Ahoy and Holy Barnacles Batman Sort of Day
On a cloudy Saturday morning, Rooster and I had an ahoy and holy barnacles batman sort of day. Our target destination was the 5th annual Indiana Pirate Fest in Mishawaka.
What is the BK Club?
The Bk Club, which stands for Broederenkring Club founded in 1927 by Belgian immigrants, was the sponsor of the pirate festival. I discovered this event online. This organization even has a league that participates in traditional Belgian bolling. It’s like bowling, but different. There were a few sailors on Lake Michigan who took up the pirating trade. The dreaded Calico Jack comes to mind. Who could forget James J. Strang or Roaring Dan Seavey? Mishawaka is a small community located forty-four miles from the shores of Lake Michigan. Our curiosity got the better of us. What relationship did this small Indiana landlocked town have with pirates? As it turns out not a whole lot of anything. Thus, rooster and I started our ahoy and holy Barnacles Barman sort of day.
Ahoy Matie
We knew we were in the right place when we spotted the large pirate ship parade sitting on a trailer in the parking lot. Immediately, we climbed the steps leading to the entrance of the building and were greeted by two scullery maids who were eager to confiscate our entrance fee. We spent twenty minutes wondering the room and examining the merchandise vendors brought to sell.
We encountered a lot of costume-clad characters dressed in pirate gear. After we looked over everything they had to sell, we took a seat on metal folding chairs to listen to a man give a talk about black powder loading and the equipment pirates used on the job. thus, our adventure became an ahoy and holy barnacles Batman sort of day.
Why we found the Pirate Festival less than adventure worthy.
The room the festival took place in was claustrophobic. The man giving the demonstration appeared to know what he was talking about, but we couldn’t hear a word he was saying above the noise in the room. We sat in the uncomfortable chairs for ten minutes before Rooster turned to me and said, “I can’t take this anymore. Let’s get out of here.” We were at the pirate festival less than an hour before we decided to leave.
Our negative slant to the event may have had something to do with timing. We would have found the atmosphere more enjoyable if we arrived when the music was being played. Red Rum was scheduled to take the stage at 1:20, but there was no way I was going to convince Rooster to hang around until then. I noticed as we were leaving the children in the room appeared to be having fun while Rooster couldn’t get to the Sunshine Mobile fast enough. This goes against the grain of my theory that we have moved into our second childhood stage of life.
What is it about The Hall of Heroes?
I suggested we should drive to Elkhart and visit The Hall of Heroes to keep the adventure from being a total waste of time. I dangled the Indian Motorcycle shop in front of Rooster as an incentive to get him interested in the idea. From the moment we spotted the Hall of Heroes sign and pulled into the unpaved driveway leading to a replica of the Hall of Justice building, Rooster started grumbling. He said my adventure planning privileges were about to be revoked. We climbed out of our little Chevy Spark and navigated our way through the rain puddled driveway to get to the front door of The Hall of Heroes. it’s a sort of ahoy and holy barnacles Batman kind of day.
Rooster was convinced this adventure was a lost cause. The structure we were about to enter was a little weather-worn and looked like it needed a fresh coat of paint. I convinced him we should give it a try. Allen Stewart was in the hallway waiting to greet us. He gave us the complete history of the museum dedicated to superheroes. Stewart is a forty-year collector of memorabilia and has worked for twenty years in the industry as a writer and historian.
Why the Hall of Heros is amazing.
The Hall of Heroes turned out to be an amazing collection of toys, lunch boxes, movie artifacts, and everything superhero. It was filled with all the paraphernalia recognizable from the TV shows we watched as kids. Thousands of tiny action figure images were reflected from behind the glass of the display cases lining the walls of the small museum. Stewart even had the Green Lantern shirt Sheldon wore in the Big Bang Theory. There was a life-sized Superman, Spiderman, and the main character from The Greatest American Hero. The collection had a Captain America shield. It had its very own comic book written by Stewart and a few of his friends. We saw the Ghost Rider motorcycle and the car Robert Downey Jr. landed on in the Iron Man movie. Therefore, Rooster and I enjoyed the leg of our ahoy and holy barnacles Batman sort of day.
Why the Museum is trying to raise money.
Acquiring vehicles is one of the reasons the museum is raising funds to move to a larger facility. I wouldn’t be surprised if a Bat Mobile were added to the museum’s collection in the future. It would be nice if they had room to spread out their articles for the exhibition.
We enjoyed our visit.
We saw so many rare things clustered into a small space, I’m sure we missed some important pieces. I even found a rubber chicken lying behind the glass in one of the display cases. It made me feel right at home. The visit to the Hall of Heroes redeemed me as an adventure planner. It’s the only superhero skill I possess. (Rooster disagrees with this statement. He says I do several things on the superpower level, but we won’t discuss them here in this blog.)
My husband was walking on air by the time we moved out onto the parking lot. If you find yourself in the Elkhart, Indiana area, make a side trip to The Hall of Heroes. Don’t let the fact that it is located behind the home of the curator or that the driveway is an unpaved detour you. It is worth the time to get to 58005 17th Street. You can also learn more about this intriguing museum at https://www.hallofheroesmuseum.com. Stewart is doing a fantastic job of preserving the memories of superheroes from the past and present. I’m sure he will collect the superhero memorabilia yet to be created by future artists and moviemakers. In any event, The Hall of Heroes became our favorite stop on our ahoy and holy barnacles Batman sort of day.
A short stop at The Indian dealership.
Rooster and I had an agreement, so we included a pit stop at the Indian dealership in Elkhart, Indiana in our adventure. It wasn’t a part of the day’s itinerary, but I was working hard at being reinstated as head adventure planner. I’ve written about this motorcycle shop in previous blogs. It is one of our favorite places to visit when we travel to northern Indiana. We’ve been to a lot of Indian dealerships in our travels, and this one is at the top of the list of the shops we’ve visited.
The people are friendly and helpful. They are never too busy to answer all of your questions. They give the same service whether you are a big spender or someone who walked in off the street to buy a t-shirt. The shop is always clean and contains enough motorcycles to hold Rooster’s attention for an hour. You can visit them at 5016 Brittany Court Elkhart, Indiana, or see what they have to offer online at https://elkhartindianmotorcycle.com. We walked out of the store with a sticker to affix to the rear window of the car. In any event, a visit to an Indian motorcycle dealership is Rooster’s idea of an ahoy and holy barnacles Batman sort of day.
Our hunt for a coffee shop begins.
The need for coffee drew us into downtown Elkhart. On our previous visits, we’d only traveled through the outskirts of town. The city was much larger than we realized. Like many Indiana communities, Elkhart is revitalizing their downtown area. New architecture blends with historic buildings creating a sense of history and stability with a touch of modern hipness. Trendy stores occupy the lower levels of historic buildings. The Electric Brew located at 113 E. Lexington Avenue is one of those types of cafés. In addition, this coffee shop had a plaque hanging on the wall declaring its pedigree as a registered as a historical site.
We discover Electric Brew.
We pulled out our laptops and got to work. It was in Electric Brew I was able to type ‘the end’ to the fourth installment in The Hen House series. I tore everything apart in book three, and I was successful at putting it back together again by the end of book four.
A little talk about finishing my stories.
I always go through a period of sadness when I finish my first draft of a story. Since I have become close friends over the past six years with my characters, therefore it is hard to put them down for a while. I enjoy spending a portion of my day with them.
I have no idea what adventure my ladies are going to take me on next. There are only so many criminals for them to hunt down in Tecumseh, and they seem to be exhausted lately. I may venture in a new direction. In all honesty,
I need to spread my wings as a writer. I’m thinking about writing a story about a small town where circus people spend the winter. These circus people have superpowers which they have trouble hiding from the world. Pleasant View is the perfect place to set up their winter headquarters because the townies like the money these performers with odd powers bring with them.
The need for me to spread my wings.
It’s in the local’s best interest to keep their mouths shut when it comes to outsiders. Moreover, it is time for me to question why I started on this writing adventure to begin with. I also wonder if I still want to travel down this bumpy road. One of my beta readers told me I’m a word hoarder. I haven’t turned over book three for her to read yet. The problem is I hate to throw my babies out into the world. It is cold out there and so unkind. My stories resemble the ring the hobbit, Frodo, kept secret and safe.
Dinner at Christos
Rooster picked our last stop of the day. Christos Family Restaurant in Plymouth, Indiana is one of his favorite places to eat. The decor brings to mind a storybook cottage located in a fairytale world. Each of the rooms has its own theme. We had a pleasant meal. I wanted to devour a piece of one of the cakes I notice in the display case. Astonishingly, I was able to restrain myself. I’m dedicated to following my doctors’ orders, and none of those sugary treats were on the list she gave me of stuff I could eat.
It was a good meal even if I didn’t get the cake.
Why is everything that tastes good will kill you eventually? Paying the bill was torture, but not because of the cost. The display case with the goodies and the old-fashioned candy on the counter created a marathon in the practice of self-control. I found myself whispering under my breath, ‘Lead me not into temptation, but deliver me from evil.’ I snapped pictures to view at my leisure.
You could say the display in front of me turned into a sort of food porn for this sugar addict to devour with her eyes. You can find these tempting concoctions at Christos Family Restaurant 2227 North Michigan Street Plymouth, Indiana. Plug the address into the GPS on your phone. When you get there, tell them the Hen House Lady sent you. The meal added a tasteful addition to our It was an ahoy matey and holy barnacles Batman Sort of Day.
The snow starts to fly.
We were twenty miles out of Plymouth when we encountered an unwelcome surprise. We’d heard vague rumors the white stuff was going to fly by evening. We vowed to keep optimistic. Rooster and I refused to accept the concept of snow. White stuff started to appear on the shoulder of the highway and snowflakes dotted the windshield.
The road conditions got worse as we traveled south. This was no snow flurry we were encountering. It was an honest to goodness early spring snowstorm. Rooster admitted he was getting old. Twenty years ago driving through weather like we were encountering wouldn’t have bothered him at all. Maybe we’re old enough to know the dangers of traveling through ice and snow.
The end to the ahoy and holy barnacles batman sort of day
We made it home without ending up in a ditch. The day wasn’t a total loss. In conclusion, Rooster and I loved the Ahoy and holy barnacles Batman Sort of Day adventure. It was a day filled with several surprises which were both good and bad. Even the bumps along the road made it interesting. It will go down in our memories as a trip that didn’t go as planned, but also as one we enjoyed for all the surprises it contained. 
Who is Molly Shea?
Molly Shea is an accomplished fictional short story writer from Indiana, who writes short stories and novels about a fictional town called Tecumseh. To read more of her short stories and adventures click here.
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