It is 140 miles from Evansville to Louisville on interstate 64. I have made this trip probably 100's of times (I used to live in Louisville). Always before...I would jump on the interstate and head for a destination. This time...I stayed off the interstate and found a whole new world. I traveled on roads named Gethsemane Church road, I passed through forgotten towns named Possum Junction, I followed the signs to the St. Meinrad Archabbey.

Built in the 1800's, the Benedictine Monks have found solitude, solace and peace here for over 150 years. The grounds are pristine...the brothers feel that their hard work is a form of worship just as their daily prayers and seeking of God. Once joined into the brotherhood, they live the rest of their life in contemplation and service as well as die on these grounds and buried here as well. This could be in Europe or high on a mountainside in the far east but this Monastery has found it's home in the hills of Southern Indiana...off the interstate...to be found by us who live life a bit slower and explore off the concrete ribbon of interstate 64.

When you have the time...don't forget that life exists just off the interstates...a new world waiting for us to explore.