The Ottenfest calls for everyone in the family — toddlers to
great-grandparents — to sport matching T-shirts. So you know the Otten family
is serious about its reunions.
The Ottenfest brings together the entire family that’s
scattered everywhere — Tennessee to Florida to Missouri to Virginia. So you
know they’re all in.
The Ottenfest has traveled all over for its annual
get-together. They’ve been to Florida. And on a cruise once. So you know
they’ve got the bar set high.
So for a little something different, the Ottenfest party
made a stop at French Lick Resort earlier this summer. Most of them had never
been here before, but the choice for this year’s destination passed the acid
test of any family vacation: No complaints from anyone, even in a huge group of
nearly 50 Ottens.
“Honestly, I don’t think anyone in our family said anything
bad about anything. Which rarely happens, I have to be honest with you,” said
Mark Otten, one of six siblings who usually head up the reunion planning for
their kids, grandkids and 81-year-old mother. “We’ve been a lot of places; we’ve
traveled a lot. And it blew my mind that here in the middle of Indiana was this
resort. Breathtaking.”
In case you hadn’t guessed judging by the reaction, Mark had
never been here before. It was his brother Joe’s year to pick out the
destination, so he researched a location that was centralized spot for
everyone.
French Lick was the winner. With a little something to keep
four generations of Ottens entertained.
Some of the brothers played The Pete Dye Course. Part of the
crew went skeet shooting. A few of the younger ones spent a day with the
giraffes at Wilstem. And riding taking rides on the rail trolley throughout the
resort.
For something for the entire family to do together, they
gave the veggie car races a spin.
It’s usually a group activity suited for a smaller sized
crowd — so the Ottens probably set a record for all the potatoes and carrots
and cucumbers and radishes used up in their little intra-family battle to build
a car that will roll the farthest.
You’d think it’s an activity that the younger kids would be most into. In reality…
You’d think it’s an activity that the younger kids would be most into. In reality…
“Heck no. The adults, we were the worst,” Mark said,
laughing. “One of my nephews is an engineer, and he actually had one of the
folders up, he wasn’t letting anybody look at his concoction. We’re all mechanical
people, so we all got into it. That’s how we are. We’re competitive. But it was
just a lot of fun.”
The veggie races got a little heated, but outside of that,
“nothing crazy. Which is actually a good thing. Because for all of us, our
lives are super hectic. So it was kind of nice. Like the front porch thing.”
Sitting out on the veranda, ice cream in hand, rocking in
the rocking chairs. A simple pleasure of French Lick. Especially when you’re
surrounded by family.
If Mark’s being honest, he was a little skeptical about a
reunion at some small town in Indiana he’d never heard of with a funny-sounding
name. But after the first trip to French Lick, Ottenfest Part 2 could be in the
works.
“After we got home, we were telling them some friends about
it: You will not believe this place. I
can’t say enough about it. I was so shocked by all of it, the whole thing. It
was super fun.”
And while they’re a good-time bunch who’d have fun wherever
their reunion is, “the location does make a difference. Honestly, it does,”
Mark added. “Sometimes places are not as accommodating to such a large group.
They almost make it hard for us to do it, and we’re not inclined to go back. I
could definitely see French Lick being a spot we go back to. We all agreed that
this was a really good time. And the time of year was perfect — we had a
perfect weekend.”