The old-school Pluto Water experience, when guests used sticks attached to glasses to dip the water directly from the springs. That smell. What *is* that smell? You might have asked that question the first time you visited French Lick Resort. That unmistakable scent comes and goes, but you’re most likely to notice it at certain places (like the gardens, parking garage and pool areas at French Lick Springs Hotel), or on certain days (the warm and humid ones especially.) If you knew the right person to ask “what is that smell?”, they told you it was Pluto Water. That sulphur-tinged mineral water has been flowing through this area for hundreds of years. And hey, at least you only have to get a noseful of it every now and then. You’re not even getting the immersive Pluto Water treatment like guests did in the early 1900s when they visited French Lick to bathe in and drink the stuff. It had oodles of healing powers, was the word. Taking a bath in it could soothe anxiety. Drinking it

Tackling the Capone Legend: Did He Really Hide Out at French Lick/West Baden?

Al Capone gambled at the casinos in French Lick and West Baden, and used underground tunnels to move around undetected. Al Capone was part of a shootout at West Baden Springs Hotel that left bullet holes in the side of the building. Al Capone had a “French Lick girlfriend” whom he’d always see when he was here. Al Capone got married in a barn a few miles outside French Lick, and he also owned a whiskey still out there for bootlegging. Folks from this area grew up hearing the stories from their parents and grandparents. Maybe you’ve even heard the tales during your visit to one of our hotels. There’s so many anecdotes about Al Capone using this area as a hideout spot that it has to be true. Or is it? Nobody has 100 percent, smoking-gun proof to solve the Capone riddle either way. But that just feeds even more into the juicy intrigue of this history mystery. So we’re dedicating a series of blogs in the next few weeks to try and shed some light on the debate: D

Take the Self-Guided Larry Bird Tour through French Lick

Larry Bird helped set up portable goals during the basketball camp he hosted at West Baden Springs Hotel in the early '80s. ( More here in our blog.) It’s March in Indiana. So it feels like a dutiful obligation to our Hoosier roots to highlight some basketball-related content right about now. Since Larry Bird is as synonymous with French Lick as our hotels are, here’s 5 quick and easy ways that you can get the Larry Legend experience during your stay here. Read on, basketball fans: this one’s right up your alley. See Larry’s childhood home The garage and backboard of Larry Bird's childhood home, prior to current renovations. Just pull up Google Maps , and it can point the way. The home and garage have undergone some updates in recent years, so the original basketball hoop is no longer. But the new owners did put up an old wooden backboard in its place to preserve a sense of hoops history. You can picture Bird raining jumpers for hours on end here in the driveway.

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