CajunKing's Wild Adventure IN-KY-TN-AL-FL & Return

2-11-2008

Well ol man winter again is making the start of my trip south an exciting time. That and the fact that I decided to make a quick trip to Northern Indiana today, before we head off in the morning.

Right now they are calling for 2-6 inches of white death before morning.

I started my day this morning wondering if I was totally nuts for attempting this quick trip (5 hours one way NORTH) the day before I
drive 13 hours SOUTH.

I discovered that Rushville, IN is a bed of RF just waiting to be discovered.

There is a new Amish Country Cooking AYCE Buffet Dutch Mill place on SR 3, not open today

Mr Freshie's Donuts - Downtown Rushville - The donuts this morning at 10am were warm and fresh, I greedily ate 4 yeast and 2 long johns.
(sorry no pix I was hungry and woofed them down before remembering I had the camera)

So filled up on fresh donuts I rolled Northward, my destination this day was, eat lunch at Nick's Kitchen in Huntington, IN then head NORTH and make The Dime Store in Wakarusa, IN around 2pm, and then head 5 hours back home, before the white death fell from the sky.



I got to Nicks Kitchen a little after noon, there were several customers sitting in various areas. I chose a table smack dab in the middle so I could see everything.

The chicken and Dumplings sounded really good considering it was 8 degrees outside. However I have not had a BPT sandwich from there in several years. I noticed the board on the wall with the pie choices of the day and I noticed 2 of my fav's SOOOOOO

So my order was:

BPT with Mac & Cheese Bites
Diet Pepsi
(and taking after my RF friend Buffetbuster)
1 piece of Sugar Cream Pie (The typical Indiana pie) and
1 piece of Butterscotch Pie


What a beautiful sight, Breaded Pork Tenderloin with Macaroni and Cheese Bites

I can palm a basketball but HOLY COW that thing is HUGE


I finally managed to eat my BPT (TOO many donuts, not enough time in between), and still have room for dessert.


Sugar Cream Pie - Still Warm

and to compare pies


Butterscotch Pie - REAL, no box mix, a few small lumps which made it perfect, just like my mom used to make.

As I was headed out the door I couldn't refuse this picture


Janicks - I had a wonderful meal, I remember coming to Nick's Kitchen when I was a little kid, my grandfather helped build a lot of buildings for Huntington College, I spent many a summer in Huntington when I was 8-12 yrs old. We ate lunch there many a day. Thank You!!!

I headed north, I went by the cemetary where my grandfather ws laid to rest, and then drove by their old home......
(Not a good thing to do, I cried for the next 20 minutes, the house that was once his castle, was now PURPLE and run down)

I got to Wakarusa, Indiana about 2:45pm, a little later than I wanted to, because Wakarusa is in Amish/Mennonite/Brethren territory


but still not too bad since I did make a detour and got behind a few SMVs. (slow moving vehicles)


I had heard about a mythical creation called a JUMBO jelly bean, a friend who lives in Wakarusa, had told me about them. He said they were HUGE, and delicious, and I must try them.

The Dime Store
103 E. Waterford St.
Wakarusa IN, 46573
http://www.jumbojellybeans.com/



Through these doors, is a child's delight, heck even an adult's delights.

Not only JUMBO Jelly Beans, but LOTS of Old Fashioned candys too.





But that was not the reason I travelled nearly 5 hours one way, The Dime Store is home to the JUMBO Jelly Bean




I picked out 3 bags of JUMBOs



1 Assorted Flavors
1 Orange
1 "John Deere" Mix (Green and Yellow)

They also had 2 other mixes that were neat, you can tell Wakarusa, IN is a farming community.

John Deere = Green and Yellow Jumbo Jelly Beans
International Harvester = Red, White and Black Jumbo Jelly Beans
Peas & Carrots = Sour Green Apple Jelly Bean Balls and Orange Jumbo Jelly Beans (It looked exactly like a bag of peas and carrots)

They also had Boylans Diet Root Beer

I had asked the nice gentleman behind the counter if it was ok to take pictures, and told him why I was taking them.

When I checked out he gave me one of my bags of JUMBOs on the house.

THANK YOU

I munched on the orange ones on my trip back home, they had a wonderful orange flavor. Too many times orange is either overwhelming or generic tasting, these Orange JUMBO Jelly Beans were neither. The sweetness and the orange was in perfect balance.

I am saving the John Deere and the Assorted Flavors bag for the trip south and to share with my RF friends Thursday and Sunday.

Wait until you see the SIZE of these things, imagine a jelly bean longer than the end joint of your thumb and thicker than your thumb!



I had intended to stop at Schoop's Hamburgers in Warsaw, IN, but time was not on my side the weather had started to turn, and the snow was beginning to fly, and with 4 hours until I got home, this is the was as close as I got



Schoop's Hamburgers is a Chicago Area regional chain, with AWESOME fresh made burgers. I was disappointed not to be eating there.

http://www.schoophamburgers.com

By the time I reached Fort Wayne the snow was starting to make things slick



The stopped in Markle, IN for a bathroom break and there was about 1/2 inch on the ground and it was starting to build up quickly.

I got to Muncie, IN and SR 3 was closed so they sent us down business 3, through the heart of Muncie.

I had forgotten about this (and YES I KNOW McDonald's is not RF) Muncie has one of the OLD McDonald's Sign


I had passed an OLD Arby's sign (the REALLY BIG hat, outlined in neon) back in Warsaw, it made me nostalgic for the older signage.

I made it back home without further incident, there was about a 1/2 inch on the ground here at home, I just checked the weather and Louisville had 2 inches all ready

Looks like tuesday will be an interesting morning for travel.

I am excited about heading out in the morning, and getting to Mexico Beach, and the 70 degree weather there.

More to come....

Oh my oh my oh my... that BPT looks FANTASTIC! Davydd is drooling, right?! (He's reported on Nick's too, yes??)

Great stuff, will look for more. Hope you missed most of the white stuff. It'll hit us tomorrow night (or make that tonight now it's past midnite...) Have fun!!!

Cajunking; Dearfolk,
Dadgum... your reports just get better and better. You're making me want to drive up to Huntington just to have a tenderloin, visit the grave of C. W. H. Bangs, and turn around and drive back.
As for Bangs, he was mayor of Huntington for one term circa 1932. The headline in "Editor And Publisher" says it all: "EDITOR JAILED/PLANT'S POWER IS SHUT OFF/BUT HOOSIER NEWSPAPER CARRIES ON." He and the Indiana Power Company did not (ahem) get along.
Gee, I love head-to-head newspaper competition stories almost as much as I love Roadfood!
Not Heralding The Huntington Herald-Press, Ort. Carlton in We've-Only-Got-The-Banner-Herald/News (Ho-Hum) Athens, Georgia.

CK.. You fool... You went North when ya should have been going south.. lol..

And what the heck, you didn't get your pic taken with Janicks? She'll probably track you down for that one. Great review of Nicks there! (Can never get enough reviews of Nick's Kitchen here)..

Be carefull on the the roads though. I'm a 125 ~ 150 miles north of Nicks, and roads are totally frozen over. So darn cold the salt does nothing, then there's the winds that just blows the sand off the roads. Drive carefully, too many horror stories from around here to share.

Take that vehicle of yours, turn it south, and get us some of them warm Florida pics! (And hopefully some woven peppers or crabs hanging off that shack ya built!)..

Patiently awaiting your up and coming reports here..

Drive Carefully...

Don,
Be careful on the ride South. I like the way you add a couple of "Road" photos to your Roadfood Trip Reports! I bought my JD Mower from a guy in Warsaw, that's a good One-Day RT Ride, even with NO bad weather.

We'll be out of here at 0-dark-hundred tomorrow morning heading South Also! I-65 all the way to Montgomery, then 231 to Dothan, AL!

Great report & Pics Don. Man, that was a huge sandwich. Like Jim Dooley use to say - Come on down. Oh, do not forget to keep Florida green, bring money.

A great, great report & pics...brought lots of memories back to me.

Ditto on the tenderloin ... looks great.

Thanks for the report.

CajunKing, your trip was spectacular -- and this is just the beginning, ye gods! We are definitely going to make a trip to Nick's Kitchen and the Dime Store...I've never seen jellybeans that big. Your pics and narrative are truly inspirational, thank you! Chris

I always enjoy following you on your adventures, CK!Drive safe and looking forward to more..

Where is Nick's Kitchen? Do they have a fly-in near the place? That tenderloin sandwich looks amazing! And, those pies! Thanks for the fantastic pictures and sharing your good food fortune with us.

Great pics. Looks like the weather was not the best but the food made up for it.

CajunKing-
So the day before you drive to Florida, you drive five hours north through the snow? I cannot tell you how impressed I am by your Roadfood dedication.

You really got some terrific photos at Nick's Kitchen. And I am also quite jealous that they had both butterscotch and sugar cream pie for you. Way to take advantage of your good fortune!

Did you get to meet Jean Anne?

Please drive safely down to Florida and I can't wait to see the rest of your trip report!

Agreed, that is true dedication to the cause. Those tenderloins must be truly amazing to warrent a 5-hour drive in an Indiana snowstorm. Must make it up there someday soon!

By the way, there used to be a place in Berne, quite a bit farther south and a bit east, that had amazing pies. Anyone know if it's still there? It was also worth a lengthy trip.

I remember when that MacD's sign said over so many 10's of millions sold, not 99 billion.

quote:

Originally posted by plb

I remember when that MacD's sign said over so many 10's of millions sold, not 99 billion.

Ditto here... Guess we're starting to show our grey hairs here..

great report! I espescially love your pic of little downtown Huntington , IN..
(I love photos of small town main streets) . Looks like the movie theatre went under

And I'm glad you ended up explaining what a BPT was, cause the first definition that came to mind for me was some variation of a BLT , as in a bacon,pickle and tomato sandwich..

quote:

Originally posted by Al-The Mayor-Bowen
We'll be out of here at 0-dark-hundred tomorrow morning heading South Also! I-65 all the way to Montgomery, then 231 to Dothan, AL!

Mr. Mayor,
A report on what you find along the way -- and in Dothan -- would be vastly appreciated.
Unfortunately, the brewpub there closed recently -- for the second time. My old friend Wayne Wombles was their brewer (it wasn't his beer that did them in); now he's in North Carolina.
If you're interested, there still is a brewpub in Montgomery... and I hear it's a good one.
And see if you can turn up when The Elite Cafe closed. I'm really curious about that one.
Unhungrily, Ort. Carlton in 30601-Land.

quote:

Originally posted by ellen4641
Looks like the movie theatre went under.

Ellen,
I was wondering that, too, but somehow the place looks too small to have been a theatre. I can't help but wonder what it was....
When you get to Nick's, send back a report.
Unhuntingly, Ort. Carlton in Not Cold Athens, Georgia.

2-12-2008

I made it home as the snow really began to fall last night, I woke this morning to the sight of a TOTAL MESS outside. It had snowed about 2 inches overnight, before turning to sleet balls and adding 1/2 inch of sleet, before turing to freezing rain and adding about another 1/2 inch of ice.

The plan was to head out at 6:00am, Dennis called about 5 and said he would be late he had to help plow some places in town. So we finally got on the road at about 10:30am

The interstate (I-275) was....


Normally it takes me about 80 minutes to reach Louisville, today it took almost 3 hours. We passed 17 wrecked cars, 2 wrecked semis and this poor Fed-Ex driver's bad morning



It took 3 HUGE wreckers to upright him and get him out of the median.



Isn't the ice pretty, NOT

My roadfood plans for the day were fairly well shot to heck,

My goal was Lynn's in Louisville, and BBG in decatur.

We ended up at a cracker barrell in Bowling Green for "Brunch" and Hooters in Montgomery, AL

Not really roadfod worthy, and the pictures from hooters would get me banned from RF.
(there is somethng about young, well built females, smacking each other on the tushy that makes inedible hot wings go down)

We drove out of the grip of "White Death" in Elizabethtown, KY. We then hit rain from Bowling Green to Mexico Beach, FL.

So sadly ends day 2 of my "wild" adventure.


Ort
Thank You, I had a great day on the road even with the snow coming.

UncleVic
I missed Jean Anne, so that means I gotta go back more BPT and pie PUHLEEZE

Chris
The Dime Store is a very neat place to visit, I would have gotten more but being a diabetic my sugar was already sky high fro eating 2 pieces of pie at Nick's Kitchen.
I will post a close up of the JUMBO so you can see the sheer magnitude of these Jelly Beans.

BahBen
Fort Wayne International Airport is 25 miles away


Thanks everyone for your comments about day 1, sorry day 2 was not so RF worthy

Well, it is late (almost 1am central time) which means I have been up for 22 hours and have driven 1394 miles since Monday morning. Time for BED!!

Good Night

PS

AL
You run out of the snow just south of Etown, but be careful on your trip.

CajunKing-
It might have been a lost day Roadfood-wise, but you arrived safely through all the bad weather and that is truly all that really matters. Looking forward to seeing your reports from down south.

Cajun King, see you tomorrow night in Mexico Beach. I hope we enjoy Killer Seafood together.

Paul E. Smith
Knoxville, TN

I ate at the Schoops in Las Vegas. There is one location in an oddball shopping center(antique store, out of business stores) , south of Mandalay Bay, & south of the outlet mall on the strip.

I was the only person in there, and I thought the burger was pretty decent, but no wow factor, fresh but plain tasting. It had a homestyle taste, but nothing I need to go back there for.

quote:

Originally posted by ellen4641

(I love photos of small town main streets) . Looks like the movie theatre went under

I can't believe I actually know the answer to this! Jean Anne and I were discussing this on my recent visit to Nick's Kitchen.

She was telling me that the owners did a nationwide search to buy an old theater and ended up buying the one in Huntington because it needed so little work done. I believe they are/will be using it for plays. Jean Anne, please correct me if I have any of this wrong.

2-13-2008

Ahhh, a nice long nap to recover from the drive.

We headed out to the local cafe for breakfast, Sharon's



I walked in the door, and one of the waitress' said "Honey, youre her for the gumbo arn't cha"
I almost felt like Norm walking into cheers

I am stuck on a rut though



The waffle special for $7.00
2 Eggs any way
breakfast meat
Waffle

I added the corned beef hash and the grits.

The eggs were done perfectly, the waffle came hot off the press, the butter melted down through it and made it nice and yummy.

While sitting there a gentleman who had been sitting at the counter came over and looked at me then he said "You make that spicy gumbo doncha?" I told him yes, he smiled and told e he loves my gumbo and he will be ther to get some more Saturday.

The weather turned clody most of the afternoon with windy conditions and the surf was 2-4 ft breakers, even as cool as it was for FLA (48 degrees) there were surfers out.

The rest of the was spent with family, Dad made a roast turkey, and my granny, aunt and uncle came over for a nice BIG meal.

Tomorrow is a shopping day (rf lunch) and then KILLER for dinner, I talked with Kim and Michael they are looking forward to meeting those who come for the dinner.

SOOOO tomorrow will be a good RF day with lots of pix.

Ga Night for Now.

CajunKing, what a report. Those jumbo jelly beans are awesome. Wow! Glad you are safe in Florida. good luck in the chile cook-off.

Awesome looking breakfast...

CajunKing-
Sounds like you are becoming quite the celebrity down there. Or should I say that your gumbo is becoming a celebrity. Either way, that had to make you feel pretty good to be recognized like that!

2-14-08 HAPPY VALENTINES DAY

As promised today was a much better day for RF, a god local lunch, and meeting so many of my roadfood friends for dinner.

After a wonderful homemade breakfast of biscuits and gravy (home made by my dad ) Lawdawg and I headed out to go shopping for Gumbo ingredients and a rf lunch.

Mango Marleys - located in the heart of Mexico Beach, FL


Mango Marleys is a laid back spot to grab a great burger or some great fried seafood.



This place has a floribbean theme inside, grass huts, picnic tables, surf boards.


After a quick glance at the menu, I knew what I was having:


Crabcake sandwich with tater tots, tha crabcake was definately made with real crab, I kept biting into small bits of shell.

Lawdawg had the shrimp basket with fries


For dessert I had to have a piece of their "lime breeze" pie, lighter than key lime pie, but with the sweetness and bite of key lime.


Lunch was very good, but the ice was melting and the frozen stuff was thawing

I spent the afternoon nervous about the evening. There was 15 to attend the meal at Killer Seafood. I was wondering when people would get in, and just wanted to make sure everyone got there safely.
I had heard for Tumbleweed365, SeafarerJohn, and I knew Paul and Ros were in town, I called to check on The Travlin Man and Wandering Jew, they were almost in town, so lawdawg and I headed over to

KILLER SEAFOOD

http://www.roadfood.com/Reviews/Overview.aspx?RefID=5177

When I had arrived Tumbleweed365 and her sister and her bil were there, and our table had been readied.
As I was in the drive, I saw WanderingJew and TheTravlinMan pull up, I knew the party was about to begin.

Sundancer7 and Iwanago were the next to arrive, then my aunt and uncle, finally Seafarer John and Gail arrived and the gang was all set (my dad and his wife didn't make it they weren't feeling well)

I must admit, I was nervous about meeting some of my RF heroes, but as soon as I saw their faces I remembered something they had posted and it made me feel like I was seeing old friends.


Left to Right: Gail, Paul (Sundancer7), Steve (The Travelin Man), Dale (Wandering Jew), John and Sandy (Tumbleweed365's BIL and Sister), Kathy (Tumbleweed365), Ros (Iwanago)

When everyone arrived, we placed our order





I do believe the orders were fairly well mixed, between the catch of the day FRESH GROUPER, and the Simmerin Bowl.


Fresh Grouper


Killer Seafood - Shrimp, scallops with rice (THIS IS MY FAVORITE)

For a special treat Kim, the owner made us a Killer Key Lime Pie for us to sample.


(Thank You Kim, the pie was wonderful)

After dinner it was neat to talk to everyone

(L-R: Steve (TTM), Dale (WJ), John (SFJ))

It was neat to watch everyone, they seemed to have a real god time


(L-R: Gail (SFJ's Wife) & Paul (Sundancer7))

I wish I had taken more pictures, but I was too busy listening and talking and eating.

I want to Thank everyone who made the trek oer to MB for this meet and eat. It was truly an honor meeting you all.

I also want to THANK some very special people


Kim, Michael and Kevin the owners of Killer Seafood.
(L-R: Kim, Michael (Kevin ducked out before I could take the picture))

Tonight was a very special night, I got to put faces and voices to names from the computer screen. I got to share one of my favorite places to eat with friends and family.

Thank You all for coming tonight

Good to see that everyone had a good time! Good luck in the competition, Don. See you Sunday.