Between Vincennes and Bedford, US-50 winds its way through the hilly groves of the Hoosier National Forest, but a worthwhile detour heads south through the hometowns of two of Indiana’s best-known sons. The first of these, on Hwy-56 just south of US-150, is French Lick (pop. 1,941), where Boston Celtics star (and Indiana Pacers head coach) Larry Bird, “The Hick from French Lick,” learned his game. The town itself is little more than a two-block-long business district, but around the turn of the 20th century, the surrounding area was a popular vacation resort, as thousands of Midwesterners (including Al Capone and other Chicago mobsters) came here to stay at the monumental, 500-room French Lick Springs Resort ($99 and up; 812/936-9300) and take the mineral-rich waters that still flow from local artesian springs. The even larger West Baden Springs Hotel closed decades ago but is open for fascinating guided tours ($10; 812/936-4034).
The other famous hometown, Mitchell, is about six miles south of Bedford and was the boyhood home of astronaut Virgil “Gus” Grissom, who captained Mercury and Gemini space flights before dying in the Apollo 1 disaster. There’s an impressive memorial—a 30-foot-high limestone statue of a Titan rocket—to Grissom south of Main Street on 6th Street, next to the police station.
