of the past, still doing what they've done for almost a century and doing it with style. There are places where the marquees don't flash any more, where the quirky hardwood floors have been torn up, where the beaux art facades all met the wrecking ball, and where the sound of a mediocre dance band doesn't shake ghosts of Tommy Dorsey and Cab Calloway loose from the rafters. We're lucky not to live in one of those places.

I'll try to remember that the next time I catch my toe on a floorboard that doesn't quite lie flat or when I have to deal with parking that's more of a suggestion than an actuality. When I do, I'll smile and think. "Lady, you got style." And I'll hope the next tune is a lively one because the old girl always did like 'em that way.