Since the day President Eisenhower signed the Federal-Aid Highway Act 60 years ago, people have been itching to hit the road and get way the hell out of town, regardless of the strains of “are we there yet?” coming from the back seat of the family truckster. And since we all know that an army travels best on its stomach, we’ve put together three food-based outings guaranteed to entertain and sustain your traveling clan.
LOUISVILLE, KENTUCKY
Approximate Drive Time: 1 hour 30 minutes
Eschew downtown Louisville’s chain hotels and opt for the charm and luxury of Devona and Steve Porter’s Tucker House Bed & Breakfast located just 15 miles east of town. Set on five bucolic acres, this completely restored Federal-style antebellum beauty features four guest rooms, each with its own bath, lovely early-19th-century antiques, plush bathrobes and linens and a heated, in-ground pool. Welcome cookies of the chocolate chip variety and the Porter’s lovely dog Sophie greet you upon arrival. The highlight of the Tucker House is by far the belt-busting breakfast prepared by Devona. Omelets, waffles, thick-cut bacon, fruit, homemade breads and more will leave you ready for a full day.
Walk off that behemoth meal while checking out the shops on Louisville’s charming East Market Street in the NuLu District. It’s packed with incredible antique stores (you could spend hours at the fascinating Joe Ley alone), consignment shops (Rellek is a great one for home furnishings), clothing boutiques and art galleries. If you’re in the process of remodeling your kitchen or bathroom and want to do it in a green and sustainable way, don’t miss Honest Home for an array of locally made tile, formaldehyde-free cabinetry, non-toxic flooring and radon-free countertops. Honest Home is also the place to find flooring crafted out of repurposed bourbon barrels.
When you finally start to feel a bit peckish, make your way to Harvest, a “locally grown” restaurant that features chef Patrick Roney’s farm-to-table take on Southern cuisine. The restaurant sources 80 percent of its ingredients from within a 100-mile radius, and everything is baked, cured, smoked and preserved in-house. Harvest is a great place to try Burgoo, a hearty, long-cooking local stew packed with several types of meat — sometimes wild game — and vegetables; chef Roney’s features chicken, pork, turkey, new potatoes, heirloom tomatoes and green beans. Local Woodlands Pork stars in a fried mortadella sandwich crowned with a sunny egg, pimento cheese and spicy greens, and the Harvest Burger is topped with hog-jowl bacon jam, Steckler Grassfed gruyere and lettuce and is served on a brioche bun with chips and housemade pickled vegetables. Make sure you save room for dessert, especially the sorghum cookie with candied-bacon vanilla filling. It’s plenty big enough for two to share.
After lunch, head to the retail location of Bourbon Barrel Foods to sample and buy products from the only soy sauce microbrewery in the United States. Founder/owner Matt Jamie takes Kentucky grown non-GMO soybeans, soft red winter wheat and limestone-filtered Kentucky water, ages it for a year in repurposed bourbon barrels and produces a product that makes those little packets in your takeout Chinese food taste like swamp water. The company also produces smoked spices, artisan sugars, gourmet sauces and marinades, grill wood, sorghum, vanilla extract, Worcestershire sauce and their own version of teriyaki sauce called Kentuckyaki.
Do not arrive in Louisville without dinner reservations at Seviche, A Latin Restaurant. Chef Anthony Lamas, a James Beard Award semi-finalist, beautifully blends his Mexican and Puerto Rican heritage on a seasonally changing menu with a focus on the freshest possible sustainable seafood. Chef Lamas prides himself on following the guidelines of the Monterey Bay Aquarium Seafood Watch program, which helps individuals and businesses choose seafood that is fished or farmed in ocean-friendly ways. Seviche, or ceviche, is a fresh, raw seafood dish hailing from coastal regions of Latin America. Although the fish isn’t cooked, it’s typically cured in some type of citrus juice, and chef Lamas’ menu doesn’t disappoint — it features no less than four seviche options. There are vegetarian choices, as well as a separate gluten-free menu. Before you leave, be sure to pick up a copy of chef Lamas’ cookbook, Southern Heat, the perfect souvenir for your Southern sojourn.
URBANA, OHIO
Approximate Drive Time: 1 hour 30 minutes
Let’s be honest, you don’t really have to drive all the way to the Airport Café at Grimes Field, Urbana’s municipal airport — about 47 miles west of Columbus — for a really delicious slice of pie, but when you’re confronted with the giant glass case full of fresh fruit (locally sourced black raspberries are a favorite), cream and seemingly mile-high meringue, you’ll be glad you did. The café has been in Doug Hall’s family for more than 20 years and the pies were originally baked by his great-grandmother, Martha Smith. The menu also features beef from Hall’s own cattle.
If the weather is nice, take a table on the outside patio and watch the runway activity while you eat. If you have time, visit the adjacent Champaign Aviation Museum to check out a B-17, B-25, C-47, Stinson 10A, A-26 and other aircraft. It’s free and open to the public Tuesday-Saturday from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. On Saturday, June 11, they’ll have a special celebration for Veterans Appreciation Day.
Before you head north to Urbana, make an appointment to tour Susie and Steve Groups’ Big Shaggy Buffalo Ranch. Steve Group has always had a fascination with Native American culture, and in 2005 — in “a weak moment,” says Susie — he bought a ranch, moved an 1800s barn to the property and decided to raise bison.
Although visitors aren’t allowed to have physical contact with the bison, Steve offers tours of the property and there is a shop where you can purchase the meat, which contains no growth hormones or antibiotics. The ranch is open by appointment most Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays.
Urbana is also home to Freshwater Farms of Ohio, Ohio’s largest indoor fish hatchery, where you and the kiddies can get up close and personal with the residents of the Sturgeon Petting Zoo, feed the fish by hand at the Trout Feeding Frenzy and even take home some fresh and smoked fish from the store.
ZIONSVILLE, INDIANA (AND INDIANAPOLIS)
Approximate Drive Time: 2 hours
Pack the kids in the minivan and head west on I-74 toward Zionsville, Indiana, home of Traderspoint Creamery, the first USDA-certified organic dairy farm in the state. Traderspoint is a family-owned artisan creamery, opened by Dr. Peter (Fritz) Kunz and his wife, Jane Elder Kunz, in 2003. Not only is the farm 100-percent organic, but the cows are also grass-fed.
The 150-acre farm is open to the public with several types of available tours, including self-guided or private. Evening milking time is 4 p.m., and all are invited to view. The property also features a nature trail.
Have lunch in The Loft, the creamery’s restaurant, which is situated in a restored 1860s barn. The menu naturally offers Traderspoint’s superb cheeses — grilled cheese is a favorite — but local grass-fed meat, the farm’s own pork and vegetables are featured as well. Don’t miss out on housemade ice cream for dessert. Also, make sure to bring a cooler so you can haul home a stash of Traderspoint products. You can find their super-rich drinking yogurt locally, but there are so many more goodies available at the farm you’ll want to bring home.
Bonus: Mark your calendars for Summer Fridays on the Farm; every Friday evening June through August, Traderspoint offers live music, cocktails and a farm-to-table, fresh-from-the-garden dinner on the deck in conjunction with their Summer Green Market.
If your kids aren’t exactly the outdoorsy type, or the weather turns inclement, head downtown to The Children’s Museum of Indianapolis, the world’s largest children’s museum, which is currently featuring the hotly anticipated Hot Wheels: Race to Win exhibit. Other highlights of the museum are a carousel from 1917 and a 430-foot glass tower titled “Fireworks of Glass” by famed glass artist Dale Chihuly.
On your way out of town, stop by Shapiro’s Delicatessen — an Indy staple since 1905 — for some authentic Reuben sandwiches for the ride home. ©
This article appears in May 18-25, 2016.
