♫ Driving Along In My Automobile ♫ OR ♫ Miss American Pie ♫

A couple of weeks ago I posted about my new friends Connie and Jim  taking me to The Chicken Place in Ireland, Indiana.  Well we decided to go again tonight.  Best darn chicken livers EVER.  But that wasn't the best part about tonight.  Nope.

At 1800 I was standing in front of the hotel waiting for them to pick me up.  I couldn't believe it when they came driving up in this:

A 1955 Chevy Bel Air.  HOLY SMOKES!  I was grinning from ear to ear.  Connie hopped out and got in the back and I slid in on the split bench seat ready to cruise!  And cruise we did.  Jim pulled out onto the highway and off we went - west towards Ireland, Indiana.  The weather was PERFECT!  About 70 degrees.  Very little humidity.  Calm winds.  Windows down and breeze blowing through our hair as we cruised through town towards Ireland.

I don't know much about cars but I fell in love with this one.  I told Jim that if he ever divorced Connie (not a chance in hell) that I should be his first call.  But I told him it really was about the car.  As we drove toward our destination I was asking a few questions - trying to act like I knew a little about cars.  When I asked Jim about the size of the engine and the number of cylinders he FLOORED it.  The car ROARED to life and I squeeled like a little girl.

After dinner we went for a wonderful drive.  Honestly I'm so relaxed I could fall right to sleep but wanted to post this first.  THANK YOU  Jim and Connie for an incredibly wonderful evening all the way around.  Ahhhhhhhh

Now I'll leave you with a few more pictures

I WANT THAT CAR!

The Chicken Place - NOT to be confused with the Chicken Ranch - And Meeting Two Great Vietnam Veterans

I mentioned in this post a couple of days ago that Connie and her husband, Jim, who I hadn't met yet, were taking me to dinner at "The Chicken Place" in Ireland, IN.  Well, tonight was the night. 

That's the owner 4th from right

Yeah, that's where all the locals hang out - in the bar.  HOOAH!

The highlight of the night wasn't the chicken - which get's TWO THUMBS UP! - it was getting to meet Jim and a friend of his, Ron.  More on them is a second.

The chicken livers were the absolute best I have ever had in my life.  The chicken was fantastic.  There's no website for this place but the current owner tells me he's got someone working on that.  If you're ever cruising through Ireland, IN make plans to EAT AT THE CHICKEN PLACE.  The recipe they use has been handed down through four generations and is just YUMMY!  Be warned....it opens at 4:00 PM and closes, well, whenever they decide to.  LOVE IT!

Jim and Connie picked me up and away we went.  Connie has told me that Jim is a Vietnam Veteran.  I was so excited to meet him.  And what a wonderful gentleman he is.  I feel terrible that I don't remember what unit he served with back in 1966-67.  I'll ask again and update here.  He did, however, share great stories with me about how he went to basic at Fort Knox, AIT at Fort Polk, then to Fort Benning for his MOS training.  That, in itself, was an interesting story.  He was assigned MOS 11 H.  I'd never heard of that one.  Turns out it's for anti tank.  Since there were no tanks to destroy in Vietnam he was trained on Armored Personnel Carriers.  THEN they loaded them on buses.  Yeah, buses, and drove them to Oakland for their trip to Asia.  Holy Smokes!

Jim and Connie introduced me to most of the people who came and went.  Just one of those neighborhood places where, well, everyone knows your name.  And they even have a decent single malt scotch.  YAY!  One of the gentlemen they introduced me to is the father of the current owner, MAJ Ron Himsel (R).  CO D, 1-151 INF AIRBORNE RANGER.  Well you know I was in love immediately.  Yes, those three words that just make me melt...Infantry, Airborne and Ranger.  Ahhhhhhhhhhhh!  Ron is a member of and, I'm told, former Commander of VFW Post 673.  He, like Jim, was such an incredible gentleman.  What a wonderful experience I had tonight being in the company of those two men who served our nation so PROUDLY and well.  I am thankful for them.

While we were there two of Jim's and Connie's daughters stopped by.  One is the mother of their youngest grandson, Cooper.  Cooper is cute, smart, fun and so much fun to hang with.  I'll share two pictures.  Jim has his eye on the Cincinnati Reds game and I didn't get a good shot of Cooper and him at the same time. 

WONDERFUL, WONDERFUL night.  Sure hope I get the opportunity to spend more time with these great Americans.