Seventeen states in thirteen days

   The Parkette is located on New Circle Road on Lexington's east side, and is known for their "Poor Boy" double-decker hamburger, as well as their "famous" fried chicken boxes. The drive-in was sold to new owners in 2003, and they shut it down a few years back for a complete restoration.




I ordered the one half mixed chicken box, which was a leg, a thigh and a breast, along with fries, gravy, cole slaw and a roll. It wasn't a great meal, but I don't think anyone goes to a drive-in expecting superlative food. Everything that I had was pretty good, and this place certainly deserves Roadfood status.

   I love this gorgeous old sign. According to the Parkette's website, it was erected in 1957; it's a real classic.

                                                       www.theparkette.com

   After lunch, I headed north on US 27 towards my favorite city, Cincinnati OH. Near the town of Falmouth KY, I stumbled upon something that simply blew me away; an incredible full-scale replica of a small town from the first half of the twentieth century, complete with more of the old metal advertising signs that I love than I've ever seen in one place before. According to the lettering on the old time water tank, the "town" is called Punkyville.

   From a Google search, I learned that Punkyville is the creation of a local man named Punky Beckett. As the owner of several old signs myself, I can certainly appreciate his passion for his hobby. Since I didn't see any "no trespassing" or "private property" signs, I parked and took a short stroll to take some photographs.

   From Punkyville, it was north on Hwy. 27 to the Ohio River and beautiful downtown Cincinnati...

   It was still early in the afternoon when I arrived in Cincy, and surprisingly ( or not ) I was still hungry. I decided that, once again, a lunch #2 was called for, so I stopped at the Skyline chili parlor in Harrison OH for a small five-way and a glass of sweet tea. As always, good stuff.

   While I was at Skyline, I called and made a 6 PM reservation at Hollyhock Hill in Indianapolis, the last of the city's family-style chicken dinner restaurants. I'd been meaning to eat there for years, but had kept putting it off. The same goes for Dodd's Town House and now it's too late for that experience ( R.I.P. ), so I was determined to not to let that happen with Hollyhock Hill.

   I headed northwest out of the Cincinnati area into Indiana ( state number seventeen, at last! ) and drove US 52 into Indianapolis. It was about 5 PM when I arrived there, and since I had about an hour to kill, I took a ride around the city, through both downtown and some neighborhoods that I hadn't visited before. Here's the new Indianapolis Artsgarden in downtown Indy...

   I arrived at Hollyhock Hill right on time for my 6 PM reservation. The restaurant is located in a very attractive neighborhood on Indy's far north side.





This great floor mat is on the porch in front of the entrance...

   As you can see from the decor, this place is certainly no side-of-the-road hash house.

   Sorry about the blurriness of this photo. This was the final meal of the trip, and by this point I was getting so zonked that my picture-taking skill was going downhill fast.

   I apologize again for two more blurry pics. My meal started off with relishes and a fine cup of soup, but I honestly can't remember just what kind it was ( tomato-rice maybe? )




Here's my entree: great Hoosier-fried chicken, real mashed potatoes, corn and chicken gravy.




For dessert I chose vanilla ice cream, accompanied by three different flavors of toppings for making your own sundae. Since I'm a lifelong chocoholic, you can probably guess what my choice was.




Here is, believe it or not, the final photo of this trip report; an interior shot of Hollyhock Hill.




This was a very enjoyable roadfood meal, and an appropriate conclusion to thirteen days and almost 4,700 miles of stuffing my face.

That was an enjoyable experience, Bob.  Thanks!  I can't wait for the next trip.

Very enjoyable report, Bob. The title should have been "Eighteen states in thirteen days," to account for the State of Exhaustion you surely felt after the trip was over!

Bravo Bob.

Many thanks, folks. I can't believe that this trip report is finally finished. I've been working on this thing for almost two months and sometimes it seemed like it was never going to end. quijote, your "eighteen states" comment is pretty accurate. I got home about three hours after leaving Indy, and by then I felt like one of the title characters from Night of the Living Dead. I'm still kinda zonked from this month's NC roadtrip, so it'll be at least a few weeks before that report debuts. The odds of my making another extra-long roadtrip like this one are pretty remote, but then again you never know; I've got an intense desire for a green chile cheeseburger from Bobcat Bite that'll have to be addressed one of these days. 

 Really liked this a lot, including the fact that it took a while to get through. The meal at the end looked really wonderful. The photo of the chicken, potatoes, corn and gravy was blurry but real good looking at the same time. 

I know it can be a hassle to get the trip report up, but i know that I'm not alone in feeling very fortunate that you and Buffetbuster, wandering jew and the travelling man post them pretty consistently. Makes for a real good read after a hard day. 

Thanks

Punkyville looks like such a cool place! I can't imagine creating a full-scale town. That is great!

I enjoyed reading this report. Many thanks.

Thanks for taking us along with you, I felt like I was right there all along. Love that you included non-food pictures and experiences also! Fantastic report

Your experience at Stamey's and Skylight are almost identical to EVERY experience I have had with NC BBQ. I just don't like it and consider BBQ slaw to be one of the worst dishes on earth. I guess I am a Memphis BBQ snob and even though I keep trying, I can't find NC BBQ anywhere that has any wood smoke to it, or not enough for my taste.

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Your experience at Stamey's and Skylight are almost identical to EVERY experience I have had with NC BBQ. I just don't like it and consider BBQ slaw to be one of the worst dishes on earth. I guess I am a Memphis BBQ snob and even though I keep trying, I can't find NC BBQ anywhere that has any wood smoke to it, or not enough for my taste.

Don't get me wrong, I love North Carolina BBQ, both Lexington and Eastern style. It's just that what I had at Stamey's was somewhat disappointing, and the stuff at Skylight Inn even more so ( especially that inedible slab of fiberboard that they call cornbread. ) I guess that I've gotten spoiled by all the wonderful meals that I've had at Lexington #1 and the late, great Wallace Bros. BBQ in Lambsburg VA. That place was right across the state line from Mount Airy, and had the best hushpuppies that I've ever put in my mouth ( R.I.P., old friend. )

Lots of fun following your journey. Thanks for sharing.

I'm sorry to see this end, reading this trip report has brought me much enjoyment. Very nice job!

I sure enjoyed travelling along with you. Thanks for the ride!!

Thanks to all for the positive feedback. Not sure yet, but I may get started on my latest North Carolina trip report sooner than I planned, due to a pair of back to back roadtrips that I've scheduled for the last half of June ( western Kentucky and Pittsburgh. ) Since those journeys will mean an additional pair of trip reports ( ouch! ), the sooner that I start on the NC report, the better.

I'm sorry to see this travelogue end, but can't wait for the next to begin.
Thank you for sharing.

Had a great time reading this, Bob.  Thanks for sharing, I feel like I was along for the ride.  :D

Carolina Bob, I salute you!  This must be the mother of all Trip Reports and your many photos are worth a thousand words.  My report just includes.....a thousand words.  Great job, really enjoyed it, Todd C

Great report Bob ! I hope to one day be able to do the same :)

Being a lover of the coast I frequent NMB quite a bit. Coming in on Hwy 9 from Loris, the welcome sign does signfy NMB as being the home to Ms. White. And if I'm not mistaken, so does the NMB High School sign.

Happy trails my friend