Unpredictable Side of Awesomeness
Visiting the Midwest... Festivals, Fun, and Food
Cool weather, apple cider, shorter daylight, deer in rut, and a change in direction, indicate fall is coming.
If you’re planning to pass through Southern Indiana the first week of October, take a few days to visit Evansville and hit the Fall Festival. The celebration is put on by the West Side Nut Club, a local non-profit civic group who dedicates their time and money to the betterment of the West Side and Evansville as a whole.
This year the street festival was nominated by USA Today 2023 Readers Choice Awards so it’s time to spotlight the Evansville area and experience some fun in the Midwest gateway to the South.
West Side Nut Club Fall Festival
Paul Harvey once said it was the second-largest street carnival next to The Mardi Gras in New Orleans. Last year’s crowd count was over 200,000 for the week. Who ever thought a fried brain sandwich and deep-fried Twinkies would attract such a big crowd? Or could it be the Half Pot raffle with a chance to win over a million dollars?
The common denominator serving Fall Festival is food, mostly fried culinary delights… if you eat fried, and I don’t… but I did make a few exceptions a few times to see what it was all about.
I’m not advocating trying a fried brain sandwich, which consists of calves brains, mustard, pickles, and raw onions on a white bun… but here are few other goodies that might entice you to forgo your cardiologist’s advice, just this one time.
Pick up a munchie map and try the following if you dare:
Pumpkin funnel cake (fried in light batter topped with powdered sugar) (Instead I tried The Doughnut Bank’s pumpkin glazed, to die for!)
Chocolate-covered crickets (I didn’t try them, but did glom onto the milk chocolate creams from Lib’s Chocolate Factory, which is local; the orange, lemon, and buttercreams are my dream team favorite, especially those covered in milk chocolate.)
Deep fried Snickers, Oreo’s, Twinkies, and Kool-Aid (yes, really… fried Kool-Aid, they’re doughnut-like). Nope, I took a pass on all.
Fried Gizzards and pickles (I love fried gizzards, oh yeah, with Grippo’s potato chips, another local favorite, and passed on the pickles.)
While at the festival take advantage of entering the Half Pot Raffle. Last year it paid out $1,639,870 to two brothers who chose to remain anonymous. They passed along they’d been attending the festival for over 40 years and the winnings allowed them both to (finally) retire.
Tickets cost 3 for $10, 20 for $20, and on up. Better odds than playing the lottery?
Events include a parade, amateur hour, king and queen day, and lest we forget our furry friends, a pet parade. There are rides like the Himalaya, Dizzy Dream, and Ring of Fire of course, but people watching is just as entertaining, sometimes better.
Franklin Street (where the Fall Festival is held) is primarily a retail, service, and social area to visit, different than downtown Evansville. Franklin Street’s old buildings still hold middle America’s small town charm. I think one of the best takeaways from the festival is the camaraderie and stepping back to simpler days gone by.
Evansville’s West Side
While you’re visiting it’ll be fun to check out a few other interesting places of interest, and find fun along the way.
The surrounding rolling hills, lush green woods and forests, taverns, old churches such as St. Boniface, and well-manicured lawns are indicative of the the West Side.
“The West Side is the Best Side” is often shouted out and heard throughout the city with civic pride, especially at sporting events where competition is fierce against the east side cake eaters. The east side is more commercial and flat. West siders say that’s where ‘the new money’ comes into town.
Stop By and Take a Look
The Willard Library
The Victorian Gothic building formally opened its doors in 1885. The large doors, wooden floors, and enormous staircase help set the stage. It was listed on The National Registry of Historic Places in 1972.
The building is majestic. One of my favorite details are the terra cotta owls nestled in the window arcades that were designed to represent wisdom.
But the building isn’t what allured me to spend a copious amount of time in there.
The Willard’s Collection Development isn’t limited to best selling authors such as James Patterson or Good Reads 7th grade picks for readability. I found authors such as Thomas Pynchon, Herman Hesse, and Jennifer Egan.
If you don’t have time to browse through their book selection take time to peruse the impressive collection of periodicals, newspapers and magazines. I found Private Islands and Positive News to name two of my favorites, to sit and browse through while exercising my imagination.
It also houses a wonderful history and genealogy floor that will give you hours of entertainment. The library is said to be haunted by the The Grey Lady; if you're lucky she will make an appearance. The library currently has 6 webcams set up in the event she comes out to play.
Food and Drink
The West Side is predominantly German. You’ll find the authentic old world food and beer that lives up to the pickiest expectations.
Stop by St Joe Inn tavern, a favorite for a beer in an iced cold fishbowl and you might get lucky and find a game of clabber being played by the old-timers. (Clabber was invented in Evansville. It is a jack-nine card game similar to Michigan’s euchre.)
The Gerst Bavarian Haus on Franklin has authentic German cuisine — goulash (rindergulash), red cabbage, and apple strudel, are my favorites.…
Out and About
Check out the nearby quaint town of Newburgh, a 20 minute drive away from Evansville, along the scenic Byway. Walk or bike the paved Rivertown Trail that runs along the Ohio River in downtown Newburgh. It is 5 miles long and there’s parking at both ends. Newburgh has a few upscale shops. My favorite shop in Newburgh is the Sweet Emotions Soap and Potions Shop. Their motto is go naked — in an effort to use only the bare, necessary components for optimal skincare and potions.
Random places for hiking and biking are:
James Audubon State Park is located minutes from Evansville, across twin bridges into Henderson, Kentucky. It is an excellent short hike through wetlands and the nature preserve. It’s also a great place to bird and fish. You do need a fishing license to cast for bluegill and catfish.
Garden of the Gods, in the Shawnee National Forest, is 70 miles west of Evansville. There are beautiful rock formations to climb, and easy walking trails.
Daniel Schwen photographer, Wiki Common
New Harmony, Indiana
It’s a cute, quirky town even further into the middle of nowhere of the Midwest, about 35 miles or so, from Evansville.
Yellow Tavern in New Harmony town proper has the best bread pudding I’ve ever eaten in my life. (And I never liked bread pudding.)
Walk the labyrinths (there are 2), one is a box hedge (The Original Harmonist), my favorite.
And… explore Indiana’s oldest library; The Working Man's Institute; visit the shops for eclectic, locally handcrafted gifts. I bought a beautiful soy wax candle that burned the scent of Kentucky Bourbon. And I found an odd vintage (like new) kitchen gadget that stirs and blends thick substances like peanut butter smoothly, so less work when I make my homemade dog treats.
There are nice, relatively inexpensive places to stay — I like the New Harmony Inn and Resort. I paid a little over $100 for a beautiful room and it had a wonderful indoor heated pool and it had a nice bar and restaurant. A perfect way to end your visit to Southern Indiana.
I never appreciated the area when I briefly lived there. It was only after revisiting that I started to find beauty in the mundane.
Sometimes what appears dull can actually be be pretty wonderful.
Wow. A Paul Harvey mention. You don't see that every day. And that's the rest of the story! I enjoyed this. As usual.