After my last visit to the previous blog in Fairmount, I planned to head down to a certain county seat for another tenderloin town tour. What I failed to realize was that they were in the middle of a giant festival that would prevent me from getting a true vision of it. So… I called an audible and travelled to the seat next door named New Castle to see what they have to offer a curious traveler. Usually I do tons of research and contact various residents to find things to check out before coming out to one of these, so this was a bit different. A couple of tenderloin places on my list were closed during my visit, but luckily, one was open and caught my eye right as I got into town.
The Tenderloin
Part eatery / part amusement park, Weenie World sits at the north border of town at Route 3 welcoming everyone to New Castle. Whether you walk up to the window to just go to the drive-thru, it offers all kinds of American drive-in type fare. It was suggested I try the tenderloin from here, so I ordered one up. They do cut and bread it on site, but it is frozen and then deep fried when ordered. It actually wasn’t too bad for a fast-food style tenderloin. The breading wasn’t mushy from being frozen and it is perfect for putting all of your favorite toppings on top of it. It would be a great place to bring your kids as there are all kinds of rides out front for them to hang out on. There is plenty of space for parking, so it would be a fun place to hang out at on busy nights or weekends.
The Town
Basketball has been a topic on these travel blogs before. I went to Milan to their museum and have ventured into a couple of old high school gyms for pictures. So I had to stop off at the Indiana Basketball Hall of Fame while in town. It features artifacts and displays through all the Indiana high school tournament champions over the years. You can also view banners and old scoreboards from the schools that aren’t around anymore. In the back are the plaques of every player or coach that has make it in the hall. Although I enjoyed walking around the place seeing all the old school jackets and banners, I enjoyed talking with the guy at the front counter even more. He’s been around Indiana high school and college basketball for almost all of the 90 years of his life. I enjoyed hearing his stories of his first high school game when he was 10 years old and his dad dropped him off to get standing room tickets and stories about Bobby Knight from his experiences attending IU games with his season tickets.
I had absolutely no idea that Wilbur Wright was born right outside of New Castle. As I was driving up to Summit Lake, I saw a sign, “Wilbur Wright Birthplace - 8 Miles”. While detouring out there I contemplated why it was only Wilbur’s birthplace and not Orville. Then it dawned on me that they are not twins and people are allowed to move before finishing having babies. I had no idea what to expect, but when arriving I found a nicely preserved mid-19th century house and a thorough museum of his and his brother’s activities. Outside the gift shop sits a F-84 jet, a fitting tribute to their achievement in flight. Inside the museum sits an impressive replica of the Kitty Hawk. One could only imagine climbing in this thing on a windy day near the Atlantic Ocean in North Carolina ready to test one of the most important inventions in modern history. You also have a cool replica of an old downtown Main St where you can walk into shops and an old-school old school. It’s a neat roadside stop, I would advise everyone to make a detour to check this place out.
Walking around downtown New Castle I noticed various boutique and specialty shops. It was warm outside on my stroll, so I walked into Broad Street Blends for a refresher. It is a juice bar that serves up “meal replacement shakes and energizing teas”. I ordered up a hydro-boost, which is a sports drink-type with caffeine called Blue Typhoon. It tasted pretty good and was very, very blue. It eliminated my thirst and gave me a bit of extra energy while heading out to the other sites that New Castle had to offer.
A bit north of the city is Summit Lake State Park. About half a century ago they dammed up a stream and flooded some farmlands creating this giant lake that people can enjoy boating and fishing. They also let the land around it regain its original forest landscape and created hiking trails. Although more utilized for the lake, the trails are some of the nicest around Indiana. I started with Trails 1 & 5 on the northeast side. The views of the lake were limited, but you have some nice forest and prairie to journey through. If you want to get the best sites of the lake, though, I suggest heading to Trail 2 by the campsites. This one meanders along the shoreline with panoramic views of the water and the birds that now call it home. It’s another state park for me to knock off my list of hikes and another serenity of nature that all residents of Indiana can flock to enjoy a Saturday afternoon.
So… how did I do? Did I capture the essence, or did I miss a lot of the character of the town? It was kind of fun, although rather nerve-racking discovering the place as I went. I enjoyed the time there, especially talking to friendly, new people. Also, there is one of the most unique places to order-up Indiana’s finest sandwich – the tenderloin.
by Michael Tomko
find The Indiana Tenderloin Chronicles on Facebook at
Comments