Pigskin Pursuit

Anderson, Indiana is blessed with not one, but two mid century gems still operating largely like they did since the 1960’s. After the Lemon Drop nearby, I made a stop into Gene’s Root Beer and Hot Dogs, where car service is still alive and well, and families gathered on a Saturday night with their car windows rolled down and heaped aluminum trays clung to the doors. I tried the hot dog fully dressed, of course, but the real treat was a root beer float made with their house made root beer - because when is the last time you had a root beer float anyway? It’s probably been too long....

Since 1954 the colorful confines of the Lemon Drop in Anderson, Indiana has been dishing out their signature carhop classic - the Onion Burger, a juicy burger stuffed with grilled onions inside and grilled to perfection on a flat top. Delightfully, little else seems to have changed in the last 67 years, from the glowing neon sign out front, to the charming original interior inside - the Lemon Drop is still serving up perfectly golden fried onion rings, sandwiches, home made lemonade and, of course, a basket full of lemon drops as a parting gift out the door.

I caught a beauty at Scheumann Stadium in Muncie, Indiana - a perfect 70 degree and sunny September afternoon, with a heated MAC tilt on the field below featuring the Ball State Cardinals and their cross state foes the Toledo Rockets. Unfortunately, the Cardinals couldn’t find the end zone this afternoon, and they dropped to the Rockets by a final score of 12-22.

Ready for some Ball State Cardinals football on a perfect September afternoon in Scheumann Stadium!!!

A few shots from the pleasant Ball State University campus in Muncie, Indiana. The University is actually named after the Ball family - five brothers who settled in Muncie at the turn of the 20th century and made their fortune in the glass industry inventing the Ball Canning Jar that has been a household name for over a century. Generous benefactors to education, they bought a small teachers college in Muncie, and, through their philanthropic efforts built it into Ball State University which now enrolls over 20k students.

Some happy little trees at the Bob Ross experience in Muncie, Indiana. For nearly the entirety of his show “The Joy of Painting” Ross filmed with WIPB Public Television in Muncie for a few weeks each year, before setting back out on the road in his little Datsun pickup to travel the country. Dedicated to the democratization of creating art, Ross used only 12 colors in all of his tutorials to make it easy and affordable for viewers. His “wet on wet” technique of layering paint used so much pressure on the canvas from his brush strokes, that he required especially sturdy easels to hold up to the force. The more you fro!

Another fine meat to bun ratio on a breaded pork tenderloin breakfast in Muncie, Indiana...

The breaded pork tenderloin sandwich, aka the “Hoosier Tenderloin” is the official state sandwich of Indiana, owes its roots to German immigrants to the area that couldn’t afford veal but had an abundance of pork at the ready, and you’ll find variations of it in just about any cafe you wander into. This exquisite specimen was uncovered at the Brau Haus in Oldenburg, Indiana. A quaint small town so prideful of its German heritage that the street signs are bilingual...

In the idyllic, still bustling Main Street of downtown Madison, Indiana you’ll find Hinkles Hamburgers; where, since 1933 they’ve been dishing out perfect slider style burgers to hungry patrons for generations.

The Steer-In on the East side of Indy has been slinging breakfast foods and generous pork tenderloin sandwiches since 1960...

Bowling Green Falcons threatening late before running away with a 27-10 win over Murray State in the Doyt!

And the Falcons take the field! Perfect September afternoon for football at Bowling Green State University....