Day 3: October 21, 2019
Moonburger Breakfast
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My friend Mark told me about this place a couple of years ago and it's been on my to-do list ever since. I got pretty excited when I realized I could fit a Moonshine Store visit into this trip even though I wasn't 100% sure what to expect. You get things started by stepping up to the "Order Here" sign and letting the cook know what you want. There are other items on the menu (including fried bologna) every order I heard today, and there were quite a bunch, was for a cheeseburger. You're on your own for getting anything else you want. There's potato and macaroni salad in a glassed fronted cooler and a selection of chips up front across from the drink cases. Then you show the girl at the register what you've picked up and tell her what you've ordered, and she'll tell you what you owe. That is, by the way, a cash register. An ATM is available.

There is plenty of outside seating and a pass through window for when the weather is much warmer than today. Today most of those 'burgers were eaten at one of the inside chairs or benches. One father and young son ate in their truck and the percentage of take-a-ways seemed to increase as the noon hour neared. Actually, the overall crowd increased as noon approached. The store closes at 1:00 and the grill goes off at 12:30. I'm guessing that makes a last minute rush a fairly regular event.

I had driven due south from Paris to Marshall then west on the National Road/US-40 to Martinsville. Then it was pretty much due south again to the Moonshine Store on narrow back roads which I now retraced northbound. I'd noticed this mailbox on my way south and paused for a picture on the way back. I'm guessing that the skeleton is a seasonal addition but don't really know.
Martinsville is home to a couple of really big things. The horseshoe's reign as world's largest didn't last too long. It earned the record in 2013 but lost it to a shoe in Kentucky in 2015 which was beaten by a shoe in Mumbai, India, in 2016. It could still be the world's heaviest as it does outweigh the Kentucky shoe. I couldn't find the weight of the Mumbai shoe. The anvil could be the world's largest but it seems that may not yet be determined.
I had not intended to reach Casey to day but the big things in Martinsville changed my mind. Casey is home to several world's largest things and it's only about a half dozen miles west of Martinsville on the National Road. I'm glad I drove those few miles because there were several new big things to see in Casey. The spinning barber pole caught my eye first. The mouse trap and golf club are right across the street. On my last visit to Casey, I'd caught preview of the club in the workshop. I had driven past the teeter-totter on the way to the pole but didn't realize what it was. It was neither teetering nor tottering today but the gate was unlocked so I walked to the far end for a new view of my car.
The World's Largest Gavel is back in Marshall. I'd also caught it in the shop on that earlier Casey visit. While in Marshall, I snapped another picture of the row of buildings made famous in George Stewart's US 40: Cross Section of the United States of America. George's 1950 picture, Thomas and Geraldine Vale's 1980 version, and a shot from 2014 can be seen in a Jim Grey blog post. My 2006 attempt is here.
In a major cutback, I stopped at just one brewery today. The Terre Haute Brewing Company was just a few miles off of my planned route. The pictured porter is the only beer I actually ordered but I got into a conversation with brew master Anthony and ended up sampling three more. No only did Anthony ply me with some really good beer, he filled me in a little on the original Terre Haute Brewing Company. Founded in 1837, it once covered three city blocks and was the seventh largest brewery in the nation. Several of the original buildings remain including the one housing the current incarnation of THBC.
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