Weekend in Indy

Get well, my friend!!Have had that dreaded disease and it can really knock you for a loop...

BB, We were down visiting our son and family in La Crosse the weekend before last. No sooner than we got back we learned both our son and grandson had strep throat when the went to the doctor the following Monday. We were sweating that one out but looks now as if we are home free. When we visited our daughter's family over Christmas in northern Virginia we both came back with our granddaughter's nasty cold. That's the downside of road food travel. You increase your exposure.

So get well!

I'll just hunker down away from everyone and await your resumed report.

I just thought of another place I need to renew acquaintances with in Indianapolis. Long's Donuts. Could I hope maybe that was one of the places you may have hit in the morning before leaving?

quote:

Originally posted by buffetbuster

Lucky me has come down with strep throat. So it looks like it might be a while until I finish this trip report.....

I was wonderin' what happenned to you. Hope you're feeling better.

Looking forward to the remainder of the trip- hey at least you did the right thing and ordered the Root Beer at Mug n Bun!

Before I get back to finishing this report, I just wanted to thank annpeeples, Davydd and wanderingjew for the get well soon wishes. And also thanks to cecif, bethgrd, lleechef and Travelin Man for emailing to check up on me. All of it was very much appreciated!

I had no idea that strep throat could be so bad. At one point, I went four days without eating and although I was happy to lose 17 lbs., this was not the way I would recommend doing it.

Now, finally back to finishing the trip report......

quote:

Originally posted by buffetbuster

Before I get back to finishing this report, I just wanted to thank annpeeples, Davydd and wanderingjew for the get well soon wishes. And also thanks to cecif, bethgrd, lleechef and Travelin Man for emailing to check up on me. All of it was very much appreciated!

I had no idea that strep throat could be so bad. At one point, I went four days without eating and although I was happy to lose 17 lbs., this was not the way I would recommend doing it.

Now, finally back to finishing the trip report......

Buffetbuster,

Glad to have you back.
I was getting a bit worried.

I did a little bit of traveling myself this past weekened.
Full trip report tonight!
Interesting theme for this past weekend's trip- The Good, The Bad and The Ugly!

WJ-
Thanks for the concern and I am looking forward to your trip report. I know you most likely had a meal with cecif, so I sure that falls under the good category! Too bad I cancelled my trip to Maine this past weekend or we could have met somewhere.

Saturday March 15 cont.

After leaving the Mug 'n Bun very full, it was time to do some sightseeing. So, I took the short drive down I-65 to the lovely small city of Columbus, Indiana. For those who don't know, Columbus is famous for their architecture. After all, how many cities of 40,000 have a public library designed by I. M. Pei?

I'm not going to go into too much detail since probably very few people care, but after getting a map from the visitor's center, I spent the next three hours driving around looking at some of the really cool buildings. Here are some of the churches:





I did see an ice cream shop called Dog Gone Good Ice Cream, but the entire business was now Dog Gone..... they had closed down. Oh well!

My next stop was to visit the Gnaw Bone Sorghum Mill in Nashville. I'm guessing it was not designed by I.M. Pei.

What an interesting little place this was! They sell just about a little bit of everything. I bought several jars of apple butter and a jar of pear butter.

Truthfully, I haven't had the chance to try either of these out, yet. Maybe tonight. I had also hoped to buy a loaf of their apple bread, but they were sold out. So, instead I went for a loaf of the wonderful smelling cinnamon bread. I actually took this into work with me. But since I started missing multiple days while being sick, the girls at work rightfully went ahead and ate it. So I didn't get any and there is no photo. But, I heard it was delicious!

http://www.roadfood.com/Reviews/Writeup.aspx?ReviewID=1330&RefID=1330

Time to head back to Indy for dinner!

Much more to come.....

The reason Columbus, IN has so many famous architect designed buildings is because Cummins Engine Co. in Columbus paid for the architectural fees and chose to pick architects from around the country and the world with well known design reputations. It was their way to give back to the community and at the same time make their community attractive to potential employees.

Other notable things about Columbus, IN. It is Tony Stewart's, NASCAR driver, hometown. It is also the hometown of the only girl I dated in college just one time that was not impressed with me.

Saturday March 15 cont.

Being a little tired, I went ahead and checked into my hotel room near the airport and relaxed for a few hours. Finally, ready for dinner, I headed north and then west to the small town of Pittsboro and Frank & Mary's.

This place is unusual in that it is both a tavern and yet is a place for families, too. While I was eating, I noticed two seperate large family birthday celebrations going on.

Frank & Mary's has a large menu, but they are best known for their catfish dinners.

Catfish is actually one of my least favorite Roadfood specialties, but this was actually quite good. Not seen is my side of green beans. For dessert, I followed my meal in true Hoosier style, with two scoops of peppermint ice cream.


On the way out, I was thanked by three different people for coming to the restaurant. Such nice people here!


http://www.frankandmarys.com/

I headed back to the hotel to watch my Pitt Panthers in the Big East championship game. Since I needed something to snack on while watching the game, I got a pork tenderloin to go from Frank & Mary's.


After eating that, I pulled out something else I bought at the Gnaw Bone Sorghum Mill, a piece of persimmon pudding.

This is the first time I ever remember trying persimmon. A bit of an unusual taste, but I enjoyed it.

After the game, I went to sleep, knowing I was going to be eating at one of my very favorite restaurants the next morning!

More to come.....

Pittsboro is the hometown of Jeff Gordon, another NASCAR race driver. BB, now I am going to expect a report from South Bend, IN, Ryan Newman's hometown.

Frank & Mary's looks like my kind of place. I love that report. The small Indiana towns are big on deep fried tenderloins and catfish. The Red Onion in Sheridan is like that too. My favorite catfish dinner was a restaurant in Colfax, IN midway between Indianapolis and Lafayette but I heard it was no longer in business. They cross cut the catfish before they fried them so you could pick out bite size pieces with a fork. We never could make it back to Indianapolis after a couple of beers without stopping at the side of the road and opening the passenger side doors to conceal the necessary.

Your reports and pictures just keep getting better and better BB, thanks for sharing them with us.

BB,
You already had my get well wishes so now you get the "glad you are feeling better" ones! I didn't get to see WJ btw as I had a fully packed weekend as it turned out.

About the persimmon stuff. I grew up with two trees in my yard (California). They were the Hachiya variety from Japan (the most usual in CA). You see the smaller Fuyu too, but less often. The Hachiya is big, soft and very flavorful. Midwesterners, on the other hand, have a different variety (obviously hardier), Diospyros virginiana, the American persimmon. (At least that's what a friend in Indiana claims they had, but she also lived in Georgia). It's smaller and harder with a slightly different taste.

Amazing that you had persimmon pudding! That is what my family always has for special holidays like Christmas. My mom makes a wonderful version! I love baking with persimmons, and my all-time favorite cookie is actually my own persimmon cookie. (I know that sounds not-so-humble but I just love them, although I know many other cookies friends & family make that are close to the top too!).

As always, great report, great pics, glad to have you back!

quote:

Originally posted by Davydd

The reason Columbus, IN has so many famous architect designed buildings is because Cummins Engine Co. in Columbus paid for the architectural fees and chose to pick architects from around the country and the world with well known design reputations. It was their way to give back to the community and at the same time make their community attractive to potential employees.

Other notable things about Columbus, IN. It is Tony Stewart's, NASCAR driver, hometown. It is also the hometown of the only girl I dated in college just one time that was not impressed with me.

What a wonderful legacy for the ownership of Cummins to leave for their town!

When I was driving into Columbus, I did see the sign saying that it is the hometown of Tony Stewart. And then when I was sitting at Frank & Mary's in Pittsboro, they had several signs bragging that Jeff Gordon was from there. I remember thinking, are all NASCAR drivers from around Indy?

quote:

Originally posted by buffetbuster

When I was driving into Columbus, I did see the sign saying that it is the hometown of Tony Stewart. And then when I was sitting at Frank & Mary's in Pittsboro, they had several signs bragging that Jeff Gordon was from there. I remember thinking, are all NASCAR drivers from around Indy?

No. Just that there are hundreds of towns in Indiana and you hit the two that have the two former NASCAR champion race drivers. Ryan Newman from South Bend is the other Hoosier NASCAR driver out of some 50+ drivers but he hasn't won a championship. He did win the Daytona 500 this year.

Cliff, I'm going to visit my boy late next week and a visit to Columbus is on our agenda--very timely report. Glad to see you're feeling better.

Sunday March 16

When I woke up, I was still quite tired and feeling run down. Considering it was the very next day I really started feeling sick with what ended up being strep throat, I shouldn't be surprised. But instead of going out for breakfast, I just stayed in my hotel and got some extra sleep. This is extremely unusual for me, but was definitely the right thing to do. Finally, around 9:00, I checked out of my hotel and had a few hours to kill until where I wanted to eat lunch opened.

So, I decided to just get in the car and drive around. Before I knew it, I was outside of this place.

Can anyone tell me the Roadfood significance of this building?

Intrigued by the review of Plump's Last Shot on Roadfood, I wanted to check the place out. Unfortunately, since the wrong address was listed with the review (since corrected), I had a tough time finding it. I finally asked some joggers on the trail next to the road and they pointed it out to me. The only sign with the restaurant's name is on a neon sign in the second floor window that wasn't lit up.

Since I love the movie Hoosiers so much, I considering sticking around for when they opened, but since they had no sign outside giving their hours, I decided the risk wasn't worth it. I will definitely eat here next time in Indy!

http://www.roadfood.com/Reviews/Writeup.aspx?ReviewID=4563&RefID=4587

Time for lunch! I drove down to the small city of Mooresville, southwest of Indy to eat at Gray Brother's Cafeteria. I have eaten here three times before and I absolutely love the place. As a general rule, I enjoy cafeterias, but this place has much better food than even the typical cafeteria.

Arriving ten minutes before they open at 11:00, I was greeted with this line waiting outside.

I can tell you right now, there is no time to eat here in which you won't be standing in line. Luckily, with it being cafeteria style, the line moves very fast. I was sitting down with my food within ten minutes after the doors opened.

Here is the view when you get to the beginning of the line.

It is at this point where I start frothing at the mouth and I have that little talk with myself where I say "Remember, control yourself!" It rarely works.

Pie selections:

more pie:

Starting with the hot entrees and sides:


Here is what I ended up with...... Every meal for me here has to start off with some deviled eggs.

As always, I regretted only getting three of them, when I could have easily eaten 30 of them. Two of my sides were sweet potatoes and porky green beans, both of which were excellent.


My entree was the fried chicken along with a side of macaroni & cheese.

This was actually the first time I have had the wonderful fried chicken. Not exactly Stroud's great, but still well seasoned, crunchy crusted and juicy. The macaroni & cheese is also some of the best I have ever had. Here is a close-up:


Pie-wise, it can be incredibly difficult to choose with so many great looking pies available. I make it a rule to always choose one fruit pie and one cream pie. So, I ended up with a slice of butterscotch

and a piece of raisin

Both pieces lived up to Gray Brothers high standards and were unmistakably homemade.

What an excellent meal! This place is easily in my Roadfood all-time top 10.

http://www.roadfood.com/Reviews/Writeup.aspx?ReviewID=1312&RefID=1312

More to come.....

Buffetbuster,

Believe it or not- when I went to Gray Brothers- there wasn't a line-I'm wondering if it was because I went over Labor Day Weekend?

One thing that still boggles my mind is that the Stern's review mentions Sugar Cream Pie yet there wasn't any to be found when I was there- however I'm not complaining because I thought the Banana Cream Pie was out of this world- I regret not getting the raisin pie because I really wanted that too- however unlike YOU- I can't eat two pieces of pie in one sitting, let alone a piece of pie per meal or per day for that matter!

Wonderful sounding food, and of course great pics.Thanks,BB.

Buffetbuster, No way can I eat that much! I used to be able to, but not now. You do know Mooresville was the hometown of gangster, John Dillinger.

Plump's Last Stand is on my pork tenderloin pursuit this coming May. The name is derived from the Indiana state high school championship game between tiny Milan (161 students) and mighty state powerhouse Muncie Central (over 2,000 students) in 1954 that inspired the movie Hoosiers. I don't know if it was the first tournament shown on TV but it was the first I remember. It was in Butler University's Hinkle Fieldhouse. The score was tied 30 to 30 and Milan stalled. Bobby Plump held the ball for over 4 minutes at the end of the game just standing with the ball resting under his arm against his hip. The Muncie players did not come out and challenge him. You might call that the "last stand". I'm sure it drove up the Hoosier hysteria tension. He missed the shot! But Milan got the ball back again and Plump drilled the shot from way out in what could have been three point range today to win it in the last second 32 to 30.

I keep calling it Plump's Last Stand. It is Last Shot. My mistake. I was more impressed by the stand out at mid court.

I'm a long-time lurker, but I have to weigh in, as a native of Indianapolis now living in Minneapolis. Is the unidentified photo Hollyhock Hill?

rumaki, Welcome fellow native Indianapolis to Minneapolis member to the Roadfood.com active posting.

quote:

Originally posted by rumaki

I'm a long-time lurker, but I have to weigh in, as a native of Indianapolis now living in Minneapolis. Is the unidentified photo Hollyhock Hill?

Welcome to Roadfood! Good guess, but unfortunately incorrect. Please continue to post and we would love to hear more from you!

wanderingjew-
I am truly amazed Gray Brothers didn't have a long line when you were there. I have been there four times now at four different times of day and it has been like that each time. The fact that you were there over a holiday weekend has to be the reason. Do you remember what time of day it was? By the way, I still have plenty more pie to go on this trip!

Davydd-
You are truly a walking encyclopedia! If I ever make it on Jeopardy, I hope I don't run into you. Thanks for the info on the background of the 1954 state championship game. I wasn't aware that Bobby Plump had missed his first shot.

Looks like the now-closed Dodd's Townhouse on north Meridien

Sunday March 16 cont.

Since I showed some restraint at Gray Brothers, I had room to hit one more place on the way out of town. So I stopped into the N. Keystone location of King Ribs. There were other branches of this small chain closer, but this location is my favorite because it is in a former garage and has a great looking paint job!


Lots of good things to eat here

and I usually get the ribs, but I wanted to try something different and hopefully a little less sloppy. I should have known better. The "pork on a bun"

comes with lots of the delicious thin sweet sauce. This is definitely NOT finger food. Luckily, I had been saving napkins from all the places I had been, since King Ribs never gives you enough. I also got a side of the good macaroni & cheese.


Since this location is drive-thru only, I took my food and found a church parking lot real close to I-65 and enjoyed my meal.

http://www.roadfood.com/Reviews/Writeup.aspx?ReviewID=4598&RefID=1732

Once I started my drive back, I started thinking about where I was going to stop in Ohio. The plan was to hit a Graeter's ice cream near Columbus, but I decided to give Henry's, in West Jefferson, a call. I was pleasantly surprised to find they were going to be open until 4:00PM, which was perfect. I arrived just about 3:30.

If someone asked me what a Roadfood restaurant should look like, I might very well show them a photo of Henry's.

Located in another former garage, which seems to be the theme of the day, I hope this place never gets a fancy paint job, because I like it just the way it is!

When I sat down, I mentioned I didn't think they were open on Sundays and I was cryptically told, "We usually aren't, but we are today!" So, I would say I got the opposite of Travelin Manned, but I just don't know what to call it.

The inside was all decorated for St. Patrick's Day

and I looked over the menu board for my pie choices.

Although I was happy to see this much of a variety left this late in the day, I was disappointed all the cream pies were gone. My waitress told me they had been gone for hours.

When my waitress was bringing me my slice of blackberry

and my slice of strawberry rhubarb,

she said, "You are the guy from Maryland (uh, no, that is my cousin) who takes pictures of our pie". Guilty as charged!

Needless to say, the pies were every bit as good as they look and I am always especially impressed by the amazing crusts of their fruit pies.

http://www.roadfood.com/Reviews/Writeup.aspx?ReviewID=544&RefID=544

After leaving Henry's, I drove straight home and arrived at 7:30PM.

As always, thanks to everyone who read my trip report!

quote:

Originally posted by TJ Jackson

Looks like the now-closed Dodd's Townhouse on north Meridien

Bingo! I knew someone on this board would come through! Dodd's Townhouse was a great place and is missed.

Two pies again! How do you do it?

What can I say.....I'm a Pie Guy!

BB
Another fine report. Thank You! We use the KING RIBS location on Pendleton Pike near the 465/US 40 interchange on the east side of the city. Drive-thru only as you mentioned! Very Good BBQ at bargain prices! We keep a roll of paper towels in the truck anytime we head for Indy!

Glad to hear you are feeling better.