Spending an afternoon at Rose Island

Nice weather means another Ramblin’ Rambler Roadtrip. We started the day with a stop at one of our favorite Louisville brunch spots, Selena’s at Willow Lake Tavern. Great food and staff!

We then decided to take a quick swing by the Annie Fellows Johnston homestead in Pewee Valley, KY. Annie, an Indiana native before moving to Kentucky in 1910, wrote several children’s books in the early 1900s including a series around “The Little Colonel”. The book series was turned into a movie in 1935, starring Shirley Temple. We then did a little antique shopping and found an awesome mid-century carhop tray for the Rambler!

And, our final excursion of the day took us back over to Indiana to Charlestown State Park to visit the old Rose Island amusement park grounds. I love walking through the remains of this once celebrated park. It was THE place to come prior to the 1937 flood, which totally decimated the park.

For those that don’t know, Rose Island is very near and dear to my heart. I wrote a book a few years ago called The Lost Amusement Parks of Kentuckiana. In this pictorial book from the Images of America series, I explored the many Louisville and southern Indiana area amusement parks that thrived in the early 1900s. I’ve always had a fascination with this time period in America and amusement parks were in their heyday during that time.

If you’re interested in purchasing a book, you can do so on Amazon. I would greatly appreciate it!! ❤️

The Tin Pan Alley Cats Do the Limbo!

The Tin Pan Alley Cats are back at The Limbo, Wednesday February 23rd covering the classics and standards of the 1920s-1950s as well as new artists that have a classic vintage sound.

Join us for dancing, delectable cocktails, food, and fun. Live music from 8:00-10:00. Enter The Green Fairy Lounge aka The Limbo as you've never seen it before! Oh la la check out the cocktails inspired by the Moulin Rouge compete with festive decor!

The Limbo

411 W Chestnut Street

Louisville, KY 40202

The Tin Pan Alley Cats have the sound of a full swing band with lots of energy, vintage style, and a lively stage presence. Join in the fun and dress up in 20s or perhaps Moulin Rouge inspired outfits!

A Funtastic Friday!

We started the afternoon off with a visit to Lady Tron’s diner in New Albany, IN. This little sandwich and soup diner is “out of this world” good! We have been trying to get by this quirky little place for some time now. We finally made it happen and it was so fun! The food was great and the conversation was delightful, not to mention all the great classic space decor. Come to find out, Jeff knew both of the friendly folks behind the counter! In fact, he took piano lesson’s from John’s mom (Kaye Finn) when he was in grade school, and he also knew Summer’s (owner of Lady Tron’s) family from growing up. We tried the Ripley sandwich (pulled chicken) and both the Tomato Basil and Black Bean Chipotle soups. SOOOO good! The actual dining car is a Valentine portable steel diner manufactured in Wichita Kansas in the 1950s. It has been several different restaurants over the years and started as a dining car back in the 1950s but we are so glad that it is Lady Tron’s now! We love film noirs and murder mysteries and anything Agatha Christie! The remake of Agatha Christie’s Death On The Nile was next up! We caught the matinee showing and took in the gorgeous sights, clothes, and great mystery down the Nile. A great whodunnit movie that we highly recommend.

Later in the evening we headed up to Paoli, IN at the invitation of a friend to take in a classic old time radio show - Hoosier Hometown Live. Great local talent from Orange County and wonderful way to end the day!