Washington Square Mall, Evansville, Indiana

I wanted to post a few pictures of the fading Washington Square Mall in Evansville Indiana.

I have talked before about how, growing up in nearby Owensboro, going to Evansville was a treat.  It was a BIG CITY by our standards.  it had TWO malls!

Washington Square Mall was always the smaller of the two malls, but I liked it the most.  They had a great arcade and a very cool music shop.  I remember a nice pet shop there at one time too.


The mall is obviously not nearly as lively now as it used to be.  There are very few businesses left.  AND, we got there pretty much as they were closing the Sears down.

I hope that some other businesses come in.  I would love to see Washington Square Mall make a comeback.

Roseanne's House in Evansville, IN

Man, I felt a bit emotional watching the return of the Roseanne Barr show "Roseanne" recently.  I have always loved John Goodman especially (he was in one of my all time favorite movies- "Always").  Anyway, when the show was brought back and they showed the updated intro with the same old sax music.....  well, it was just very sweet to see this great show return.

So, while I was meandering through Evansville, I thought I would check out a couple of buildings used for establishing shots on the show.

It's a well known story...  but someone who worked on the show was from Evansville, and they used some things from the Indiana town as establishing shots on the show.  For example, before you see the Conners inside of their home, they always show a shot of the outside of  the house...  to establish that the scenes you are about to see are happening in their home.  That establishing shot is of this house in Evansville!

The Lobo Lounge Bar seen on the show is actually a pizza shop not too far from the house in Evansville too!


Both places looked nice and familiar when I drove by, though the house was blocked a bit by some construction equipment.

I wonder if Roseanne Barr or John Goodman have ever stopped by here in their travels, just for the heck of it?

Lucid Coffee in Newburgh Indiana

Newburgh is a great little town right outside of Evansville.  It is so calm, and its right on the river.

While driving through there the other day, I discovered a wonderful coffee place- Lucid Coffee Bar!

It is located inside of what used to be the Old Country Store.  It is a beautiful old historic building that is obviously being well maintained today.

I am not sure exactly of the specifics of the set up here, but there is a separate ice cream area, and a separate coffee area (you order and pay for each at the specific counter that serves them).  There are also some interesting local shirts, jewelry and other items around.  I bought a couple of pieces of jewelry for my wife and paid for them at the ice cream counter.

My dad enjoyed some ice cream here, while the rest of us had coffee drinks.  I ordered a regular coffee with cream and sugar.  The nice fellow working at the bar took care of the cream and sugar for me.  Not sure what kind of ratio he was using, but he got it right!  THAT'S SERVICE!

The inside of this place is just so attractive.  It has a cool upstairs area, overlooking the downstairs/main business part.  If you ever got to visit Brady's Café in Kent Ohio (it's now a Starbucks) this will remind you of that great old coffee shop.

I am itching to get back to this place soon!

Howard Roosa School- Evansville Indiana

We drove by Howard Roosa School in Evansville while we were there.  It is now known as Joshua Academy, but, when my mom went here, it was Howard Roosa.

We swung by because my mom hadn't been here in decades.  She wanted to see what she could remember. 

She remembered the old train tracks.  She said that the home she lived in was very close to the school, and that it had been purchased, and knocked down so that they could build a playground by the school.

When she was very young, her family also briefly lived on Van Bidder in Evansville too.  We drove by that neighborhood, and there were some modern looking houses there now.  She is certain that all of the homes that were there when she lived there were destroyed to make room for the newer homes.

My mom actually has some strange stories relating to her childhood (I joke with her at times that it sounds like Stephen King wrote her childhood).  BUT, I think a lot of people who grew up after the depression had similar experiences. 

Brain Sandwiches at Hilltop Inn, Evansville Indiana

  Hilltop Inn in Evansville Indiana has been a place I have wanted to get to for some time now.  The business has been around for forever...  but they are particularly famous for one thing BRAIN SANDWICHES!!!!

 

Yes, you read that correctly.  If you are ever craving pork brain....  this is the place to go.

 

So, I gathered up some of the more adventurous eaters I know (my family- specifically my dad) and we made the journey to Hilltop Inn for brains.

 

First off, this place feels old.  It is very brown and wooden on the inside.  It absolutely feels like the kind of place people would have eaten at in the 1800s.

 

Prices were reasonable too.  Their famous Jumbo Brain sandwich was available at a very affordable price of under $8!

 

My dad, who will eat pretty much anything, ordered one.  This was no big deal for him.  He has had them before.  He frequently enjoys frog legs, gizzards, sardines, and other animal parts that I am too ashamed to mention.  He doesn't care.  Check out the 3rd and 4th photos to the left.  There it is.

 

My mom tells me that she remembers her mom and grandmother eating brains a lot.  She said that her grandma would cook them up with scrambled eggs.  My great grandma was a barbarian!  As a side note, that great lady lived to be 101 and died after I graduated from college.  Maybe the brain eggs helped her live a long life!

 

Back to the Hilltop Inn.  We ordered some onion rings, and I personally had a small bowl of burgoo and a BLT.  We had a very pleasant waitress who took care of us.

 

OK, forget the gimmicky brain sandwich.  The Hilltop Inn has GREAT FOOD!  I mean, really great food.

 

I am pretty critical of burgoo.  Their's wasn't the best I have ever had, but it is the best I have had outside of Western Kentucky.

 

The BLT had a generous amount of thick bacon on it.  It was perfect.  Our onion rings were nice too.  You could actually bite into them and they weren't stringy.  These were some of the best onion rings we have ever had.

 

My sister (who tries to downplay and deny her hillbilly heritage) had livers.  She said that she liked them a lot.

 

We all had pie, and I had a piece of their new chocolate chip cookie dough pie and it was really nice.  I am still thinking about it.  AND, I am generally against dessert Frankensteins like this, but it was perfect.

 

My dad enjoyed his brain sandwich, and I guess I should admit that I had a couple of bites.  It was a little chewy and soft, but it was tasty.  Honestly, it tasted like I imagined a brain sandwich would taste.

 

Hilltop Inn is weird, odd, historic and it has good food (not to mention some strange menu options).  All of those factors really make it a place any roadtripper should stop at while in the area.  I give it my highest possible recommendation.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Bruner's Collectables in Owensboro KY

I stopped by Bruner's Collectables in Owensboro for the first time in a while the other day!  Man do they have some cool stuff!

Actually, I don't really collect coins, but I thought they might have some items I like, and they did! 

They had a very interesting selection of Owensboro tokens, and I picked up a couple of attractive Civil War tokens at a good price.

These guys seemed to know a lot about what I was looking for, and I left feeling like I got some good deals on some historic pieces, AND I got some good info!

Battle of Sacramento 2018, Sacramento, Kentucky

I was able to stop by the "Battle of Sacramento" Civil War reenactment this past weekend.  I went with my dad, and, as I am usually on a bit of a time limit when I am in the area, we were only able to go on Friday.  We missed the actual battle with the reenactment, but we still had a great time.

As soon as we got there, I realized that my old pal David Wolfe was doing a talk as Abe Lincoln.  I did get to see him do two talks as the 16th President, and I was absolutely moved by both.  They were each unique, covering different ground about Lincoln.  During the later one, he actually talked, as Lincoln, about being assassinated by Booth.  It was the first time that I have watched a Lincoln impersonator really go there in character.  It truly made David seem almost ghostlike himself as he channeled the martyred President.

David Chaltas did a very convincing presentation as Robert E. Lee.  He was excellent too, and I even saw him tear up as he told a story of a father and son on opposite sides of the battlefield.

A funny moment occurred when Chaltas stepped away from a crowd while telling stories to answer a cell call.  A Confederate soldier near him, in a very serious tone grumbled about Lee using one of those fancy Yankee phones.

I ended up totally blowing my budget in the sutler's area.  There were some interesting vendors.  A blacksmith made these great hummingbirds on a pole.  I texted my wife a photo and she said that she would love one.  I did think these were pretty cool.

There were a couple of interesting authors on the field too.  I was personally very excited to see author John R. Scales selling his latest book on Nathan Bedford Forrest.  It is published through Savas Beatie, who has put out some interesting titles lately.  in fact, I had a very positive experience with Savas Beatie Publishing when I was trying to track down a copy of their book on the Gettysburg Cyclorama.  These are good people.

Anyway, I ended up buying a couple of books from John, and we chatted some about Forrest.

We were able to buy $3 sandwiches for lunch from a church group and we bought homemade rootbeer which was a real treat!

After exploring the sutler area and enjoying a nice lunch, we walked through the area where the reenactors camped out.  Most had little set ups in front of their tents, and they seemed eager to talk about the Civil War and soldier's lives during the war.

Many had actual relics they had come across displayed.  One medical table had medicine bottles and other related items a doctor might use during the Civil War.  The camp area had a bit of a DIY museum vibe going on.  All of the reenactors had something to talk about too.  Some talked about their relics, some told stories from the Civil War.

John Scales was scheduled to do a talk on Forrest as the day was winding down.  I definitely wanted to catch that!


John did a great presentation on Forrest and his battles.  He told some entertaining stores about Bedford Forrest and his adventures during the Civil War.

The sky had been cloudy all day and the rains held off until right in the middle of  John Scales' presentation.  Luckily, he was talking in front of the 1830's cabin on the battlefield, so the discussion was moved to the cabin's covered front porch.  This made his presentation feel more like a discussion.  It was a nice way to interact with the author.


Scales, an accomplished military man himself, seemed very focused on Forrest's way of thinking AS A GENERAL.  He noted that Forrest had a lot of knowledge about feeding, moving and managing his troops based on his experience as a horse and slave trader.

Scales was also able to point out where certain things during the battle of Sacramento would have occurred.  It was very exciting visualizing the battle, ON THE BATTLEFIELD, with Scales.


I think most of us at Scales' presentation also enjoyed a discussion of Forrest without getting into the controversies that are often brought up in our current climate.  This was pretty much a well informed talk on the military mind of Bedford Forrest.

My dad and I left Sacramento with the rain coming down in buckets (I hear that rain seems to always affect this event).  On the way home, we stopped for burger's at Jay's Drive-In in Calhoun, which is one of my favorite burger places.

This is a great 3 day event, and even paying $7.50 for the one day I was there was a bargain in my books.

Ole South BBQ Owensboro

I mentioned Ole South BBQ last year when I went there for breakfast.  I FINALLY got to visit there for their lunch buffet!

Me and a pal stopped by later in the day, probably around 4 between lunch and dinner.  I had a very light breakfast earlier in the day, so I was really ready to stop here!

I think it was around $12 for the buffet and we both felt like that was a good deal for what they had going on.

First off, this is a CLEAN place.  Everything seemed spotless and well maintained.  That's something to look for in a buffet!

My plan was to pig out on burgoo and mutton, which I did, but I didn't do it to the extent I planned to.  My pal said their chicken was great, so I had to try some of that.  It was great!  I also had some cabbage, macaroni and mashed potatoes.  EVERYTHING was perfect.

Our waitress told us that there was chocolate AND pecan pies out, so we had to get some of that too!

This is easily my favorite buffet place in Owensboro, and I can't wait to swing by again soon!