Month: January 2019

Indy – North End BBQ

I’ve had a craving for that Kentucky staple called a Hot Brown for the past week and the closest place to get one in Indianapolis is at North End BBQ in Nora.

The Kentucky Hot Brown is made up pf the following:

  • Bread
  • Turkey
  • Tomato
  • Bacon
  • Mornay Sauce

The order of the ingredients often changes but when assembled you get something that looks like this:

Hot Brown at North End BBQ in Indianapolis, Indiana

This dish checks all the boxes for me. It’s rich and salty and the turkey is moist and smoked just right. The thick cut bacon has some chew and the Mornay sauce is something you want more of, even through the dish is covered in it. This is one of those meals thats best ate on a cold or rainy day and kind of defines comfort food for me.

For my side I choose Mac and Cheese topped with Bacon Jam. I was pretty underwhelmed with this side. It was very bland and somewhat dry. The Bacon Jam was a nice addition but it could not save it. I’m usually disappointed with the Mac and Cheese I get when I’m out and I’m not sure why I even ordered it this time! It’s not like I needed any more starch or carbs with this meal. The bottle of Lone Star beer I ordered went really well with this dish.

Mac and Cheese at North End BBQ

My son also ordered the Hot Brown and opted for the hand cut fries covered in smoked bone marrow butter. They fry thin slices of jalapeños with the fries for a nice little bit of heat. These were delicious and will be my side of choice when we return to satisfy our next Hot Brown craving.

Hand cut fries covered in smoked bone marrow butter at North End BBQ

North End BBQ serves up some really good food. Their pulled pork and brisket are some of the best in the area and their Moonshine cocktails are delicious. If you’re a Bourbon fan North End BBQ has an amazing selection and even offers flights if you want to sample multiple spirits.

If you’re in the area and in the mood for some great BBQ you should check out The North End BBQ!

1250 East 86th Street
Indianapolis, IN 46240
http://thenorthendbbq.com


92 County Geocaching Adventure

Just got back from a 2-day adventure with my son in Southern Indiana collecting Geocaches in 2o new counties. The goal is to visit all 92 Indiana Counties and log a Geocache in each one. After this trip we only have 16 counties left to complete the challenge. We were hoping to complete the challenge this year but we’re not going to make it.

Only 16 more counties to go after this trip!

It took quite a lot of planning for this 2-day trip. With so much ground to cover we needed to be as efficient as we could be but still have some fun. After a lot of research I identified 20 Geocaches that had multiple “Favorite Points” as voted on by other Cachers. This usually means a Geocache is something special and not just a 35mm film container (or pill bottle) in a bush. I was hoping that by choosing favorited caches we would have more fun and my 15-year old son would stay interested in our goal.

The Plan…

Of course when the day came we had rainy (but WARM) weather. We ended up with Rain on day-1 and a cold front in the afternoon of day-2. Considering this was between Christmas and New Years I was really happy with the overall 50-degree conditions.

Below is a gallery of the photos taken during the trip. We had a great time and are already planning to get the remaining counties in the next few weeks (if the weather cooperates!).

  • Waiting to be found…
  • Nano container in the belly of a big fake grasshopper
  • Feeling lucky in the middle of an oilfield in SW Indiana
  • Gil Hodges mural Petersburg Indiana
  • Half way through day one & already needs a wash!
  • Last one for the day, at least it was easy to find.
Evansville Sunset
  • Day-2 started with a wooden chicken in a tree
  • One of many State Parks we discovered.
  • Just a T-Rex holding a matchstick container in a tree
Fire Tower!
West Baden Christmas Tree
  • We drove on a lot of fun roads this trip
  • Another park
  • Quarry near Bedford
  • Final Cache and a Chinese Coin headstone.

Did You Know Purple Paint = No Trespassing?

Effective July 1, 2018 Indiana became the 12th state to enact a “Purple Paint Law”. I spent a couple of days Geocaching in Southern Indiana last week and saw a lot of property marked with purple paint. Luckily I remembered hearing about the law but this was the first time I had seen the paint being used in leu of the traditional No Trespassing signs.

I was wondering about how this might be a problem with color blind individuals but it turns out Purple was chosen because it can be seen by most people with that condition. There are, however, people that see no color and that couple be a problem.

A new Indiana law went into effect on July 1st, that may help you mark your property boundaries more efficiently to prevent trespassing. The “purple paint law” is found in Indiana Code IC 35-43-2-2 and stipulates that appropriately applied purple paint can be used to mark your property with the same legal effect as using a No Trespassing sign. Landowners attempting to protect their property from trespassing have often been frustrated by the need to post signs and replace signs torn down, vandalized, or rendered unreadable by the elements. Marking boundaries with purple paint should provide a more efficient and inexpensive option, as well as eliminating placing nails in your trees.

Purdue Extension Blog

According to the law, HB 1233, the paint must be:

(A) on a tree:
(i) as a vertical line of at least eight (8) inches in length and with the bottom of the mark at least three (3) feet and not more than five (5) feet from the ground; and
(ii) not more than one hundred (100) feet from the nearest other marked tree; or
(B) on a post:
(i) with the mark covering at least the top two (2) inches of the post, and with the bottom of the mark at least three (3) feet and not more than five (5) feet six (6) inches 19 from the ground; and
(ii) not more than thirty-six (36) feet from the nearest other marked post; and

HB 1233

The 11 other states with Purple Paint Laws are:

  • Maine
  • Texas
  • Illinois
  • Missouri
  • North Carolina
  • Florida
  • Idaho
  • Arkansas
  • Montana
  • Arizona
  • Kansas

I think the biggest issue with this law boils down to education and awareness. It’s only in effect in about 20% of the country and it’s not very apparent what the paint means. As a Geocacher that goes in a lot of off the grid locations it’s something I’m certainly going to have to keep an eye out for. People who hunt and fish are other groups that need to be made aware of this law for everyones safety.

Be careful out there!