Back in the land of motorhomes and mega-churches

After a relaxing weekend in St Louis, we were on our way to Indiana for our annual pilgrimage to the land of motorhome repair. We stopped at Reyco Granning to try to get a diagnosis of our sheared bolt incident only to be told “not our problem. We don’t make the bolt”.

The $2,000 Bolt

That sent us off to Spartan and Newmar. Can’t get the words of that 70’s song out of my head – “Indiana wants me, Lord I can’t go back there”.

John wanted his “birthday burger” at the Hunter’s Hideaway in Nappanee. Nothing like a 1/3 pound burger covered with green olives and blue cheese crumbles. Our favorite waitress, Miriam, was there anxious to serve us the few airline-sized bottles of chardonnay that they had in their back refrigerator.

Miriam at the Hunters Hideaway

With 3 big screen TV’s playing, we ate our dinner watching CNN, ESPN and the Hunting Channel. Watching men with high powered rifles and scopes killing animals really enhanced the dining experience.

We were scheduled to be in Decatur, Indiana for some carpet repair and grout cleaning/sealing on John’s birthday.

The highlight of our day- a trip to Huntington, IN to see Dan Quayle Center and Vice Presidential Museum. Yes, the man who gave us an alternate spelling for potato….(remember “potatoe”)…. has a museum and “Learning Center”.

The museum-- whose slogan is “Second to One”—is in an old Christian Science Church and tells the story of all of our Vice Presidents- from John Adams to Joe Biden. Each VP has his own display with political cartoons, letters and memorabilia. Spiro Agnew even has his own board game, doll, hard hat and trash basket.

Spiro Agnew's Exhibit

While Dan contributed 400 boxes of personal papers, Dick Cheney has said that he would “think about it”…

Part of the museum is dedicated to Dan Quayle memorabilia- Marilyn’s inaugural gown, the “Danny sweater” he wore as a child—even his dog-chewed law degree with photos of his dog, Barnaby.

Dan's Childhood Sweater...

Dan's dog-eared law degree--and the dog who chewed it

We wanted to visit Nick’s Kitchen – Dan’s favorite restaurant. In 1988, Dan stood on a chair in the restaurant and started his campaign during the Bush-Quayle election.

Nick's Kitchen in downtown Huntington

We intended to get the famous “Quayle Burger”- but found that we were at the birthplace of the pork tenderloin sandwich. In 1904, Nick Freinstein started selling them from a pushcart before opening his restaurant, Nick’s Kitchen, in 1908. Legend has it that his brother Jake, had too much whiskey one winter night and passed out drunk in the snow. The fingers on both hands were frostbitten and had to be amputated. Nick put Jake to work at his restaurant pounding out tenderloin with his stumps. Today, the meat is run through a meat cuber twice, marinated for 24hours in buttermilk, eggs and flour, then dredged in crunchy cracker crumbs, deep fried, and served on an extra-large five-inch bun. The meat extends at least 3 or 4 inches beyond the bun.

Breaded Tenderloin Sandwich and Sugar Cream Pie ...Mmmm!
Nick’s is also known for their “Sugar Cream Pie” –a cream pie made with sugar, milk and whipping cream (the official state pie of Indiana!) A birthday surprise for John!

Couldn’t leave Huntington without a drive-by their other claim to fame—the “Privy Collection”. Hy Goldenberg and his wife Lorry started collecting privies (out-houses) in 1960. After Hy died, Lorry donated their collection to the Huntington County Historical Museum.

"The Privy Museum"
On the road home–cow houses

And the Markle, Indiana happy face water tower.

Meet me in St Louie...

Rather than head into flooded Nashville, we decided to follow the river north and stop in St Louis for the weekend. John had an old high school friend and decided to make contact after all these years. We lured George and Anne over the Eades bridge to East St Louis where we were parked at the Casino Queen RV Park. After a few glasses of wine, they took us to “The Hill”- the Italian section of St Louis. Known for its restaurants, bakeries and shotgun houses, we went to a great little Northern Italian restaurant and had a wonderful dinner.

Memphis Chicken Showdown

Our plans to spend a week watching the Mississippi River flow at the Tom Sawyer RV Park in West Memphis were foiled by the weekend rains. Both Memphis and Nashville experienced extreme flooding. So, we were left with only a day to spend in Memphis. We had to complete our “Chicken Showdown” – to determine our favorite of the Chicken Shacks in Memphis. Uncle Lou's Fried Chicken vs Gus’s World Famous Fried Chicken

Uncle Lou's

Uncle Lou’s Fried Chicken (and home of the “Monster Burger”-- 1/3-pound of beef (three patties), stacked between five pieces of cheese and served on a Kaiser bun. The Monster Burger Challenge- eat two Monster Burgers in eight minutes and you get your photo on the Wall of Fame. Fail and you’re on the Wall of Shame)

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Both places had the right atmosphere. At Uncle Lou’s, the walls were lined with signs and Food Network kudos.

Gus's World Famous Fried Chicken

At Gus’s, the line for service stretched out the door. The “Danger Men Cooking” signs over the door to the kitchen where you could smell the chicken frying.

"Danger Men Cooking"

Gus’s chicken itself was amazingly good but Uncle Lou’s had an afterburner that didn’t stop. The fried dill pickles helped tone down the burn. At Gus’s, the chicken was fried perfectly- crisp, not greasy and moist inside. The fried dill pickles done beautifully.

After a hearty lunch, we took a stroll down Beale Street.

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Handy Park had a great blues band playing. What used to stretch for 2 miles in the early 20th Century now covers 3 blocks in the restored Historic District and feels a bit like a Blues Disneyland.

On the drive home, we saw an amazing motorhome adaptation—Scooter’s B-Bque Bus!

Scooter's Bar-B-Que Bus- note the smoke coming from the 'chimney'

We had to stop and pick up a half slab of baby back ribs. Scooter’s “office” in the gutted Prevost bus is complete with generator and b-bque cooker.

The cooker fills the entire back of the bus and the smoke pouring out the stack in the roof makes it look like a motorhome on fire.

Jerry Lee's Ranch

Once last stop before we left the Delta—we had to make a pilgrimage to Jerry Lee Lewis’s Ranch in Nesbit, Mississippi. Until his divorce from wife #6, Jerry Lee would allow tours through the house and grounds (evidently complete with piano shaped pool. Ex-wife # 6 stopped the tours and painted over the graffiti on the fence surrounding the ranch.

We had a belated anniversary dinner at The Hollywood Café (Home of the Fried Dill Pickle). John Grisham was a regular and mentioned cafe several in “A Time to Kill".

And, the song "Walking in Memphis" mentions the café:
“Now Muriel plays piano

Every Friday at the Hollywood

And they brought me down to see her

And they asked me if I would --Do a little number

And I sang with all my mightAnd she said --"Tell me are you a Christian child?"

And I said "Ma'am I am tonight"

We walked in to a virtually empty restaurant- but the owners were sitting at the bar, so we joined them and not only had a great dinner, but a real ear-full on the history of the restaurant and the Delta.

More Delta Scenes

A few classic Delta scenes....

Driving down old Highway 61


The Clarksdale RV Park....



Highway 61 house- note the Roy Rogers full size mural


Lula City Limits--Bullet ridden sign...

Where the Southern Cross the Dog

“Lord, I’m going to Rosedale, gon’ take my rider by my side”.

We headed to Rosedale, driving on the Great River Road. In the 1930’s and 40’s the town was typical river town- with juke joints, loose women and bootleggers serving the riverboat men. Today, it’s another Delta town with boarded up storefronts and no activity.

South of Rosedale is the Delta town of Greenville. It's claim to fame-- the place where the levee burst causing the Mississippi River Flood of 1927.Floodwater covered 26,000 square miles of the Delta, killing hundreds and leaving hundreds of thousands homeless.
Today, the city is fairly lifeless. We read all the warnings about the infamous “Nelson Street”- once the prime commercial street of Greenville’s black community- now most of the businesses are abandoned and daytime is definitely the preferred travel time.

At the far end of Nelson Street is Doe’s Eat Place.

Normally open at 5:30 PM, we saw the door open and peeked in.

The cook was there getting ready for the evening crowd and told us that we could order some homemade tamales for take-out. They were the best tamales we have ever had. It’s hard to believe that this grocery store, turned restaurant is listed as one of the 10 best steakhouses in the country. You walk in the front door and think that you’ve accidentally walked into the kitchen. The sign on the refrigerator:
After a great meal, we wandered over to Walnut Street – where they claim the live music scene has been revived – we found Jim’s Café.

It’s a local meeting place with walls covered with photos of Greenville in better times. Jim not only serves up good food but also makes his own hot sauce, bottled in old quart whiskey bottles.

"Jim"
Heading east, we found the town of Leland – home of Jim Henson, creator of the Muppets—and the Highway 61 Blues Museum (closed, like most everything else in town).

Leland Murals
Just outside town we found the gravesite of James “Son” Thomas – a Delta blues musician (and grave digger and sculptor). His tombstone inscription was fabulous: “Give me Beef-steak when I’m hungry, Whiskey when I’m dry, Pretty Women when I’m living, and Heaven when I die”.

B.B. King is the biggest thing to happen to little Indianola. He was actually born outside of Itta Bena, but moved to Indianola at the age of 13 and they have embraced him as their favorite son. They’ve put a mural at B.B.’s favorite busking spot when he was an unknown teenager singing gospel and blues.

He learned quickly that singing blues earned him more tips. In 2008, the B.B. King Museum and Interpretive Center opened. Part of the museum is in the brick cotton gin where B.B. used to work.

It was getting late and we’d been on the road most of the day, but we had one last stop to make in Moorhead—“Where the Southern Cross the Dog”.

According to blues legend, W.C. Handy first heard this line at the Tutwiler train station in 1903. It refers to the intersection of the Southern and the Yazoo and Mississippi Valley railroads. The Yazoo and Mississippi Valley was known as the Yazoo Delta (nicknamed the “YD” or “Yellow Dog”).

"Where the Southern cross the "white" dog"

Unfortunately, the Yellow Dog Café has closed…but we did manage a photo on the front porch.

Happy hour at the Commissary and the Shack Up Inn.

The Commissary

The Shack-Up Inn

"Prepare to meet Thy God"

“Touched down in the land of the Delta Blues in the middle of the pouring rain”

Our anniversary—and we spent the day in the middle of Tornado Alley. The rains kept up all day and then when the sun went down, we heard the tornado siren. After seeing what a tornado can do to a motorhome, we spent several hours watching the Weather Channel, monitoring radar on Accuweather.com and listening to our weather radio. May Day, May Day!