The Tenderloin
Jack’s Eats & Brews sits on Canal Street on the east side of town. From all indications this was the place to get a tenderloin - and it delivered superbly. At first glance while walking inside the restaurant, you get the appearance of a neighborhood tavern. There is a bar stretching along one side and booths on the other with tables in the back, but a large family section have been roped off to allow visitors of any age to enjoy a meal. With Peru being The Circus City, one would expect a circus sized sandwich to be served. Well, let me tell you, the first thought that came to mind when it came out was “elephant ear”. It was that big, one of the largest I have seen in a while. They don’t compromise on the thickness of the pork either, as there was a large cross section of loin with every bite. The breading was seasoned and complemented the taste as well as the hot wing sauce we requested. This is the signature type of Indiana tenderloin people think of, and the biggest one I have had on the northern side of the state. The people there were especially nice too. We enjoyed chatting with the server and one of the ladies that owned the place. For a neighborhood bar, they make you feel like you are home whether you live next door or the other side of the country.
The Town
Before all the distractions we have today like the internet, video games, and even TV, the entertainment choices for small towns were limited. So when “the circus comes to town” everyone was excited. These traveling portable cities would travel by rail, set up, and tear down the “greatest show on earth” within a day. There was a lot of promotion before the event (that’s why you still see a lot of circus posters in old movies and museums) so a buzz was created around town weeks before. When the day arrives it was an extravaganza most have not seen on a regular basis. You had a menagerie (zoo) where people can walk trough and see exotic animals like elephants and giraffes, an oddities sideshow that showcased people with extraordinary abilities (and some not so extraordinary that would be considered exploitative today), and a three ring event at the end that would have your typical well known trapeze artists, lion tamers, and clowns. During the winter, a place would be needed to house all of the animals and infrastructure. The winter grounds for the 2nd largest circus, Hagenbeck–Wallace, was located in Peru and that is where the International Circus Hall of Fame (ICHF) is at today. The first ICHF was established in Florida in the 1950’s, but the place became unprofitable and a group of citizens of Peru decided to purchase the collection as a whole instead of allowing it to be auctioned off in pieces. Housed in the old barns that used to hold the carriages and animals (the “elephants and cat animals” sign painted on the second barn is especially eye-grabbing), it contains all sorts of circus memorabilia. The carriages have been restored and sit out in their original glory for you to see. The highlight of the visit isn’t even a relic at all; a giant miniature diorama of a three ring circus sits in the middle of the exhibit and is the closest thing to stepping back in time and going to an original show yourself. You could look at it for hours and still find new things. I absolutely loved this place. Some museums are fancy and new with displays that just tell you about history, this one is like opening up some guy’s old garage and wandering in to see the actual relics of days gone by. I highly recommend people to check out this place, it is one of the most authentic museums in the area that can transport you back in time to learn more about our past.
My family and I love escape rooms. This is where they keep you in a room for an hour and give you various puzzles to open doors and locks in order complete the puzzle. Most of the time escape rooms are not worth writing about since, one – they are mostly located in plazas and other boring non-interesting venues, and two – I can’t tell you what happens in them since it would spoil the fun for people. But when I saw that the Streaper’s Escape Adventures was located in the old Peru grade school, I knew it would be a welcome new adventure for this edition of the blog. It has a haunted house on the upper floors that open up in the fall, but during the rest of the year there are 6 different escape rooms to check out. We chose the one called The Experiment where you get “inoculated” with a new drug and have one hour to unlock the cure to live. It’s located in the old bathroom of the grade school and made up to look like a hospital room. We didn’t make it out alive, but we had loads of fun trying (you can find our picture on Streaper’s Facebook page for 8/27). This is a perfect place to work up an appetite before taking down a large tenderloin. Make sure to see the old high school basketball gym behind the school. The Tig-Arena had served decades of Hoosier Hysteria before being retired in the 90’s.
As well as searching for tenderloins in the Indiana area, I wouldn’t pass up a good drive-in to park and eat at. I also most certainly wouldn’t pass up a place to eat called Mr. Weenie. And – I would most definitely not pass up a chance to buy a T-shirt that has a giant hot dog with a hat and bow-tie on it and says “It’s Mr. Weenie Time”. They do have some breaded tenderloins here, my son got one and it was pretty good, but I got the signature food here – the hot dog, the foot long Coney Dog to be exact. Although they serve you in your car, it was no nice outside that we chose just to eat in the picnic tables under the patio. This was our lunch destination today on the Peru trip and would serve to be anyone’s initial visit when arriving in town.
The Seven Pillars in a natural formation on the north bank of the Mississinewa River. It consists of tall columns that look to be supporting the land above. This was caused by erosion from wind and water over the years. Driving to the south bank of the cliffs, we walked down to the river that was low at this time. You can even wade across to the other side if you wish; I believe the deepest it got was to the kid’s knees. It is a visually striking view of nature and the beauty it can bring by just existing untouched throughout thousands of years. It’s a must see for people visiting the area.
Although the highlight of the Circus City is the circus, there is much more to find and do in Peru. There were a couple more historical items we didn’t get to in this visit, like the Cole Porter House and the Miami County museum. On top of that, we didn’t even go at the circus festival time in July. So there is much, much more that Peru has to offer the visitor when they go to get a great, large, elephant-ear-sized, tenderloin.
The entrance to the old high-school basketball gym (Do I sense a future blog coming along?)
by Michael Tomko
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