Indiana, Markleville - Sunday, August 9, 2015 - Combine Cake and a Tour of the Town

On Wednesday we decided to go into Pendleton for lunch and a nostalgic walk through town and then on to Frankton to see if we could dig up proof of Greg’s residence from the early 70’s so he could claim some unclaimed property.  We called ahead to the Frankton post office to see how long they keep records – one year, guess that won’t do us any good, we’ll have to think of something else.

 

 

Earlier in the week I spent a good deal of time constructing a combine cake for the upcoming third birthday of our great grandson Braxton.  This is the base for the cake, it needs to sit up off of the bottom board so “wheels” can be added later.

Yes, John Deere green icing is possible.

This is going to be the hopper for some candy corn.

This looks really rough but it is as far as I wanted to go right now, have over a week to go before the birthday party so this will have to go in the freezer until then.  I just needed to know that the idea was going to work.  For the finished project the whole thing will be covered in additional icing so it all looks even.  I’ll post pictures of the finished project later.

We went to the Bank Restaurant for lunch on Wednesday.

 

 

Love the tin ceiling.  We talked for a bit with the new owner but he didn’t have a lot of time, the place was packed for lunch.

The banks on the tables were a cute touch.

The “lunch-size” tenderloin was just right and delicious.

We walked through town reminiscing about what the stores used to be when we were growing up – fifty years ago J.  Pendleton is a National Historic Registry Community.  The post office has changed the least of any of the buildings, it was completed in 1937 and remodeled in 1966.

Across from the post office where the white car is parked used to be my uncle’s garage where he repaired cars, we didn’t go in but I think it is now an antique/consignment shop.

This is the main street, State Street looking east from the post office.

This is the main cross street and the one that leads to Falls Park, Pendleton Avenue looking north.

I’ve never been in the apartments that are above these stores on Pendleton Avenue but I like the “bump out” on this one.  Back in the day it was probably a very special place.

Saturday evening we spent with son AJ and daughter-in-law Kim and these two very special grandkids, Jackson and Braelynn.  They are growing up so fast.

 

 

Today we spent at the gun club working with Desira and Dan.  We worked with them on Tuesday and Friday also so it’s been a busy trap shooting week.

Indiana, Pendleton - Monday, July 20, 2015 - Trip Down Memory Lane

We didn’t have anything planned for today so we decided to head into Pendleton which is where we both grew up.  Although Pendleton has grown because of its proximity to Indianapolis it still retains a lot of its small town charm from the days we remember growing up.

 

 

We were hoping to be able to visit the Pendleton Museum in Falls Park but found out it is only open Saturday and Sunday from 1-5, so we’ll have to make another trip in for that visit.

We weren’t the only ones out enjoying the beautiful day.  I don’t know when the bridge in the background was built, but I remember it being there before I was in high school (a long time).

Doesn’t look like this huge tree that came down stream in a recent storm caused any damage to the bridge.  Although the park is still a very beautiful park we noted that it could use a little more maintenance.

This is the area where two diving boards were located when this was the town swimming pool.  The stone from these quarries was used for culverts on the National Road.  We also noticed that the years haven’t resulted in a lot of erosion to the stone.

There was a slide right next to where the little deck is built now.  I don’t know how high it was but I remember I was never allowed to go down it by myself because it was “too high”.  Compared with what they have in parks now it would probably look like a kiddie slide.

This island wasn’t here when we were growing up.  The water from the falls kind of circles into this area before continuing on downstream.  Over the years rocks and dirt have swirled into a small island.  At times after hard rains the water can rush through here up to and over the bridge covering the rocks from one side to the other.

Falls Park has always been the town’s center for activities.  The lighthouse has been there as long as I can remember and ducks swim in the pond.  The building on the left is a shelter house that was the place to be for summer dances when we were in junior and senior high school.  It was lit up with lights and a DJ played all the latest records.

We decided to forego a stroll down lover’s lane today.  Now days I think about ticks – that never crossed my mind when I was younger – guess I’m older and wiser J.

If you are from the Pendleton, Indiana area you know where we went from the park.

Jimmies Dairy Bar at 7065 S. Indiana 67 has been in business since 1954.  It started out as a summertime walk up soft serve ice cream stand.  It has expanded over the years to include a dining room and drive thru window and it is open year round.  They definitely do make the “best Bar B Q in Indiana”.  The tangerine soft serve is highly recommended also.

 

 

We did have a storybook-like small town upbringing and it’s so nice to look back on it and reminisce about how lucky we are.