The Sandwich Life

Glimpses and Hobos and BBQ

We drive around small towns and old roads and we find bits of stories. Sometimes we never know what the story really was. Sometimes we do.

In Old Shawneetown, we found the word 'hotel' in stones, next to the levee. Where was the hotel? What happened to it? What did it look like?

I don't know.

In Shawneetown, which moved from the site of Old Shawneetown after the big flood of 1937, we drove by many closed up buildings. We paused in the rain to take a quick picture of a cafe window that said, "Rudy's Serving you Since '32." Late last night, when I couldn't sleep, I scrolled through my photos, and thought about putting it on my Instagram.

I lazily googled to see if I could get any info, and lo and behold, I found a little bit of the story. 

From the New York Times, in 2004:

Rambling Rudy Phillips, who spent his teenage years hopping freight trains to everywhere and nowhere and lived to become one of America's last and best-known Depression-era hobos, died on Jan. 9 in Harrisburg, Ill.

He was 92 when he caught ''the westbound to heaven,'' in the time-honored hobo saying, his son Rudy said. He lived in a nursing home in Eldorado, Ill.

In 1986, Mr. Phillips was crowned King of the Hobos at the National Hobo Convention in Britt, Iowa, an event that began in 1900 when a group of hobos from Chicago who called themselves Tourists Union No. 63 began convening there.

Since 1933, the Britt Chamber of Commerce has sponsored what became an almost annual event as an allure to tourists. Rambling Rudy, like 44 kings before him and 17 after, was crowned with an empty coffee can.

''It was a great life,'' Mr. Phillips told the crowd in a speech that told of his confinement in 27 jails as he traveled the rails in 48 states for seven years, beginning when he was 14. ''I'd do it all over again.''

And from the Britt, Iowa News-Tribune:

Rambling Ruby Phillips, 92, of Shawneetown, Ill. has passed away.

Rambling Rudy's funeral was at the First Baptized Church in Shawneetown on Jan. 12, 2004.

Rudy is survived by five sons and their families. He is also survived by many hobos and hobos at heart and by his Hobo Queen Minneapolis Jewel.

Rambling Rudy rode the rails during the Great Depression, only to return home and open Rudy's Bar-B-Que. Rudy also opened Rudy's Hobo Museum in Shawneetown. He attended many Hobo Conventions, being elected King of the Hobos in 1986.

Rudy loved Britt, writing many poems and articles about the Hobo Capital of the World. In 1993, Rudy wrote: My hat is off and I salute Britt, for the compassion and love they show us old Hobos, like Jesus Christ said, "When you do it to the least of these, you are doing it for me." That just about says it all for Britt, Iowa.

I never could have imagined this as we drove by in the rain. Rudy's BBQ is now closed. The neon happy pig sign is gone. It makes me wonder how many other stories we drive by without pausing. I feel lucky to get these little glimpses.

I'm afraid his 1970 biography is out of print, although it's still listed on Amazon.

Sharp and Clear

I've been quiet of late. I'm in kind of a peaceful place. I mean, I need to find a job, and I should be tense about that, but I feel SO much better, physically and mentally, that there's kind of a cloud of bliss floating around me. I saw my doctor the other day, he and his team seemed really happy with how I am doing. It's kind of mind boggling to me...how DIFFERENT I feel since I started seeing him. My first appointment was in October, and I really started the diet/supplements around the fist of November. I can't begin to tell you the difference between the way I felt then and the way I feel now. My dizziness is 90% gone, my brain fog, all the digestive issues, everything is 90% gone. I lapse back quickly if I cheat, but I haven't cheated much. Eating while traveling is hard....I was craving one of my smoothies by the time we got home yesterday. I've also lost weight, which although it wasn't the primary reason for doing this, has been a great bonus. The biggest difference is really in my brain....the way I feel and think....I've lost the sluggishness and the fog that made it hard to function. I feel sharp and bright and clear again. I feel more like myself than I have in some time.

So I'm floating along in my little bliss. The real world and its worries are there but I feel more able to deal with them.

Last night's last minute dinner. Ernie splurged on a pizza but I quite enjoyed my big bowl of Brussels sprouts, grass fed beef, and pomegranate seeds.

We did some more wandering again over the weekend. The eeriness of Cairo, Illinois has stayed with us. The pouring rain and slightly flooded fields didn't help the miasma of bleakness.

nice ghost sign though, huh?

However, we also found lots of wonderful things, some healthy, some abandoned. As always, I like the abandoned ones better. Is it just that I think they need me?

As always, if you like these pictures, follow me at Instagram. I've been enjoying posting there lately!

 

 

 

An Update and the Tale of Two Windmills

My poor Owen just came home sick from school. Poor sweet pea. Leo, on the other hand, headed off to his first day of the new semester yesterday, and got rear ended. Poor sweet pea. His first entry into the world of insurance companies. He is fine, fortunately.

Ernie and I? We're ok. We get a new water meter from the water company tomorrow....good lord, life can be exciting. But, on Thursday I have a doctor appointment in Bloomington and then we will head off for a wander in honor of the anniversary of the day we met. Man, I wish cameras had been as plentiful back then...or perhaps it's just as well. Although I was damn cute and there is little documentation of it....again, perhaps it's better than having the cold light of reality destroy my fond memories.

A week or so ago, as we wandered the Quad Cities for a bit, we came across this vanquished windmill building. Originally a gas station I would assume. Poor sweet pea.

Later, as we rounded the curve into Industry, Illinois, we spotted another windmill building. 

A tiny bit of research says this used to be the Old Mill Tourist Camp, started in 1927, by Ralph Swearingen. Here's what it used to look like.  A few links below as well.

https://www.flickr.com/photos/27865667@N03/4327585121/

http://www.mcdonoughvoice.com/article/20130607/NEWS/130609574

Onward.

Random Notes from the Sandwich Life

1. I haven't been blogging much, partly because the computer was enlisted for the living room recording studio. Yes. At least on the second day, Rascal stepped in to take charge.

2. On a recent trip I fell in love with this building. It's in Oakland, IL, and when you peer in you can see all the old cases and shelves just waiting for you. Evidently, it was the old drug store. I want it.

3. I love my wandering. I'll have to curb it a bit when I start working again, but for now, as along as we can afford gas, it gives me great joy.

4. I liked this building. And I liked it even more when I pondered it a bit. As you can see it's an Oddfellows building, and it's also the Haskell Memorial. AND, when you look at the cornerstone, you'll see it says, "This Stone Donated by Everett Haskell Welch, Pomona, CAL. Laid By Mrs. Abigail L. Haskell, Lee Center, ILL, April 1913.

Stories.

Sometimes you don't even need to know the story, it's just enough to know they are out there.

5. I've got no words for Dickeyville Grotto. You should go see it. Now I have some of the other Midwestern grottos on my to-do list!

This one was through glass, but it's for my sister Debbie.

6. And in a little town, we drive down the street and there sits the Hurst Hotel. The speakers in the town play oldies even though nobody is on the street. I worry about all these buildings.

Christmas Redux Part One: To Iowa

Ernie and I aren't really ones for big gifts for each other at Christmas. Somehow, we've been together so long and know each other so well, and do things for one another throughout the year, that Christmas presents just aren't a big deal for us. I know some find that odd, but it works for us. We will, however, often do something or get something that we both want. This year we also were trying to be careful with money; but we've both really been itching to get out of town. So when, on Saturday morning I suddenly suggested to go that day, Ernie agreed and we went for it.

We were pretty home bound last year with my health issues, and one of the things we normally love to do is travel to small and mid sized cities throughout the Midwest. Last year we did NONE of that, and we didn't even start up our country drives until late in the year when I was finally feeling better. So we'd already been talking about possible little trips. I decided we should do a tour of all the Louis Sullivan banks we  hadn't seen, then there's always US 40 and the Lincoln Highway; I'd been tossing all of those around in my head. My friend Seth had recently commented on what a great city Dubuque is, and that had been on our list for some time (I find myself quite smitten with Iowa of late), so sometime after my very late breakfast, as I contemplated taking down the Christmas tree, I decided that was it, we HAD to go to Dubuque that day. 

We grabbed a few things, cooked a couple of sweet potatoes to have as emergency meals for me, and off we went. We headed over to Bloomington, then north on 39, until we hit US30, the Lincoln Highway. We took that over to the Mississippi and then headed up to Dubuque. When we got to Dubuque, Ernie looked at me and said, "Happy Christmas."

A few pictures from the trip thus far. 

I love my Oddfellows buildings, and this was a nice one.

No neon left, but a nice sign.

Is this GORGEOUS or what? Incredible little Art Deco gas station. Oh my.

I loved this building in Clinton, IA...couldn't find anything about it online. Take that as a challenge if you will.

The most incredible building we just wandered across, yes, just WANDERED across, coming up next.

Onward.

1993 Ernie and Nashville

In going through a drawer in the sideboard, trying to empty it of junk so I could fit something else in it, I found these pictures I'd been looking for. Our first trip to Nashville, 25 years ago this year. I know there are more pictures somewhere but I was delighted with these. Look at my sweet, skinny baby. It was a major birthday of sorts, and we were both listening to a lot of old school country, as well as some of the great stuff coming out at that time. It was a whole new world. I remember sitting in our apartment in Chicago, listening to Marty Stuart do an interview on WGN (my mother had alerted me). That was back in the day when we followed Marty from county fair to country fair. He was talking about the Grand Old Opry in that inimitable Marty way, and I thought, "HELL, THAT'S what I'll do for Ernie's birthday!" So I called his boss, Jim Mayhercy, at Second Hand Tunes, the used record store in Hyde Park that Ernie ran, and arranged with him for Ernie to have some time off work without him knowing about it. I ordered Grand Old Opry tickets and had them sent to my parents' house so he wouldn't see them. I planned that we would leave after he got off work and drive half way there or so. Of course, that morning, our wonderfully reliable little Honda broke down. I was hysterical, calling our cute mechanic a few blocks over on Clark Street. He couldn't get it back to us that day...don't even remember what the problem was, so I had to take our old beat up cargo van that we used for antique shows. Oh well. It worked. I picked up Ernie from work, and as I headed for the Dan Ryan, I handed him the gift wrapped Grand Ole Opry tickets. He looked confused, and said that if he'd known this he would have gone to the bathroom. That response has been brought up to him many, many times in the ensuing 25 years.

We decided to take pictures of Ernie standing in front of various spots..something we never did at the time. Of course, we hardly took pictures at the time...it was indeed a different world.

Forgive the spotty, dusty scans (if I wait until I edit them, I'll never post them)....and just look at Ernie and Nashville in 1993.

 

Suggestions Needed for This Year's Spring Break Trip-ette

It's time to start thinking about our Spring Break trip. As you recall, we like to hit small towns and back roads, or medium cities... In 2015 we did Southern Indiana with French Lick and New Harmony. In 2016 we did more Indiana with New Harmony and a bit of Bloomington. Last year it was just Ernie and me (the boys have politely said, "no thank you to any more trips." We did Bishop Hill and Davenport, then the Lincoln Highway and Cedar Rapids. Some of our other similar trips are when Owen and I went to Burlington, Iowa, and when Ernie and I went to Quincy over holiday break in 2016.

So, all this reminiscing obviously, this leads to the question of where to go this year? I'm toying with the idea of the Mississippi River from Cairo up to Quincy or  so. I do love river towns. I also thought about further north on the Mississippi such as Dubuque. I like to keep it about a four hour trip or so on the return.

Obvious highlights need to be history and/or historic buildings, neon signs, and old restaurants.

Suggestions?

My favorite house in Quincy.

Thank God for Non-Refundable Hotel Rooms

Thursday night I picked up the laptop after 9:00 pm when I'd had some wine. This is a very bad idea and I need to invest in some sort of alarm that refuses to log me in at moments like that. Somebody should really work on that. So before long I had written Denise at Hillbilly Haiku house concerts in Lebanon, TN to check if they had space for the Kieran Kane/Rayna Gellert house concert WITH Peter Cooper/Thomm Jutz opening....and I'd booked a hotel room. 

Yeah.

The next morning this of course seemed like an asinine and expensive thing to have done but guess what? Non-refundable hotel room. So, see...we had no choice in the matter! I canceled on my friends that I'd made plans with (sorry) and told Leo we were going. Owen, of course, had been egging me on the whole time. No surprise there.

We took off midmorning on Saturday and had a pretty uneventful drive down. We did one regional potato chip tasting: Tom's, from North Carolina. High marks for a classic Lay's type chip.

We got into town and checked into our hotel and then went and wandered a bit, exploring town. We stopped and had a drink. We walked in and you could have knocked me over. I haven't been in a bar that allowed smoking in eons. The fact that Witchy Woman was playing only added to the retro atmosphere. After a bit we drove over to Hillbilly Haiku. Before we even got in the door we got big hugs from Peter and Thomm. Nice. Denise and Rick were welcoming and kind and we got to chat with Thomm's wife, who was delightful. We found a spot on the couch and settled in.  

I think Ernie was somewhat tickled by Kieran's expression of confusion as he tried to compute Ernie=Tennesee..huh? Ernie adores Kieran. I think Kieran is the only person I've ever seen Ernie nervous about meeting. We'd seen Kieran play with Kevin a time or two at Schuba's when we lived in Chicago, and we loved his solo work, and of course the O'Kanes. When we moved down from Chicago, they founded Dead Reckoning not long after. Ernie saw a notice in Billboard and was excited so he called the number and spoke to somebody about ordering some cds. After a bit Ernie asked to whom he was speaking and when the response was "Kieran Kane,' Ernie's poor little heart sped up. He ordered the cds and when they arrived there was a little handwritten note from Kieran that said his partners had told him he'd sold them too cheap so they'd have to be more next time. We still have that little note somewhere. I'll have to dig it up. Anyway, months later we drove over to Indianapolis to see all the Dead Reckoners and I've never seen Ernie so damn nervous. Of course Kieran was charming, as they all were. Kieran introduced him to Kevin and Kevin said, "I've HEARD of you," in that Kevin voice. Ernie does a mean imitation of it. I'm rambling, sorry. Ernie came back and handed me my glass of wine and told me he'd chatted to Kieran so I bounced up and found Kieran to give him a big hug and got to meet Rayna Gellert, who was absolutely lovely. Happy, happy, happy.

Peter and Thomm played and good Lord but they are wonderful. Thomm's playing is so understated and beautiful...it's incredible what it adds. And I just happen to adore that Peter Cooper. Yup. Later Kieran and Rayna played, and although I've heard them online, and on video, in person, it of course was sublime. Rayna's voice is gorgeous...a hint of Linda Thompson in it, and their voices together are even greater than the sum of their parts. Kieran, as always, is a rhythm machine...that groove of his really sets him apart. They sounded just glorious. They will have an album out next year, which they taunted us with... Well, they didn't taunt...we just FELT taunted because it sounded so great...can't wait.

It's fun to be at other house concerts than our own. Despite differences here and there, the spirit is the same...and it just feels so good. A million thanks to Denise and Rick Williams (Hillbilly Haiku), Peter Cooper, Thomm Jutz, Rayna Gellert, and Kieran Kane. It was worth every single mile and every single dollar of that non-refundable hotel room!!

We left early this morning and drove home, in and out of rain the whole way. The fields looked beautiful. It was perfect.

Oh, and we did one more regional chip tasting: Golden Flake. Smaller, and a bit thicker, a slight off taste due to different oil perhaps? After a chip or two however, we acclimated just fine.

Onward to Monday...hopefully very slowly....

Random Pictures From the Sandwich Life

Some odds and ends from last weekend. Some Leo took, some I took.

Milwaukee Road 261 Fall Colors: The Birthday Edition

Day Three.

We all slept really hard Saturday night as we were tired. It’s the constant adrenalin every time you hear that whistle blow that wears you out I think. We got up blearily, kissed Leo good morning, told him happy birthday, and headed back to the rail yard. He wanted to get a few pictures but then take off while it was backing up to get on the other track. That way we would have time to catch it at the bridge in downtown over the Mississippi. We got there just in time---couldn’t find a parking place so Ernie just double parked while Leo and I rushed over to a good vantage point. We could hear the whistle blowing, and suddenly she just burst into sight. It was the most beautiful thing…steam rushing, whistle blowing, birds scattering above. Leo and I agreed it might be our favorite moment from the whole trip. 

As I watched the engine steaming and seemingly quivering with energy, all I could think was that it was like rock and roll. It takes you out of yourself, is exhilarating, and make you want more. No wonder it's addictive.

 

We raced back to the car and jumped in and headed for Hopkins. We’d gotten there just in time on Saturday, but there was a depot so we wanted to check that out. After that it becomes a bit of a blur…jumping out of the car, jumping in the car. It started raining and it was a cold, cold rain even though the temperatures weren’t too low. Who knew it could get cold in Minneapolis in October? Huh. While we were waiting at one nice crossing, our friends from Maine and England swooshed out of nowhere and stopped to say hi. We all laughed hellos and traded a few words before we all jumped back on the road. Leo was tough, standing in the rain, not missing a thing. I sometimes huddled in the car as we waited but the minute I head the whistle it was like Pavlov's dog and I would leap out of the car.

Sunday was a bit shorter than the previous day. We headed back to the rail yard to wait for her. We found a place to park and then I suggested we go over to the other side so we could watch her pull in. We drove over (it’s fun driving around rail yards) and there, sure enough, were our friends. We got a chance to stand around and talk and laugh. It’s nice to see Leo holding his own as an adult. And, as we all know, there's nothing better than talking to a friend who shares your passion.

And finally, it was over. We weren't even sad though, because it had been so wonderful. I had picked out a restaurant for Leo's birthday dinner. It has to have fries but I refused to take him to another burger joint. I googled 'best fries in Minneapolis' and found a French brasserie, Barbette so we headed over. I whimpered when we passed the Walker Art Center and Oldenberg's spoon and cherry, but this trip was only about trains. The restaurant was lovely. I had mussels and pommes frites and a salad. The mussels were good, the frites even better but the real star was the salad. It was a mix of lettuces with lots of fresh herbs, with celery and pickled red onion in a dill vermouth vinaigrette. We had a nice time and relaxed and talked, reliving the weekend, trying to think of our favorite moments. 

It was a lovely way to celebrate my Leo turning 18 and hang out with him.

Thanks Milwaukee Road 261.