3 - Kirklin, Indiana - 40 years later

Yeah, that's an empty Bud container at the base.

          I can't tell you how excited I was to pull into Kirkland, 40 years to the day after my last visit. All I had to go on was a photo and a snippet of dialogue. Let's review:

       From September 23, 1978: I approached and asked the name of the town. One man said – “This little quagmire? You call it a town?” Another gave in: “This is Kirklin – population 712, or 714.” A third: “Yeah, if you count the dogs and cats.”

       We told them we were headed for California, “The long way.” One replied, “You can’t get there from here.”

        I parked my Challenger behind a white Corvette convertible, in front of antique store (one of at least eight! Last time I was there, that shit was new). A few guys were talking and appeared seasoned enough to possibly identify their fellow Kirklin-ites, and I walked up showing the photo on my tablet. We zoomed in on each face but without much luck, though the guy in the Budweiser shirt elicited faint recognition. "Is that Red?" After some more discussion they decided a guy named Dave, a lifelong resident who lived a few blocks away, might know more. So one of the antique store guys hopped in the 'Vette and I followed him to Dave's house.

        Alas, Dave was working a double shift at the plant, but his wife Julie positively identified Red, who now lives in nearby Cicero. I explained my purpose and texted Julie my blog; still waiting to hear from Dave. Maybe it was a long double shift with lots of overtime.

       As for the location of the photo, it was positively identified as the former Club 21 - now Booker's with a spiffed up front:

       I can positively identify the interloper in the second photograph.

       A second alas - Booker's was closed, so my fantasies of having a beer in Kirklin were cruelly crushed. So I wandered the local antique circuit.

         The Jet hat? It's an old agriculture supply company. I think Bruce and I actually bought these hats in Kirklin way back when; the one dude on the left (in the 1978 photo) may be wearing one. I think it gives me rural Indiana street cred.

         Drove north a bit to Rossville. It was Treece's Restaurant and Lounge or Ethan's All-American Grill. Ethan's was closed, so into Treece's I went for the catfish special, with baked potato, steamed veggies, and a Miller Lite longneck. The beer was cold, the fish OK but fried in old oil, the potato and veggies were fine, and the price was right. One bathroom trip later, and I was as good as new.

         It's a pretty late evening drive through farmland, the sun angled low to my left. I'm feeling a bit lonely and this is crazy. It's only Sunday and I haven't even missed a day of work. Joni comes on shuffle play, "I am on a lonely road and I am traveling … looking for something, what can it be?"

          In the short term, the answer was Evanston. 

          Tomorrow: the 1978 frat party, with "The Four M Band: Most Magnificent Music Makers!"