Evansville's 89th Annual West Side Nut Club Fall Festival

The first full week of October each year brings one of the larges festival's of our area, The West Side Nut Club's Fall Festival. The fall festival features more rides than many amusement parks, a variety of entertainment venues, and some of the most creative culinary treats to ever clog an artery. The 89th annual Fall Festival will kick off with Family Day on October 3rd from 1:00 pm to 7:00 pm, where kiddie rides rule and conclude on Saturday, October 9th, with the main parade at 6:30 pm. For a full schedule click 2010 Schedule of Events.

Advanced sale of arm bands for rides has already begun at 19 local Old National Bank locations. The tickets are $14 dollars in advance or $16 purchased at the festival. This years rides include, Freak Out, Pharaoh's Fury, The Ring of Fire, and much more than I care to list here. For a list of this years rides, provided by North American Midway Entertainment, try the 2010 Ride List.

If entertainment is what you seek then come out for some of the most talented youths in the Tri-Sate Area at the Fall Festival's "Amateur Hour". Each night starting on October 4th youth ranging from 5th graders through high school seniors perform in various acts including instrumental, vocal and dance performances. Performers, chosen several weeks ago after competing at Materdei High School, will compete nightly for a spot on the main stage Friday at 6:45 pm. For times, dates and names of contestants click, 2010 Amateur Hour Performers.

Please send pictures if you decide to go. We've been in the process of moving over the last 2 weeks and may not get to attend but we'd love to see what we miss out on.

If you have any trip ideas, notable sites or fun things to do in Kentucky, Tennessee, Illinois or Indiana please leave a comment.

Indiana Oktoberfest

Southern Indiana is home to one of the largest German-American populations in the country. In Jasper, Bloomington, Evansville, Indianapolis, or Seymour Indiana you can find evidence in their distinctive last names, architecture and their choice of restaraunts (I recommend the Schnitzelbank in Jasper). Another big attraction associated with German herritage is the Oktoberfest.

The real, or at least the big, Oktoberfest is held in Munic, Germany and typically runs through the 16 days preceding and including the first Sunday in October. According to Wikipedia, it's one of the largest fairs in the world with over 6 million people attending each year. The festival includes German food and flair but the main attraction is always the beer. Various German-American towns accross Indiana host their own version of the famous festival and some are quite popular. One of the most popular of Indiana's Oktoberfests is in Seymour Indiana.

Seymour Indiana, hometown of John Cougar Melancamp (if you don't know who he is stop reading this, your either too young to drink or not cool enough to drink beer) will kick off it's Oktoberfest on October the first with an authentic "bier garten" and entertainment by Schulhaus. Shulhaus is a fairly well known band in Indiana and plays traditional German music including Polkas as well as doing the chicken and bunny hop dances.

Seymour's Oktoberfest also hosts a brat eating contest, but if you plan on competing you'd better start training now. For the last 4 years the contest has been won by Matt Adams, who won last year by eating 14 of the meaty sausages. For more information on the festival go to http://seymouroktoberfest.com/index.html.

Fall Foliage

As we plan our last few trips of the outdoor season, I remember that one of the few pleasures making winters the "in this land-locked region of ours" bearable, is Autumn. When hazy days of summer fade and the sun settles low in the sky, our forests and parks are painted with shades of gold and amber to which no artist's brush can do justice.

Most of our region normally hits peak fall foliage time in Mid-October, however lack of rain may cause a shorter periods of color or earlier turning of the leaves. Northern regions will peak sooner, southern regions later. Check this map of normal peak times for fall foilage for reference on the best time of year for your region. For destination ideas check this, Kentucky Parks Map, or for Indiana Parks try this map, Indiana Parks Map. Indiana tourism site also maintains a leaf-cam where you can keep track of the turning foliage and plan your trip accordingly. For more information on the leaf-cam and some discount offers try this site, http://www.in.gov/visitindiana/blog/index.php/2010/09/10/2010-leaf-cam-foursquare/.

If you have young children, make this an educational trip by bringing a scrap book and collecting leaves for identifying later. Not only will your children learn something, but while you're making a scrap book together you'll also be making memories.

This will be a simple trip to plan, so pick a destination, load up the family, grab a camera, and get off the interstate. The price we pay for Autumn is an ocean and year round sunshine, so don't waste it!

If you have any trip ideas, notable sites or fun things to do in Kentucky, Tennessee, Illinois or Indiana please leave a comment.

Weekend Events

As far festivals and such go it appears that this weekend is Bardstown Weekend.

This is the weekend for Bardstown's monthly classic car show. Hosted by Whiskey City Cruisers the show will feature restored cars from the 1930's to the mid 1970's and has featured over 170 restored cars to date. The show occurs monthly, from April to October, on the second Saturday of each month, at the Justice Center parking lot.

After the car show head over to the Old Stable Restaurant for the Ghost Trek from 8:00 pm - 10:00 pm. Admission for adults is $15.00 each and children under six are free. The trek includes the Jailer’s Inn, Chapeze House, Pioneer Cemetery and the Talbott Tavern (areas of the Tavern are dependent on current events at tour time). Bring along your hi-tech detecting device and catch evidence of the afterlife. Woooo! For more information call 859-576- 5517 for reservations or go to http://www.ghosthunter.com/. The Ghost Trek will take place on the following dates: Sep 11, 2010- Sep 18, 2010-Sep 25, 2010-Oct 02, 2010-Oct 09, 2010-Oct 16, 2010-Oct 23, 2010-Oct 30, 2010.

If you're the active type, this is also the weekend for the 33rd annual "My Old Kentucky Home Bike Tour". Start from Tom Sawyer Park in Louisville for this two day bike tour with 3 different mileage ranges. You'll ride from there to Bardstown, stay over night and then return to Louisville the next day. The cost of registratering is $55 the day of the ride.  For more information or to register call 502-348-4877 or 800-638-4877, or visit http://www.okht.org./

A note to my previous post. In addition to the Bluegrass Music Centennial Exhibit on Friday night the museum will also host the 4th Annual Bill Monroe-style Mandolin camp from 9/11-9/13. This years camp director will be Mike Compton, one of the worlds preeminent teachers.

If you have any trip ideas, notable sites or fun things to do in Kentucky, Tennessee, Illinois or Indiana please leave a comment.

Bill Monroe Centennial Exhibit

As I stated in my first blog, one of the hopes of this blog was to educate others of the attractions in our area and to hopefully open my own eyes to things that I've grown so accustomed to that I've begun to overlook.
The International Bluegrass Music Museum is one of those attractions.

Located in our home town of Owensboro, KY, at 117 Daviess Street since 1985, the IBMM is one of the small town's few claims to fame. Made possible by some hardcore fund raising and some substantial funding by the State of Kentucky, the main attractions of the two story complex are the International Bluegrass Music Hall of Fame and the Bill Vernon Collection of recordings. However, on on Friday, September 10th, The Bill Monroe Centennial Celebration Kickoff will take center stage.

The Bill Monroe Centennial Exhibit Opening & Reception will start at 6:00 pm. The admission fee of $10.00 per person includes admission to the museum, the exhibit and a reception (including a buffet and drinks).

At 8:00 pm, the All Star Mandolin Concert will begin at the Owensboro Symphony next door. Performing in the concert will be: Mike Compton, Dr. Richard Brown, Bobby Osborne, Skip Gorman, David Harvey, Dave Peterson, Danny Jones, as well as Special Guests: Randy Lanham and David Morris. The cost for the concert is $20.00 per person or $25.00 if combined with admission to the Bill Monroe Centennial Exhibit.
 
If you have any trip ideas, notable sites or fun things to do in Kentucky, Tennessee, Illinois or Indiana please leave a comment.