Travelers impressed with Dubois County and regional tourism offerings

Of course, they ordered the sample platters at The Schnitzelbank and then passed around the famous restaurants deserts.

Of course, they took photos of the food and Sandra Chastain as she led them in traditional German songs.

It was all part of giving the group of six travel journalists (and two children) a taste of Dubois County as part of a tour with the Dubois County Visitor’s Center.

The six were brought to the area by Jessica Lindauer and Whitney Hall, employees at the Visitors Center, who met the journalists while attending the 2015 Travel Media Showcase in Bloomington last week.

Erin and Josh Bender, who left Australia in 2011 to begin traveling the world, were enticed to the area to take their two children, 6-year-old Mia and 5-year-old Chaius, to Holiday World where they planned on trying out Thunderbird.

Erin and Josh operate www.travelwithbender.com, a site that covers the family’s travels and provides tips and product reviews. Erin has a marketing background and Josh is a professional photographer and web designer. Between the two, they run and market their website while Josh operates his web design business. The two have been featured on the Today Show as well as other national magazines and websites.

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Howard Blount, who’s from Plant City, Fla., operates www.backroadplanet.com and was freelancing for fairytaletraveler.com. Although it wasn’t on the original itinerary, Blount became enthused about visiting the Geode Grotto near Cathedral Health Care after someone mentioned it at the lunch table. He explained he was interested in off-the-beaten-path destinations and the grotto might fit the bill.

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Patti Morrow of Greer, S.C. is has been a travel writer for about five years and has been published in several national magazines. She was interested in some adventures geared towards a female audience. In her travel writing, she has been concentrating on covering domestic vacation areas rather than exotic locales in efforts to highlight the great places in the United States.

The group had already visited St. Joseph’s Catholic Church and the Dubois County Museum before making it to the restaurant. Their plans included stops at League Stadium and the Monastery of Immaculate Conception in Ferdinand before heading to Spencer County Saturday and Sunday.

The other journalists included Patricia Hall of Centreville, Va., was writing for fairfaxfamilyfun.com and David Hoekman of Holland, Mich., with grouptour.com.