The Tenderloin:
The Dam Landing is as advertised. It's located next to the dam and it has a boat landing, hence the name The Dam Landing. A large serpent-like creature with supernatural powers locally known as the Manitou Monster haunts the body of water next to the restaurant. It's told that if you capture a picture of the monster, someone (it was never revealed specifically who) would give you a million dollars for it. Although we didn't see the Manitou Monster, we did see a monster of another kind here, the pork tenderloin.
There are a multitude of unique toppings you can get on your tenderloin at The Dam Landing. There is the peanut butter and jelly on a tenderloin, bacon gouda on a tenderloin, and a bbq bacon jalapeno on a tenderloin. But, just like Mitch Hedberg's crackers, I would just prefer a tenderloin on a tenderloin. The best way to describe this sandwich is crispy. Not bad crispy like dried out piece of bread, but perfect crispy with a crunch and nice juicy meat inside. The breading tasted great. I had some hot wing sauce to dip in, but you could just eat it straight plain and it would be delicious. It was large too. I cut a third of it off for my son to eat and I was stuffed after finishing mine. I want to make a special mention to the tater tots here. Most tater tots seem like the same old uniform frozen ones you could buy in the store and fry up. But these I can only describe as homemade, they came in all shapes and sizes. Again, like the tenderloin, perfectly crispy on the outside with nice soft potato on the inside.
The Town:
Rochester is familiar to people that travel from the north part of the state down Highway 31; it's the largest place to stop between South Bend and Kokomo. Most don't get past the chain fast food eateries and big box stores to get to the older part of town that used to cater to US 31 traffic before the highway was built. Downtown redevelopment is starting later than other cities visited as you can see boarded up storefronts and empty lots peppering the commercial space around the courthouse. But, construction was there, and in a few years it will be indistinguishable to the other main squares in the county seats across Indiana. In the mean time there are a few cool places to check out in town.
I am not a huge fan of venturing into the antique store, but Green Oak Antiques south of town is the one of largest around and has something for everyone. The outside contains an array of metal and wood for raw materials for your own crafting and repurposing. Walking inside, you uncover large pieces of reclaimed furniture from desks to bars to tables to dressers. Old gadgets and pieces of times-gone-by tools clutter the shelves while you travel towards the back. There are also new crafts lining the walls too. Like I said, I'm not a common seeker of trash becoming treasure, but the first time I left I acquired a nice beer stein with a pewter lid. This time I took away a small set of original Hardy Boys books and George and Martha Washington salt and pepper shakers. Like I said, there is something for everyone.
Driving through town you may notice a red, white, and blue thick striped metal building. There is only one thing you could sell out of there - ice cream. The Flagpole serves all sorts of cold treats and on any other day that's not named after the big ball of fire in the sky, you can get food. We pulled into the drive thru and got a couple of shakes, a Nutty Professor (vanilla ice cream, peanuts, and hot fudge), and I ordered a scoop of ice cream called The Red... um... well... lets just say it was red, cinnamon flavored, and slightly spicy. Kind of like taking a bunch of fireballs and grinding them into ice cream. Even on a cold day, the cool treats were appreciated.
We headed down to Lakeside Park where the dam is located. It's hard to believe that this massively large lake exists because of a small 50 ft structure. You could walk across the top of it where the water flows if it weren't for the fence and signs that say, "do not enter". You can walk down to the bottom of the dam and see where the water falls into the small stream. Just think, on the other side of the concrete barrier lies the Manitou Monster lurking around trying to find it's next prey. Just glad to have been on land and spend the afternoon in the dry city of Rochester.
Only need one spotting of that monster for the $1,000,000
by Michael Tomko
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actually, the best tenderloins in rochester is at the b & k