I'm not sure if there are better ways to spend warm, sunny days than drinking an alcoholic beverage of choice (for those who are of age, of course) on a dock. Whippoorwill Bar & Grill is located at the Edgewater Marina with lots of boats and boat-loving folks milling about. It has a pretty small menu consisting of a burger, hoagie, grilled cheese, hotdogs and chicken tenders. Not super exciting.


I ordered two hotdogs with chili, onions and mustard (they don't serve slaw). And a strawberry daiquiri.

Let me talk about the drink first. While not really strong, it was definitely tasty, and the bartender blended a good bit, so what didn't fit in my glass, she gave to us in an extra cup. Essentially two whole cups filled for the price of one. That was fun.

The hotdogs were OK, at best. The bun was kind of soggy, the chili and dog were cold, and both had entirely too much mustard on them, which just got everywhere.

The truth is, though, the environment is really what sets this place apart. On a nice day, it's beautiful, relaxing, and you can get a decent drink. If you're looking for food, it may be OK for a quick snack, but I don't know if I'd really order food again. My friend Greer ordered chicken tenders and wasn't too keen on them, either.

But, if a nice view and drink are more important to you, by all means.

Grade: B

LAST INDIANA RESTAURANT - The Shnitz. Schnitzelbank, to be exact, which is a German restaurant in Jasper.

As soon as we walked in, there was a little shop full of trinkets and whatnot. We then seated ourselves in the dining room. I heard nothing but good things about the salad bar, so I knew I was ordering that - it's dubbed "best in the midwest," according to their menu. And for my main course, I went with the German Sampler Platter with wiener schnitzel, bratwurst and knackwurst. AND that came with two sides: I got german potatoes and cabbage.


The salad bar was pretty great. Lots of fresh veggies, plus prepared salads. I particularly like a sort of cornbread salad they had. Super good. Plus a broccoli salad and a huge cheese wheel? Love.


For my sampler - German potatoes are just fried potatoes, and those were tasty. Cabbage was a little sour tasting, but not bad. And the meat was pretty good. Knackwurst has a garlic flavor, and bratwurst has an onion flavor. Both were solid. And the wiener schnitzel was decent, too.

My main gripe is that it was just SO expensive. I think I paid around $40 leaving there. Granted, it was a ton of food, but it was still pretty expensive.

Grade: B

Another favorite restaurant of Kayla's is The Gaslight Restaurant - pizzas, particularly.

The cool thing about their pizzas is that you can get them half and half. Just not on the 6 inch. So I bumped it up to a 9 inch (which has 8 pieces).

I went with half stromboli (since it's their most popular sandwich) and half Johnny Dart pizza because it was the recommended on nearly all the sites I look at.

The stromboli side had diced onions, mild banana peppers and sausage. That side was just overwhelmed with sausage. Like, too much sausage. All I could taste was sausage.

The Johnny Dart side was amazing, though. It is based on their sandwich - corn beef, swiss, pepper jack cheese, with their special sauce - which is like a French dressing. It says it is really spicy, and I was hesitant, so I think the kitchen toned it down a bit for me. It was pretty good. I know it sounds odd, but it was really, really good - thick and hearty with a bit of tang.



Grade: B

When Kayla told me we were going to see one of the largest domes in the world, I thought OK - we're going to drive past a cool building. Wrong.



The West Baden Dome is the 11th largest dome in the world. It's a luxury hotel with a restaurant, lots of little shops and a beautiful garden area.


Their restaurant is called Sinclair's, but for lunch - it's just Cafe at Sinclair's. We went for lunch to avoid the costly dinner options. And really, we only wanted dessert anyway. So they sat us to the right and brought out this adorable mini banana nut bread loaf with those fancy little butters. Tasty.

While a few of the desserts look really interesting, I went for their signature chocolate dome. It had a hard dark chocolate coating with a layer of chocolate cake inside with ganache.

It was OK. I am not crazy about dark chocolate, so that's my bad. The ganache inside was pretty tasty. I was a little envious of all the fresh fruit Kayla had on her creme brulee.

Grade: B

Larry Bird is from French Lick, Ind., and a local sportsbar is dedicated to him, showcasing trophies and other memorabilia of his around the restaurant.



 So, we went to 33 Brick Street. It was time I tried the famous pork tenderloin sandwich



This is Indiana's "thing," and I couldn't leave before trying it.

First, Kayla got some fried pickles. Not my favorite thing, so I won't judge.

My sandwich, though, I was quite pleased with. The pork tenderloin spills out beyond the kaiser roll.

It had pickles, I think, and was tasty. Huge and hot and breaded and pan-fried. Comfort with a side of creamy mac & cheese. Yes.


Grade: A