Some of our favorite regional foods and the places to get them
What’s your favorite regional food? Do you have a type of cuisine that you love that you can only find in one area? On this week’s StressLess Camping RV podcast we look back at some of our favorite - and least favorite - regional dishes and the places we’ve been that have them. From fantastic to flavorful to forgettable we recount the things we’ve eaten and the places you might want to visit to get your own taste.
Other places to hear the podcast
Mentioned on this episode
We revisited the Boudin Festival in Scott, Louisiana
We really loved the Hard 8 BBQ in Texas - here’s a recap
Our recipe for no bake Peanut Butter pie
Visiting Kansas City and Fritz’s restaurant
Visiting Gatlinburg and Wild Bear Tavern
If you’re confused about solar, battery power or just want to upgrade your RV we have found the solutions from ABC Upfitters are both reliable and exceptional.
We have a podcast episode and video where you can learn more here.
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Automated transcript of StressLess Camping RV podcast episode 250
Mark Ferrell
Welcome to the weekly podcast all about turning the great American RV adventure into stressless camping. Each week, we explore tips, tricks, ideas, and destinations, and talk to the happiest campers in the RV world. Pull up a seat at the campfire as we enjoy some stress less camping.
Tony Barthel
Welcome to the campfire.
Peggy Barthel
Hey. I'm Peggy.
Tony Barthel
And I'm Tony. And we're 2 RV industry veterans who travel part time in a small trailer looking to share big adventures and help you with great tips, tricks, and discounts.
Peggy Barthel
I am afraid I'm gonna cough, so I'm not gonna talk very much. This is gonna be kind of a weird episode. Tony has a topic, he's gonna talk about it. I might throw in some commentary but mostly I'm just gonna try not to cough in his ear.
Tony Barthel
Yeah. Peggy has been feeling very under the weather. She got to visit
Peggy Barthel
The urgent care.
Tony Barthel
The urgent care twice.
Peggy Barthel
Yeah. I have been there twice in Texas since we left on this trip. This is just like an allergy. I just am coughing. It's just a a throat thing.
Peggy Barthel
So I'm not really sick. I just feel terrible.
Tony Barthel
Yeah. Well, she sounds not that great.
Peggy Barthel
Right.
Tony Barthel
But that's just how we celebrate the fact that this is episode 250. Woo hoo. And that means almost 5 years of stressless camping. I have to say the only way we could do this is with you. And and we are very grateful for you being with us.
Tony Barthel
In fact, some of you have been here for quite some time. We also
Peggy Barthel
probably 250 episodes.
Tony Barthel
Yeah. And we also keep picking up new people. Thanks to your reviews and what you share with others. I'm running into you in campgrounds and those places. So we're just very lucky and grateful to be able to serve you.
Tony Barthel
And so thank you for 250 episodes of the Stressless Camping RV Podcast. And well, I think we plan to keep going.
Peggy Barthel
I hope so.
Tony Barthel
So, we are recording this the day after a lot of people were looking to the skies waiting for it to get dark. The solar eclipse was yesterday, April 8th. Today is April 9th as we're recording, and you will get this on 11th, or after. Who knows? Yeah.
Tony Barthel
You know, normal people would get their fancy solar glasses, and look up and watch the moon eclipse the sun. I open up my compartment door and I'm looking at how is my solar system doing. Am I getting a charge still? What's happening? And until the sun was completely gone, I was getting a we charge but not a whole lot.
Tony Barthel
But it just shows, you know, even even in even in an Eclipse, our, uh, power package with master volt components from ABC Outfitters still did well. In fact, we have been off grid camping the past couple days, yesterday at a farm in Texas and today at a alpaca farm in Oklahoma, both days off the grid. And as usual, the power system that we have, the lithium batteries, the solar, all of that, that was designed by ABC Outfitters, just it just works. And if that's what you want in a solar and lithium system, whether it's a great big system. Boy, they showed one this week that even lights up and everything.
Tony Barthel
Or you just wanna add a little oomph to what you got. ABC Outfitters does a super job. They are good people with actual engineers on staff. So give them a call at 574-333-3225, or you can find them, uh, the show notes of this podcast. And as always, our show notes are stresslesscamping.com, and there's a podcast tab there.
Tony Barthel
Visit that, and that's where our show notes are. But like I say, the easy way to find them is to just talk to them on the old telephone. 574-333-3225. For our friends at ABC Upfitters. They just do great jobs with solar and lithium power systems powered by Masterbuilt.
Peggy Barthel
So I'm also a little off my feed that you could say anything that's spicier, crunchier, anything irritates my throat. So I haven't been eating a lot. Maybe I'll actually lose weight this week. That would be nice. Therefore, we're gonna talk about food.
Tony Barthel
This was my idea to talk about because there are so many well it stemmed from this week we were in Louis or last week we're in Louisiana with some friends Brian and Patrick Patrick who are just really fun people to camp with. Patrick particularly is from Ville Platte, Louisiana and so we went on a second Boudin Challenge. I'm sorry, we went on a second Boudin Challenge. It was a lot of fun to go with somebody who knows the lay of the land and all of that. And it made me think of all of the great regional foods that we have found since we've been traveling.
Peggy Barthel
I mean, you could go anywhere in the world and as as Nick Russell said last week, you could go to anywhere in the US, I guess, I should have said, and go to Denny's and you're gonna get the same food. Go to McDonald's, you're gonna get the same thing. It's gonna taste the same no matter where you are, but there are some foods like boudin, for example, You really don't find them anywhere except where they're a regional favorite or the Walmart.
Tony Barthel
Yeah.
Peggy Barthel
We did find Buddha in Parker, Arizona Walmart, which is weird, but anyway typically something like that you only find when you're in Louisiana.
Tony Barthel
And that's the beauty of travel. I guess we'll start with Boudin. I just can't say the word right. It's b o u d I n, But I can share with you that we did another Boudin challenge. We've done that before last year when we were here.
Tony Barthel
We took a few types of it. It's okay, so what that is, is it's a sausage with rice and pork mostly. Although there's different meats too. The neat thing about this is that these are made, these sausages are made by local butcher shops and some of them have gotten quite large, but they really take pride in what they do. And they're also different.
Tony Barthel
Different spices, different seasonings. And this is to me the real America. Right? You go and there's this family or individual who's just so proud of what they do and how they do it. It just really makes a big difference in what your experience is.
Tony Barthel
It's more fun to experience others vision and passion and efforts. So anyway, the first thing is boudin, and boudin is that sausage. And we did a boudin challenge again this year and this time Brian and Patrick were in on the event. That was pretty darn cool. We also went to a Bunin Festival and that was a whole lot of fun.
Tony Barthel
I think I ate my weight in Boudin and drank my weight in Daiquiris. But again, just a unique local thing to this part of Louisiana. Now since we're in Louisiana, I want to talk about beignets. Those are I think the ones in New Orleans. So you travel to New Orleans and you have to go to Cafe Du Monde and get a beignet.
Tony Barthel
And you know it's basically like a bread with a ton of powdered sugar. But again another reason to travel. New Orleans just has such a wonderful sight, sound, smell, but especially sound because there are so many great bands just all over that place. Playing on the street, playing in clubs, playing in restaurants. But anyway, so beignets.
Tony Barthel
Beignets are those powdered sugar donut things. But now we're going to move to New Mexico because
Peggy Barthel
Yeah. Just briefly. Because in New Mexico, what people like to eat is sopapillas. And sometimes that's as a dessert. Sometimes it's a a main dish with savory stuff inside.
Peggy Barthel
But for the most part, a sopapilla is something you eat at the end of your meal and you fill it with honey or you put honey on well, if you're me, every single bite.
Tony Barthel
Yeah.
Peggy Barthel
I remember pretty early on when we lived in New Mexico and we were out to dinner and Mickey said, you know, a beignet is just a soppapilla with powdered sugar. Yeah. Really, it's just a kind of doughnut y pastry thing and they put different kind of sweetener on it.
Tony Barthel
I would say they're very similar and, yeah, the beignet has a ton of powdered sugar and the sopapilla comes to your table in a basket and then you can put honey on. I mean, I don't know why you wouldn't put honey on. But I've also had sopapillas with different, like, meats, like green chile,
Peggy Barthel
for example. Stuffed. So they're full of all kinds of good savory stuff.
Tony Barthel
Well, and then since we're gonna talk about green chile, uh, when we move to New Mexico. New Mexico prides itself in the hatch chilies. The chilies that are grown and roasted there.
Peggy Barthel
Yep.
Tony Barthel
And for good reason. They do a super job. The conditions are right. When we first moved there, I went to the local store and in the butcher counter, I saw green chile bacon and I'm like, ah come on, you kind of have taken it too far.
Peggy Barthel
Bacon is bacon right?
Tony Barthel
Yeah, it's bacon. You don't need to do anything to bacon. And I kept seeing it. And then you know you're like in the town and you're like well When in Rome. So I got some green chile bacon.
Tony Barthel
And oh la la. It is good. In fact, I even have people now ask me if I'm bringing it with me when I'm traveling.
Peggy Barthel
Right.
Tony Barthel
But I have to tell you, it's hard to make green chile bacon that happens to be in my fridge or freezer last very long because Yeah. I'm a be I'm a be cooking it and eating it.
Peggy Barthel
We have to go and buy it, like, the day before we go on a trip and put it immediately in the freezer so that it's still there when we're serving it to whoever we promised it to.
Tony Barthel
Yeah. And the greater the amount of time between when I'm picking it up and when I'm seeing you, the less likely you're gonna see that green Right. Chili bacon. It will have already been eaten and processed, if you know what I mean. And then there's just a lot of chili stuff, so you come to New Mexico and there's a lot of chili based sauces and coverings and seasonings.
Tony Barthel
And it is sort of the regional flavor of New Mexico. But something that really surprised me, we used to live in California as many of you know. And you know there there is a very large Mexican population, and they brought food with them from Mexico, just like my people brought food from Germany.
Peggy Barthel
Right.
Tony Barthel
But they brought food from Mexico. California has a very, I would say, distinct style of Mexican food. Surprisingly, there's some from the East Coast of Mexico where there's a lot of seafood, but even the Baja Peninsula has a lot of seafood. Because duh, it's right on the ocean.
Peggy Barthel
Well sure.
Tony Barthel
But the Mexican food in California, again very different from, in many ways different from the Mexican food or the Southwestern fare. Yeah. In New Mexico. So you might say, oh, it's Mexican food. No.
Tony Barthel
It's very different.
Peggy Barthel
You know what you don't ever get asked in California is well, you do, but not in the way. In New Mexico, there is hatch green chile, and then there's also red chilies. And almost all the New Mexico restaurants have choices of red or green.
Tony Barthel
Right.
Peggy Barthel
And so you can get, you know, your whatever, your burrito or whatever with red sauce or green sauce. But if you want both.
Tony Barthel
Some people say they ask for Christmas. Yeah. Red and green. You know, again, regional differences make make a difference. Yeah.
Tony Barthel
So anyway, don't skip the local food when you go and especially if there's something that it's known for regionally. Now since we also went to California, I don't know how much this is a regional specialty, but In N Out is famous for having come from Southern California.
Peggy Barthel
Yeah. Back in the day you could only get In N Out when you went to Southern California. And I knew people who would get it on the way to the airport and wrap it up put it in their briefcase and take it home to someone. Yeah.
Tony Barthel
I mean Southern California really was sort of the fast food hamburger capital for a very very long time. Right? Bob's Big Boy, In N Out, McDonald's,
Peggy Barthel
Carl's Jr.
Tony Barthel
Carl's Jr. It's amazing how, you know, the car culture there really brought the taste. And if you haven't had an In N Out Burger, well, it's a hamburger.
Peggy Barthel
You almost are certain to find one as far east as well Albuquerque, Denver.
Tony Barthel
I think they're even in Texas.
Peggy Barthel
Maybe, but definitely east of the Rockies now.
Tony Barthel
Yeah. That's interesting. That whole chain is owned by 1 individual. Yeah. No franchises of an In N Out.
Tony Barthel
One of the unique things about them is they are known for treating and paying their team well, but they also make their own French fries right there in the store, and you can watch them, you know, process the potatoes. And that's why I don't like them because good French fries to me are fried twice and those are just fried ones.
Peggy Barthel
But fried ones.
Tony Barthel
You can have them extra done. So they will customize your order.
Peggy Barthel
Now something that you still can only get in California and now not even in Southern California. Yeah. I don't know if this is a temporary thing. I couldn't really find a good answer, but Pea Soup Anderson's restaurant. There used to be one in Solvang in Southern California, and there's one in Santaella in Central California.
Tony Barthel
Or as my dad used to call it, salmonella.
Peggy Barthel
Salmonella. And the Solvang one is closed right now, and I couldn't find if it's going to reopen as a Pea Soup Anderson's or as something else, but, anyway, Pea Soup Anderson's is I mean, they specialize in pea soup, obviously, but they have a full menu of stuff, and we really like the Santanella one because because it was a very convenient stopping point if we were going from Northern to Southern California to spend the night. Yeah. So we would pop in. If it was too late, we'd just buy some cheese, and if it was not too late, we'd go to dinner, and then we'd stay in the parking lot in our travel trailer, and then stop in again for breakfast and then go on our merry way.
Tony Barthel
Yeah. RIP Pea Soup Anderson's Salvang, but at least there's still one in Salmonella. I mean, Santanella. Well if we're going regional restaurants, a famous famous famous one that we also now have to stop at is in Amarillo, Texas.
Peggy Barthel
Oh yeah.
Tony Barthel
And that's or Amarillo, but it's Amarillo, I know. That's the big Texan and that's the place where they have the 72 ounce steak. And if you can eat that 72 ounce steak with a baked potato, shrimp, cocktail, salad, biscuit and I think it's a drink.
Peggy Barthel
Well they give you a drink, a glass of water.
Tony Barthel
Yeah. If you can eat that sucker in 1 hour, you can have it free, but I think you pay in advance and I think it's what like $40 or something.
Peggy Barthel
Or 60 or 70. Yeah. It's not cheap. I say it's $72 but that's the ounces.
Tony Barthel
Yeah. That's how
Peggy Barthel
big your steak is. It's somewhere up in that range of, you know, 70, $80 Yeah. To pay and you pay in advance. And then if you eat your meal in an hour, then I guess they give you the money back.
Tony Barthel
But apparently, there is some very, very petite lady who ate 2 or 3 of them.
Peggy Barthel
2 or 3 of them in 1 you know.
Tony Barthel
And I guess she's known for being able to eat lots of food, but I don't know. I couldn't even I couldn't do that. However, they do have a steak lunch special that I get along with sweet tea, and they brew their own beer there.
Peggy Barthel
So Yes.
Tony Barthel
That's a must stop. We've stayed in their RV park, that one's neat too. We've stayed at their hotel, and there's a room if you go there that has one of our stickers in it. So there you go, something to look for and of course don't not get the steak unless you're vegetarian and then
Peggy Barthel
Well then, yeah.
Tony Barthel
Well, oh well. Well, um, as long as I'm going to restaurants that are memorable that are regional. When I was in New Orleans last year, I wanted to find really good fried chicken. And now the best fried now you know, New Orleans is where Popeye's comes from.
Peggy Barthel
Oh.
Tony Barthel
It was originated there. So I figured, well, you know, they're known for fried. Although Kentucky hello.
Peggy Barthel
Hello.
Tony Barthel
Colonel Sanders. But the best fried chicken I think I've ever had was at a place called Gus's Fried Chicken near the Garden District of New Orleans. I it just was, was so good and it had, you know in New Orleans, they're not shy with spice.
Peggy Barthel
Right.
Tony Barthel
And it had just a teeniest kick.
Peggy Barthel
Yeah.
Tony Barthel
But not like I think even people who don't like spice would be fine with it. It wasn't Yeah. So Yeah. It wasn't over the top, but if you're in New Orleans, oh boy, Gus's fried chicken. Other regional places to go to and this started in Texas, Buc ee's.
Peggy Barthel
That's right. Now Buc ee's isn't necessarily a restaurant so much as more of a travel stop gas station and a ginormous travel shopping center. Now, I will say they always have great clean bathrooms.
Tony Barthel
Oh, they're known for their bath. Room.
Peggy Barthel
And there's a whole bunch of them. So even when I walk in and the line is halfway across the store, the line like never really stops moving because there are so many stalls inside and that's in the women's obviously. Yeah. There are great clean bathrooms and then there's like you could shop for anything, you know, especially I think if you were like looking for a gift, regional gift, maybe that would be a great place to look, but also the snackage Oh. There.
Tony Barthel
Yeah. They have the wall of nuts and the wall of jerky, and one of the things that are really associated with them is a thing called beaver well, okay. So their mascot is a beaver. Right. Right?
Tony Barthel
Bucky Beaver, and they have this puffed corn thing called beaver nuggets. Yeah.
Peggy Barthel
And they have different flavors, but I think the original was like a caramel kind of a caramel popcorn, puff corn. Yeah. They also have they're very famous for their brisket sandwiches.
Tony Barthel
Yeah. They'll yell, hey, uh, fresh brisket and the sandwiches are coming out. They also make other things with it. So well since we're talking brisket, one of the best barbecue joints I think I have ever been to. And you know, Texas is known for its own style of barbecue and I know there's Kansas City barbecue and there are different styles, but one of the best places I've been to was just a couple weeks ago at a place called Hard 8 Smoke Pit Barbecue in The Colony near Dallas, Texas.
Tony Barthel
And we have an article about that place and some other things in the area. But this place, you walk in and there's these two towers of coals. And then they take those coals and put them in pit smokers. And then you go up to like a big table that's also heated by those coals and that's where the meat just is. So you buy it by the weight.
Tony Barthel
So you could get Give
Peggy Barthel
me a couple slices of that, then give me 2 ribs and give me some of those bacon wrapped shrimp.
Tony Barthel
Yeah. So you're buying by the weight, and there's as good barbecue, there is no barbecue sauce on it. You can put barbecue sauce later, and they have 2 kinds in like heated steam tables.
Peggy Barthel
Yeah. And like warmers, so the sauce is warm. And also when you dine in, they have a pot of pinto beans. Just all you can eat pinto beans to go with your What
Tony Barthel
could go wrong with all you can eat beans?
Peggy Barthel
Now we met our friends Joe and Lori there and had a great great lunch and then we went exploring and then decided since we're still in the area, we might as well go back for dinner. So we've eaten at Heart 8 twice and they were both on the same day.
Tony Barthel
Yep. Well, since I think we kind of veered off on regional restaurants talking In N Out and all of that. Another place that I really it's regional and you already probably have your own opinion if you've eaten at one of these White Castle.
Peggy Barthel
Yeah.
Tony Barthel
They're teeny hamburgers and you get a whole bunch of them. They're cooked, I think with onions. There's just something about it. I don't know. It's
Peggy Barthel
They're good enough that we go kind of each time that we go through that area.
Tony Barthel
Yeah. But that's partially because it is White Castle. Right? It's it's a regional thing. We love regional stuff.
Tony Barthel
So we go to White Castle. We've also been to Waffle House and if you see a Waffle House, it's open. Right? That's their slogan. We've only been once and I was just totally underwhelmed.
Peggy Barthel
Yeah. I was not a fan. Well, actually, I've technically been twice. I went years years ago with my friend's van in Wes, and we went in, sat down, and the waitress came over and said, I need to tell you that we're out of waffles. And I How do
Tony Barthel
you run out of waffles?
Peggy Barthel
I I mean it's flour and milk. Right? How do you
Tony Barthel
Yeah. And eggs.
Peggy Barthel
So Wes just looked at us and said, well, nothing else here is worth eating, so we got up and left, which is a fun memory. But then Tony and I went to a Waffle House and it was lunchtime and I thought, oh I don't care I'm having waffles anyway. Well they don't sell waffles at lunchtime, they sell you know sandwiches and they only serve hash browns as a side dish. And hash browns of all the potato dishes I don't like, that's the one I don't like among the highest.
Tony Barthel
Yeah. You know, it's
Peggy Barthel
a regional thing. People go. People talk all about it. I suppose if you're leaving a bar at 2:30 in the morning and that's the only thing open that's a good reason to go.
Tony Barthel
Yeah. Those hash browns are gonna come in handy. Yeah. Since I'm kind of not fond of Waffle House, I'm going to also call out. Michigan Upper Peninsula is known for pasties.
Tony Barthel
Yeah. They should be called pasties. I know the origin is for the miners and the wives would give them the pasties in the morning and they'd be able to, you know, eat them at lunch. It tasted like
Peggy Barthel
Salt is actually a preservative. So they could put some kind of seasoning.
Tony Barthel
Oh my gosh. These things were so bland. I was just I guess it's because I you know, you hear where I'm like raving about food in New Orleans and food in New Mexico and food where they actually have You know there's this thing called Spice, and I don't know if it's made it all the way up to upper states. Of of Michigan. Although I have to say the fudge up there was really really good.
Tony Barthel
Mhmm. One of my favorite places, again regional stuff. One of my favorite places to stop when we go to Indiana is this place called the Uranus Fudge Factory. And I can't say it without laughing and truthfully you know their their slogan is the best fudge comes from Uranus.
Peggy Barthel
Yep. So Uranus is actually Let's
Tony Barthel
hope we don't get it.
Peggy Barthel
Town name. I don't know if it's officially a town name or if that shopping center thing called itself that town name and got got it to stick, but it's in Missouri and it's there's a whole
Tony Barthel
like Indiana too.
Peggy Barthel
Oh, that's true. You're right. But it's a whole like kind of mall. I know the one in Missouri has like there's a museum, there's a playground, there's a barbecue truck that sometimes open and then there's the fudge store.
Tony Barthel
And if you are a big fan of childish off color jokes,
Peggy Barthel
oh boy,
Tony Barthel
that is the place to go. Indeed. And I am a fan of childish off color jokes and so I just love it. The fudge in Michigan was better to me, especially Joanne's. Mackinac Island is known for their fudge, and boy there's a bunch of fudge places there, and it's really good.
Peggy Barthel
And Uranus is just so much fun.
Tony Barthel
It just is a silly place and I like the silly places. So in fact, if you watch our video about the Boudin challenge, you will see me wearing my the best fudge comes from Uranus
Peggy Barthel
t shirt.
Tony Barthel
So yeah. Anyway, well since we were on our way up to Indiana from New Mexico, I'm gonna go to Amish country and call out the Amish buffets. Amish buffets are trippy to me because there's a lot of it's like crock pot food to me.
Peggy Barthel
Yeah. There's different meats you know there might be a beef and a pork and a chicken, but they're all kind of stewed or crock potted. So they're all sort of similar in texture, juicy and shredded. Yeah. What surprises me is that the Amish people or the people in that region, they have mashed potatoes, great.
Peggy Barthel
They have buttered noodles, Also great.
Tony Barthel
Which if you're Italian potatoes. If you're Italian and you taste those noodles, you're gonna lose your mind.
Peggy Barthel
Oh, yeah.
Tony Barthel
They're more butter
Peggy Barthel
than noodles.
Tony Barthel
So overcooked.
Peggy Barthel
Yeah. Overcooked and over buttered.
Tony Barthel
Well, wait wait wait. Hang on now. It's like there's such
Peggy Barthel
a thing. French Italians.
Tony Barthel
No. I'm sorry. There is no such thing as over buttered. I demand a recount on that vote.
Peggy Barthel
But people who spend a lot of time in Amish buffets tend to pile the noodles on top of the potatoes Yeah. And then add the meat on top of that. And to me, I mean, carbs on carbs on carbs. Wow. I wanna just, you know, taste the noodles for the butter, I guess.
Peggy Barthel
And and I'm again, I'm not a huge fan of potatoes, so I can skip that whole layer.
Tony Barthel
Yeah. I don't know what's wrong with her ladies and gentlemen. I mean it's maybe I'll take her back to the urgent care a third time and see why she doesn't like potatoes because oh my gosh. Anyway, so the there's 2 Amish buffets that we've been to. That's Dutchman Essenhaus in Middlebury and the Blue
Peggy Barthel
And the Bluegate Cafe.
Tony Barthel
Bluegate Cafe
Peggy Barthel
in Shipshewana.
Tony Barthel
In Shipshewana. And I'm telling you, if you're gonna go start with the Bluegate and you could just go for pies because they have this nutty selection of pies like insane numbers and you don't just get like wee little tastes.
Peggy Barthel
Yeah. You know, like most of the time in a buffet, the dessert will be like maybe a big like cobbler or something so you can scoop out a scoop full or you could get a small brownie or a cookie. Oh, no. At the Blue Gate Cafe, your dessert is a slice of pie. Full on slice.
Peggy Barthel
So don't overfill or else you are not gonna have room for your dessert.
Tony Barthel
Nope. And they're good pies and I mean, the choices I'm a big fan of peanut butter pie. We shared a recipe a few weeks back. They not only have peanut butter pie, they have peanut butter and chocolate pie. They have fruit pies.
Tony Barthel
They have, uh, it's just nuts. So, you could go there and just eat pie and then call your blood sugar doctor whatever. You overloaded, but you know there you go.
Peggy Barthel
Went in Rome.
Tony Barthel
So another thing since we're in Amish country in Indiana, between Shipchewana, which is where we do
Peggy Barthel
We love camping. Camp and hang out there. It's so cute.
Tony Barthel
It is a cute little town. So between Chip Shitt and Millersburg, which is where the Rockwoods and Flagstaffs are built, there's a place called Rise and Roll Bakery. And it is just known for what are referred to as Amish Crack Donuts.
Peggy Barthel
Yeah.
Tony Barthel
Because
Peggy Barthel
They are they are. They're so addictive. So it's it's a fried doughnut of course, like any good doughnut. Then they dip them in caramel and then they cover them in Well, if you know about beignets and how much powdered sugars on a beignet, well, double that because they're putting cinnamon powdered sugar on these caramel donuts and rivals any beignet powder that I've ever seen.
Tony Barthel
Yeah. Oh yeah and and they're just you have to get them when you go there.
Peggy Barthel
They are so good.
Tony Barthel
Since we're in Shipche, we're gonna make a quick stop at Yoder's Meats and Cheese. Yeah. And that's that's a butcher shop again. Another, you know, regional, local, proud to make what they make, local, proud to make what they make place. There's nothing I would say unusual at Yoder's, but I just like their meats and cheeses.
Peggy Barthel
They're great. It's a great selection. That's all the meat is really good. A lot of it is already frozen. So basically, we just fill up our freezer for whatever amount of time we have left in our trip that we're on.
Tony Barthel
Yeah.
Peggy Barthel
When we're in Indiana.
Tony Barthel
We also get a stupid number of beef sticks and cheese sticks.
Peggy Barthel
Beef sticks and cheese sticks.
Tony Barthel
Those are my road snacks. Beef chick beef sticks and cheese sticks.
Peggy Barthel
So it's just fun to go there and you know kind of plan out the next 10 or 20 meals Yeah. With meat that we can pick up at Yoders.
Tony Barthel
Yeah. A few more here. Boy, we're going on and on about these regional foods, but there are so many and we have I know we have not scratched the surface, but we did in St. Louis have like a cracker crust pizza.
Peggy Barthel
Well, the St. Louis style pizza.
Tony Barthel
Yeah. It was like cracker crusts. And then,
Peggy Barthel
provol cheese, which people warned me I wasn't gonna like. But honestly, provol cheese is provolone, mozzarella and something. It's just 3 cheeses mixed together. It's really not its own thing. It's just maybe it's an odd combination.
Peggy Barthel
I don't know. But some people have very strong feelings against Provel, but we're kind of thicker crust pizza people and so to have Provel and sauce on a cracker was probably not a pizza experience we will
Tony Barthel
It wasn't really pizza, it was like an appetizer.
Peggy Barthel
But it I mean, that's but that's how they make their pizza.
Tony Barthel
I know. Well, they also had deep fried ravioli there. They did. And I thought they were kind of little over fried, but
Peggy Barthel
I don't know. It's the same thing. Yeah.
Tony Barthel
One time. But conversely, deep dish pizza in Chicago especially at.
Peggy Barthel
Uh, well we went to Giordano's and
Tony Barthel
that turns
Peggy Barthel
out that that's just a chain and you can find Giordano's anywhere in the Chicago area, but give yourself like an hour because it takes a long time to bake that super thick pan pizza.
Tony Barthel
Although it's fun to watch them make it. It is. Here's the other tip though, if you are on Navy Pier and you are waiting an hour for your pizza.
Peggy Barthel
Parking is gonna
Tony Barthel
be outrageous. You will spend more on parking than you have on that pizza.
Peggy Barthel
Literally.
Tony Barthel
But oh, well.
Peggy Barthel
That's And then so we did that. Obviously, we did that. We paid our $38 parking fee on Navy Pier. And then we were driving around Chicago and there were Giordano's on every corner. Yeah.
Peggy Barthel
So we didn't actually have to eat it there. We just didn't
Tony Barthel
know it. It was an experience and we enjoyed making it.
Peggy Barthel
It was
Tony Barthel
fun. So another interesting local place is in Kansas City, Missouri, and I've talked about Kansas barbecue.
Peggy Barthel
My cousin Julie and Shawn taking us to the community.
Tony Barthel
Oh, they have. That's right. Yeah. What really was memorable, because again, I'm a 12 year old child. Fritz's train restaurant.
Peggy Barthel
Yeah.
Tony Barthel
Where there's trains kind of all over, but the more important ones are the ones up in the sky or on, you know, like a overhead rail that bring your food to you. And that was just cool. And the food was nothing exceptional. And burgers and hot dogs and that sort
Peggy Barthel
of stuff. But fun delivery system because it's a track over your head and you watch and you see a train coming you're like oh is it mine is it mine it goes right past you like darn it wasn't mine. But then When it is yours it stops There's like a break kind of thing and then it like kind of comes down an elevator so that you can reach your tray and you pull your tray off and the elevator goes back up and gets on the train and it takes off again. Yeah.
Tony Barthel
It's pretty entertaining.
Peggy Barthel
It's really fun.
Tony Barthel
And you get a hat. I still have mine.
Peggy Barthel
Yes.
Tony Barthel
In Tennessee, when we were in Pigeon Forge, we went to the Wild Bear Tavern and had what they called an appetizer. It's a German restaurant. I was all excited. You don't see many of those.
Peggy Barthel
Right. Well, actually what we did, we went in and there was another couple there, and we like business what you do. Right? You look and they're like, oh, we ordered this 3 or 4 appetizers and it's totally enough for a meal. And so we did that.
Peggy Barthel
We got some great beer. And then we got like a giant pretzel and a meat and cheese tray and
Tony Barthel
And typical German sausages.
Peggy Barthel
Really good. Really, really good. And it was a great fun meal to eat.
Tony Barthel
Yes, it was. Also in Tennessee in Jackson is the Old Country Store Restaurant and Casey Jones Museum. And they had a buffet of more southern specialties including fried baloney.
Peggy Barthel
Yeah. We were there for breakfast and
Tony Barthel
so
Peggy Barthel
we kind of overloaded ourselves on fried baloney because it was there.
Tony Barthel
Oh, yeah.
Peggy Barthel
Not like it's hard to make at home, but, you know, we don't usually think of that. And so we did that and then we went to the museum and walked around the museum and that was super nice.
Tony Barthel
Yeah. Casey Jones was an engineer. There's a whole song about him, so That's right. And a few people have covered it. Well, we had talked about the loss potentially of P Soup Anderson's in Solvang.
Tony Barthel
Apparently, developers have bought it and are tearing it down. That's the word, at least what I heard. And that is also true of a place that I have been going to since I was but a wee lad and first came to this country called Alpine Village and was a German butcher in Torrance, California, Southern California.
Peggy Barthel
That's another place we used to go and fill our freezer.
Tony Barthel
Oh, yeah. And incredible sausages and all of that, and it also has gone away. So I don't like seeing these regional places disappear. So my advice to all of you is to try to patronize these local places as much as possible, so that they don't disappear. Because as Nick said last week and as Peggy alluded to earlier, these regional places are really what makes this country special and worth visiting.
Tony Barthel
So, make sure when you go, skip the Denny's, skip the Mickey D's. Yeah. Find something that you've never tried before, and that might have either local specialties, like types of food like Boudin, or see how the locals do it. Right. So that's that's our advice to you this weekend.
Tony Barthel
I was going to say this is going to be a short episode, but it's really
Peggy Barthel
It's really not that short,
Tony Barthel
but we're because it's food. I can't stop Right. Think that's bad. Let's get a beer episode.
Peggy Barthel
We're not gonna do the rest of our, you know, kind of normal segments. I just don't feel up to it. So we're just gonna leave you with these this food for thought our
Tony Barthel
Oh. Oh.
Peggy Barthel
And we're gonna thank you for listening and we'll be to normal next week.
Tony Barthel
Yeah. But also, we always pitch our fun and friendly Stressless Campers Facebook group. And I'd love to know what regional foods you
Peggy Barthel
found. Please.
Tony Barthel
Pictures, locations, because we have wheels and are willing to go travel. We have Tifs, and we're willing to use them. So We
Peggy Barthel
have taste buds too, by the way. Don't forget.
Tony Barthel
Yeah. Oh, yeah. Yeah. Like seasoning. Right.
Tony Barthel
Well, that's what we have for you this week. We appreciate you again. 250 episodes. Oh la la. We are so pleased that we've gotten Yeah.
Tony Barthel
It's just as I've said before, it'd just be 2 people yapping into a microphone. So with that, thank you so much. Have a great week and stressless camping.
Mark Ferrell
We hope you learned a lot and had some fun and got some tips for your next stress less camping adventure. We're honored by your reviews on Apple Podcasts, which helps others find us too. Don't forget to subscribe so you won't miss out on the adventure, and we look forward to your joining us next week. Until then, happy camping.