RV Rallies, Reunions,Tenderloins, Perch and the Indy 500

We headed out on our second major RV tour on Monday, May 11th. Our first stop was in La Crosse, WI and staying overnight at our son's house. That was a low-key inauspicious start but a necessary stop to see our grandsons. It was kind of on the way.

The next day we drove straight through to the West Bridge State Recreational Area campground on Salamonie Lake near Andrews, IN. More importantly it was very near North Manchester and Huntington. We picked a beautiful site conveniently right on the lake with no one near by.



Unfortunately it was cold and windy and it rained all day the next day. See that pod on the back? That's new and it held our two new inflatable kayaks. Needless to say we didn't use them. This nice sunny picture was from the morning we left.

Nevertheless, on Wednesday we could take our time, guilt free of neglecting outdoor recreational pursuits, and spent a good part of our afternoon at Mr. Dave's in North Manchester, IN.







Mr. Dave's, as the sign says, opened in 1962 on a site that was once a gasoline station. That was in evidence in that you had to actually step outside to access the restrooms which reminded me of many British pubs we stopped at. "Nationally Known" refers to many mentions by the Jane & Michael Stern roadfood books, Gourmet Magazine and TV shows. Mr. Dave (Clapp) was prominently featured in Jensen Rufe's short video documentary, In Search of the Famous hoosier Breaded Pork Tenderloin Sandwich.

Dave Clapp, creator and former owner of Mr. Dave's is shown here with current owner, and son, Kevin.


Dave Clapp is also the son of a restaurant owner. His father had a more traditional homestyle plate type place. Dave started serving pork tenderloin sandwiches in 1962. He did reminiscence that his father did know Nick Freinstein, the owner of Nick's Kitchen and actually ate one of Nick's original pork tenderloin sandwiches. That was sometime before 1940. Clapp mentioned that everyone called them veal sandwiches back then but they were actually pork. Now we call them pork tenderloin but they are actually pork loin. The tradition of the area inspired Dave Clapp to start serving them.

This is Dave Clapp showing a whole pork loin. From this pork loin they cut and tenderize 3-1/2 to 4 ounce cuts for breaded pork tenderloins. The one end with a tenderer darker meat is reserved for the grilled tenderloins and the ends are used for BBQ pulled pork sandwiches.


Here is the menu. You order from a counter, sit down, wait and then pick up your order on a tray. Dave Clapp was more gracious. He personally took our order.


The menu is extensive with hamburgers, hot dogs and chicken, but I was there for the tenderloins. So let's get with it. Mr. Dave's serves both a breaded and grilled pork tenderloin sandwich. I ordered the breaded and Nancy ordered the grilled. They were absolutely top notch.

Breaded Pork Tenderloin Sandwich


Grilled Pork Tenderloin Sandwich


It is all over the internet and probably will never die that Mr. Dave's will mail tenderloins around the country. I believe that was mentioned in Jensen Rufe's video. The truth is the State of Indiana shut them down from doing so a good 10 years ago. here is an interesting article I took a picture of off the wall of the restaurant explaining it.


All in all, it was a good way to pass a rainy afternoon. We were there for a good two plus hours after the initial lunch rush and just before a seemingly early afternoon rush around 2:30 PM. Dave Clapp had been after me for over two years to visit Mr. Dave's from the day he first heard of my stopping at Nick's Kitchen. I made the time this year by staying at the nearby lake for two nights on our way to the RV.net B6 Rally in Ohio. Dave, as I mentioned, was a very gracious host. He is retired now and spends his winters in Florida but enjoys coming back in the summers and working in the restaurant. He is clearly proud of his pork tenderloin sandwich heritage and rightly so.

The next day (Thursday, May 14) we broke camp at Salamonie Lake and headed over to Huntington, Indiana 15 miles away for the third straight year in May to Nick's Kitchen, the original breaded pork tenderloin restaurant.



By fortunate coincidence Nick's Kitchen was easily put on the itinerary on our way to an RV.net B camper van rally held further east each year. In the past we had met up with fellow travelers at Nick's. This year was no exception. qjane from RV.net stopped by for Hoosier sugar cream pie and nocarolina from Roadfood.com drove all the way from Chicago to meet. Others on the way to the B rally had passed through earlier in the week.

The current and only fourth owner of this 101 year old restaurant, Jean Anne Bailey, or janicks on Roadfood.com was there to greet us. The original owner, Nick Frienstein, started the restaurant in 1908. Freinstein started out selling those "veal" sandwiches from a street cart in 1904. This is Nick Freinstein.



Rather than repeat the story in detail here, I'll let the menu back cover tell it.


Now for the tenderloin. This was my fourth one since I made an 80 mile detour off I-80 in February 2006. It was excellent as usual and is the only 'loin that I am aware of that is marinated overnight in buttermilk for that additional tenderizing flavor. Jean Anne is in good company. No other than Emeril Lagasse makes the same recommendation, only for fried chicken. So there has to be something to it. I've done my own side by side comparison on the same piece of tenderloin at home to verify the veracity of this. It works.

You have to taste it to understand.


nocarolina (Bob), a very dedicated road food fanatic seemingly satisfied with his BPT.


We had a six hour drive ahead of us to Geneva-on-the-Lake, Ohio but we made time for pie. Why? Maybe evil thoughts to make Cliff (Buffetbuster on Roadfood.com) extremely envious since I heard he got there when they were out of most pies.  ;)  The daily menu board had these.



So we had these starting with qjane's Hoosier sugar cream pie


my cherry pie


Nancy's lemon meringue pie


and nocarolina's chocolate cream pie


We broke from Nick's a little after noon as we had that six hour drive ahead of us and a date with the RV.net B6 Camper Van Rally hopefully in time for a potuck grilled hot dog supper. We were bringing the peanuts.

Continuing our journey we left Nick's Kitchen and drove to Geneva-on-the-Lake, Ohio. It is billed as Ohio first resort. On arriving, if you are old enough, you get the flashback of the 60s maybe the 50s of time that stood still. Geneva-on-the-Lake is a resort community on Lake Erie of a bygone era. There is not a lot new there. It was clearly a week before the summer season kickoff in that few places were open.

Our focus was at a commercial campground about a mile east of the central town for an RV.net B camper van rally billed as B6 for the sixth annual rally. It is totally a volunteer effort only loosely affiliated with RV.net in that RV.net forums allow organization there and give it a name, some window decals and some Tee shirts. A core group of B camper van owners found a campground, secured some sponsorship and set a date and agenda pretty much by popular proclamation of attendees. This was our third one so part of the fun was meeting up with now seemingly old friends from all over the country. This was a larger sponsored rally compared to the more smaller and informal LA LA BEE Social in Louisiana I reported on earlier but there were five of us who attended both this year.

The B Camper vans gathered at Indian Creek Resort Campground


B camper vans are rare. If they made up more than 2% of all motor homes, trailers, 5th wheelers and truck campers I would be surprised. So it is kind of like an exclusive breed of mostly single people and older active couples that are retired or empty nesters that make up the group. In some ways it is a pretty homogenous group probably down to the economic level because B camper vans are not exactly an inexpensive way to RV camp compared to travel trailers or even the larger Class C motor homes. I photographed the attendees and put them in a gallery here. About 45 B camper vans in all.

http://gallery.mac.com/davydd#100128

My focus is touring and being able to go just about anywhere an automobile can go. That means mostly one night stops and seeking out those diners and cafes that might have parking lots no big RV could dare to venture. So it is a perfect road fooder's mode of transportation in my opinion.

We got there a day early so there was a potluck where attendees brought cakes, snacks and side dishes. Organizers set up grilling hot dogs all buffet style.


The next day Farone's Restaurant took over catering breakfasts, lunches and dinners provided by various sponsors such as Roadtrek, Pleasure-Way, Great West Vans, Liesure Travel Vans, Four Winds, Airstream, Winnebago, Sportsmobile and General RV Center. Those are all major players in B camper vans and if you are interested they a Google-able. This went on from Friday evening through Sunday morning.


Now you know about rallies. Like I said we got there a day early so we had a Friday lunch on our own. Time to do what I do and seek out that road food. We found the Old Firehouse Winery in Geneva-on-the-Lake, one of the few places open.

It is located overlooking Lake Erie. I assume it was an old Firehouse. In the building there was a wine tasting with a full complement of wines which I found mostly to be the fruity sweet variety I think common to the Midwest.



We sat outdoors and had what we thought might have been most representative of the region - fried perch. Perch is to the Great Lakes as Walleye is to the inland smaller upper Midwest lakes. Both have distinctive tastes I like. White Fish is often found in the colder Great Lakes areas like the UP and Minnesota's North Shore. Once you get off the Great Lakes states the Catfish sandwich becomes the norm. They're all good. Pollack, Cod or such indicates to me a restaurant is just using the fish sandwich as a roundout filler on the menu.

I had the Fried Perch sandwich...


and Nancy had the Perch Wrap


After the RV.net B6 Rally we drove on to the Washington, DC area to visit our daughter and family in Burke, VA.

Moving on to the Washington, DC area ventures out of my venue and into many of the eastern centric members' area. Forgive me if I am out of my league there, but I am the only one that had ever found a breaded pork tenderloin sandwich in the region - The Dominion Restaurant in McLean, VA.

http://web.mac.com/davydd/Site/Pork_Tenderloin_Sandwich_Blog/Entries/2007/5/21_Corkie%E2%80%99s_Grille%2C_McLean%2C_Virginia.html

I was hoping to add to my wood-fired pizza experiences by comparing Red Rocks to 2 Amy's and Pizzeria Paradisio from past visits but settled with a local chain delivery the first night with Mangino's. Sorry no pictures. We stayed with our daughter, Anne, son-in-law, Andy and our 5 year old granddaughter, Genevieve. Here is a photo of Nancy with Genevieve making brownies. You can see our camper van parked outside at the town home. We took a three day respite in the comfort of the home.



My request to Andy was no chain food. I put the challenge to him to find some interesting places. I have confidence in Andy since he is a connoisseur of finer foods and has been in the hospitality business throughout his career. Since we were out in the Fairfax/Burke area we concentrated our search there. In past visits we had maybe exhausted some of the more popular places but we found the Coyote Grille and Cantina in a non-discrept strip center for lunch. OK, the center was a tad upscale. It also had a Trader Joe's.



The modest Coyote Grille Bar. The inside was small and  intimate. There was also an under cover outdoor patio and the restaurant had nightly entertainment there I assume.


This is their generous Salmon Salad


I had the Fish Tacos since I had never had them before and they seem to be an interesting topic. The tacos were soft shell, thus making them easier to eat, in my opinion.


The next day was our obligatory trip to Old Town Alexandria for lunch, sight seeing and shopping. In trying to guess at a potential spot for lunch we settled our sights on Southside 815, self-billed as "southern casual cuisine".



The exterior with outside seating unfortunately all taken when we arrived.


The interior decor was interesting. This is the mural ceiling.


We had some good food choices. This is a grilled chicken Caesar salad.


Pulled chicken BBQ Salad


Red beans and rice with Andouille sausage


I could not resist this very good Jambalaya Cheesesteak with chicken, shrimp, and andouille sausage topped with sauteed onions and peppers and jack cheese on a toasted sub roll.


The Southside 815 restaurant menu was slanted more to New Orleans/Cajun cuisine than the old south southern cuisine one first thought it might be. They self-claimed the best po'boys north of New Orleans in breaded, deep fried catfish, crawfish, oyster or shrimp. I had my fill of those in Louisiana in April and I never saw anything quite like that Jambalaya Cheesesteak down there.

It was too short of a stay in Northern Virginia. We had to get on to our final destination, the Indianapolis 500 Mile Race.

Going from northern Virginia to Indianapolis was a 605 mile drive. We decided to take it in two days so we could travel the blue highways and explore the National Road, US 40, as much as possible. Our stop was about midway in Ohio outside Cambridge east of Columbus at the Salt Fork State Park, Ohio's largest. The park is a sprawling 18,000 acre park with a 3,000 acre recreation reservoir. It was a more manicured park with mowed grass road berms, an 18 hole golf courses, shooting ranges, marinas and a splendid lodge. The campground we stayed in was spread out with over 200 fully electric sites, flush toilets and nice hot shower rooms. It almost felt too luxurious for a state facility. That night we cooked over the campsite grill and had coney dogs and baked beans which is about the easiest camp meal to prepare over a wood fire that can burn on in the evening to provide total relaxation.

Even the campground was mowed grass. No bugs! We could leave our door open.


In the morning on breaking camp early we drove over to the lodge that was built in the early 70s. It was a four level central lodge with rooms radiating outward embracing a large swimming pool.

Approaching the lodge. It doesn't look all that imposing but the entry is at the fourth floor and the dining is down at the first floor with a large central foyer and hall.


Stepping inside you are presented with this giant stone fireplace and sitting room.


We were the first in the dining room that morning and wasn't even sure it was open.


The breakfast lived up to the lodge grandeur billing. I had the eggs benedict.


That was a pleasant enough interlude. Now on to Indianapolis. The cost of our overnight stay? $25 for the campground which was a tad high for state parks, $4 for a bundle of firewood and the breakfast.

We arrived in Indianapolis in the early afternoon at my sister's house. Now it was time to line up a breaded pork tenderloin sandwich opportunity again. So many choices to choose from, so many suggestions by people swearing to know the best, so little time to try them. What to do? I knew I was going to get my annual one at Grindstone Charley's in Speedway during my annual reunion on Friday. This was Thursday night. One of my former high school classmates, Jerry, had been exhorting me for two straight years to go to Daddy Jack's on North Meridian Street. My resistance was that he now lived in Las Vegas and what did he know about good pork tenderloin sandwiches.

But I finally succumbed and Daddy Jack's was it. It was a nice evening so we sat out on the sidewalk patio shared with the sister restaurant, Kona Jack's, a seafood place. Yep, another small strip shopping center and not exactly an over inviting atmosphere. But tenderloins are not always found in the fancy places, if ever at all.

Daddy Jack's


Daddy Jack's had an impressive BBQ pulled pork sandwich


Nancy once again ate healthy (er healthier?) and volunteered to try the grilled pork tenderloin sandwich


I had the breaded pork tenderloin sandwich and judged it to be in the upper tier group that I have tried. It was indeed delicious and recommended.


What makes a good tenderloin? This slice helps. First the breading was just right and had a tangy peppery taste. It was done but not burned or greasy and stuck to the meat. The meat was very tender, not too thin nor too thick. Too thin and it can get crispy. Too thick and it can be tough. No gristle. The silver skin was properly removed in preparation. White meat, not gray tinged. An abundance of fresh toppings and condiments as standard. Better quality bun.


Moving on. Friday is what is called Carb Day at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway although race cars no longer have carburetors. There is an hour of testing with all 33 race cars on the track, a Miller Lites Freedom 100 Race, a sort of development league, a pit change competition, and a concert. It is an inexpensive way to enjoy the festivities. You also have the chance to roam the stands to test out different seats.

This is a seat not too far from the ones I have in the 4th turn looking down toward the main straightaway.


Afterwards we headed over to Camp and Brew in the campground parking lot at 25th Street and Georgetown Rd. Every year a group secures a spot on the corner with RVs and hosts a fund raiser called Brian's Wish to cure ALS aka Lou Gehrig's Disease. This web site explains it better than I.

http://www.brianswish.com/

The location has a keg of beer going, grilling, and getting together along with a donation jar.


This is the organizer, Glenn Harm from Colorado


Besides the Brian's Wish website, Trackforum.com is a rallying point for this group and one of the forums I frequent. One more group besides the food forum people, RV.net and my reunion that I see every year.

That evening we went to my annual Speedway High School Class of '62 Reunion, a standing reunion we hold at Grindstone Charley's in Speedway.  This is part of the pre-gathering. If my estimates are correct I believe we had 29 classmates plus spouses and friends from 10 different states as far away as California and Florida in attendance this year. It used to be greater when classmates would return annually often to visit family and parents but that is sadly diminishing with each passing year. The Indy 500 Race we grew up with has always been our draw.



Grindstone Charley's makes up a special menu for us every year. I've given them enough kudos over the years that they've named the tenderloin after me now. ;)


This year I broke from my tradition and tried their version of a "grilled" pork tenderloin sandwich. That is a trend I've seen just in the past year by many restaurants. This one was oddly grilled with the breading on it.


Not to bore you with pictures of people but maybe it is time to introduce you to my wife, Nancy (Bay Village, OH HS '62), my sister Barbara (Speedway HS '65) and me not behind the camera for a change.


Now Race Day and the Greatest Spectacle in Racing. The reason I head out every May. The Indianapolis 500. I have never missed a race via radio, TV or in person since 1949! It is part of my blood. I grew up in the shadow of the track. Drivers were my neighbors. I've been privileged to have sat at a lunch table with A. J. Foyt. If you've never heard a Novi engine you've never really experienced the ultimate race car engine. I listened to the droning of the cars all day in the month of May and knew one day when that drone went silent one afternoon something bad had happened. A favorite, Tony Bettenhausen crashed and died. Yes, I choke up a lot thinking of the memories.

The start


helio Castroneves and Dario Franchitti in the early going


Tony Kanaan hits the wall on the third turn and comes to a stop on the north chute


The final restart after a yellow at lap 183 and pretty much the order of finish


The winner for the third time, Helio Castroneves, taking a victory lap in the pace car with family and interviewer.


That was the race. I gotta leave you this trip with one more breaded pork tenderloin from the Indy Grill concession stand at the track.


That ends the trip. We dashed home in one day and I missed an opportunity to have at least one tenderloin from Illinois this year. Nancy has to get ready to go to Bolivia and I will next be up on Minnesota's Lake Superior North Shore learning how to make an outdoor brick oven at the North House Folk School in Grand Marais, MN. Stay tuned.

What an excellent and fun report.All the food( especially the tenderloins)looks awesome.So glad you shared!

Ann, The Indy Cars are on to Milwaukee this weekend. Had I not enrolled in the brick oven building course in Grand Marais, MN starting Saturday I would have gone to that race too.

Davydd:  As your fellow Hoosier-transplant in the greater Twin Cities, I congratulate you on another excellent trip report.  Of course, I would have gone to Hollyhock Hill in Indianapolis, but other than that . . .
 
Yet another link for us -- I lived in Old Town Alexandria for 18 years, on Franklin Street, just up Washington Street from Southside 815.
 
Rumaki

Great report and nice pictures.....................I cannot believe that you did not stop  in Baltimore area for a crabcake!

Rumaki and Greymo,

So many places and so little time. I've been to Hollyhock Hill and many other places in past years. I was briefly, only fleetingly, thinking about a stop at MCL Cafeteria that was behind our house in Speedway. Last year we went to Annapolis and I may have had crabcake. I'm slowly running the table on Old Town Alexandria with annual visits. I have a long list of pork tenderloins I desire to try but can only endure so many with my wife shaking her head in the back ground and wondering about her impending widowhood if I kept up my tenderloin gluttony unchecked by her common sense.

My wife and I have camped at Salt Fork twice and agree that it is just a wonderful well kept campground.  If it was a little closer to Columbus, it would probably be our home away from home but that is too far for us to drive for just a quick weekend.  So we usually opt for Deer Creek.  The last time we went to Salt Fork, we also found a little family run restaurant right nearby that was good.  There is also a really good bakery right in Cambridge.  Of course, I can't remember the name of either one.  And if your interested in this kind of thing, The Wilds is not too far from there.  A huge animal sanctuary that is neat but a little pricey.

Wow, leave it up to you to weed out  a tenderloin in Indianapolis!
I heard they haven't existed there in years, if they've ever existed at all!
You should have gone to a  Bolivian Restaurant- I understand a wave of Bolivian Immigrants moved to Indie in the 70's and that there are Bolivian restaurants everywhere- In fact you won't find a better Bolivian restaurant anywhere than you would in Indianapolis!

wj, I would have sought out a Bolivian restaurant complete with empanadas, saltenas and pique macho but since my wife, Nancy is heading out for Cochabamba, Bolivia tomorrow she was not up to it considering she'll be eating hundreds of varieties of potatoes for the next month.

Davydd

I have a short story about Mr Dave's.  My grandparents lived just north of there in Sidney.  Each summer I would spend a month or so with them.  I was a wee lad of 6 maybe 7 and grandma took me there for lunch one day.

No i didnt order the BPT, I proudly ordered (and very loudly) the 21 pc shrimp dinner.  My grandmother was horrified and probably wanted to disown me, but I ordered it anyway.

Now every time i go there I smile and think of that day, of course now I get teh BPT, but as a kid Shrimp ruled.

What a great trip.

I still want one of those sandwiches.

My list is still growing!

Great trip report, Dave!  I am soooo jealous.  I'm going to ask Santa for a "B" campervan for Christmas.

That jambalaya sandwich looks great.  (cheesesteak?)

For the curious, I found the documentary film "In Search of the Famous Hoosier Breaded Pork Tenderloin" here:

http://www.jensenrufe.com/documentaries/tenderloin/index.html

Davydd:  Great write.  You must have driven several thousand miles.  Sounds like a great adventure.
 
I have only been to one Indy 500 race and that was twenty years ago.
 
I believe your method of travel is very good.  Not too big and it gives you freedom.  I agree that it is not a inexpensive way to see the country but it offers you lotsa options.
 
Your pics were very very good.
 
fPaul E. Smith
Knoxville, TN

Great report Davydd.  Glad you finally made it to Daddy Jacks.  As I mentioned in our discussion in the BPT group on Facebook it's one of my favorites, and luckily (although not for my waistline) my office is right around the corner from it.  When I get the crave, I have Daddy Jack's, Muldoon's and Plump's all within 5 - 10 minutes of the office so it's always a tough choice!

Davydd-
Glad you made it to Mr. Dave's and gave it a thumbs up.  That was actually the first BPT I have ever had, so it holds a little sentimental place for me. 

Oh, what I wouldn't have done to have that pie list on my visit to Nick's Kitchen.  By the time I got there, all they had was the cherry.  With that list available, I would have tried the sugar cream, since I have never had that.  And maybe the peach.  Oh, who am I kidding, the chocolate cream, too.
 
Excellent report and beautiful photos!  Nobody enjoys their retirement as much as you do!

Sundancer7

I believe your method of travel is very good.  Not too big and it gives you freedom.  I agree that it is not a inexpensive way to see the country but it offers you lotsa options.

In some respects it is a very inexpensive way to travel. Granted buying a camper van can be a considerable investment but many of my fellow compatriots have gotten into the game buying used inexpensive camper vans costing no more than an average car. Our average cost for accommodations per night is less than $20 and we prefer state parks with electrical hookups and bath facilities. Many don't mind free stays overnight in Walmart parking lots since camper vans are fully self-contained. Travel cost for us over 6,000 miles, 28 days, average $2.10 per gallon diesel and 23 MPG average equates to less than $20 per day. We may average a restaurant meal about once every other day of the inexpensive roadfood variety of less than $40 so figure a budget of another $20 per day. We could lower that somewhat if my hobby was not pursuing roadfood and BPTs. So our cost on the road is only about $60 per day and I suspect some of that money would have been spent if we stayed home. I estimate I would probably burn half that money at home so I look at our trips costing about $30 per day premium over normal living at home.

Davydd

Sundancer7

I believe your method of travel is very good.  Not too big and it gives you freedom.  I agree that it is not a inexpensive way to see the country but it offers you lotsa options.

In some respects it is a very inexpensive way to travel. Granted buying a camper van can be a considerable investment but many of my fellow compatriots have gotten into the game buying used inexpensive camper vans costing no more than an average car. Our average cost for accommodations per night is less than $20 and we prefer state parks with electrical hookups and bath facilities. Many don't mind free stays overnight in Walmart parking lots since camper vans are fully self-contained. Travel cost for us over 6,000 miles, 28 days, average $2.10 per gallon diesel and 23 MPG average equates to less than $20 per day. We may average a restaurant meal about once every other day of the inexpensive roadfood variety of less than $40 so figure a budget of another $20 per day. We could lower that somewhat if my hobby was not pursuing roadfood and BPTs. So our cost on the road is only about $60 per day and I suspect some of that money would have been spent if we stayed home. I estimate I would probably burn half that money at home so I look at our trips costing about $30 per day premium over normal living at home.

Very good answer and I appreciate your rationale.  I had never thought about it that way.  Your upfront cost on the van had to be significant.
 
6000 miles is a TRIP!  I am sure that it was full of adventure.  I very muched liked the perch in Port Clinton which I enjoyed last year.  Your note of that made me recall the fine perch that I had.  Michael Hoffman turned me on to some very good perch places in Port Clinton.  A very interesting area.
 
Paul E. Smith
Knoxville, TN

What a lovely trip!  And it must be awfully neat seeing your name on that menu at Grindstone Charley's.  It is a little strange that they grill the tenderloin with the breading on it--but is it good like that?

Nancy, If grilled I would think it shouldn't be breaded. The Suzie-Q in Mason City, IA, Mr. Dave's and Daddy Jack's all had grilled without any breading or marinade. They were all very tender. Suzie-Q and Mr. Dave's grilled on the smooth top. The Daddy Jack's appeared grilled on a flame grill.

David as usual you make the most interesting roadtrip reports of anyone I know. 
Just want to add to your report that Nicks Kitchen has the BEST pecan waffles, next time go for breakfast and give them a try.  

David just found this trip report that I missed when you posted it. I have been reading your BPT reports for months. This was a great report. I've tried BPT's in Missouri, Iowa and Illinois. Heading to Indianapolis this weekend for a meeting. I can only work in one BPT on this trip to Indy.
Which place would you suggest?
It appears maybe the one named after you at Grindstone Charley's?
Is that the location Crawfordsville Rd?

Thanks
Johnny

Since I consider myself to be an expert on Indy tenderloins (lol) I'd recommend either Daddy Jack's (north side) or Muldoon's (Carmel).  But if you can specify which part of town you'll be in I can tell you the best in that area.

Johnny,

deeoh01 made two very good suggestions. There are many good ones. However, do NOT go to the Mug 'n Bun in Speedway at least for a tenderloin. It is a good drive-in experience but their tenderloin is nothing but a fritter and not representative at all of what a good tenderloin is.

The Grindstone Charley's I go to is the one on Crawfordsville Rd. in Speedway. I'm there every Friday evening before the Indianapolis 500.

Great pictures!  They are such high quality.  What type of camera do you use!

deeoh01 - I will be downtown at the Dealer News Expo. But I have a car. Thanks for your suggestion. Which place should I go if you must choose one?

Davydd - Thanks for your advice. I am a wantabe RV owner. Maybe some day. I would need to sell some other toys!