Posted 2:30 PM by Angie Schultz

Foto Friday: The Big Peach

And now for something comp -- well, a little different: a Big Peach:

The Big Peach
Bruceville, IN, June 2007

We went here directly after my grandmother's memorial service, mostly because we weren't sure if we'd get another chance, but partly because Grandma used to take me here when I was a little girl. The eponymous Peach fascinated me, even though I realized that it wasn't a genuine peach, but concrete. I credit the Big Peach for my enduring love of bizarre, outsized foodstuffs, and the tourist attractions that gather around them. (I have photos of the Big Lobster in South Australia that I'll post one day.)


Here's another view:


Note the witty allusion to the Trylon and Perisphere of the 1939 New York World's Fair. This isn't a trylon, though, and there's no pear -- you could call it the Pylon and Peachisphere. (Laugh! It's funny!)

I remember the Peach being actually on the tin roof of the building, and wondering how they'd gotten it up there. Perhaps I'm misremembering -- everything looks much bigger when you're little. Except that I don't remember the stand looking as big as this:


One of these days I will get Google Maps to work inside my blog (tried it, failed), but until then, here's a link to the location. You can clearly see the sign on the roof!

I think when I was there last (late Sixties? early Seventies?) they had less touristy stuff, concentrating on produce-stand staples like corn, tomatoes, and of course peaches. Since we were flying home this time we couldn't take a big ol' bushel of "roastin' ears", as Grandpa called them, but we did buy a little bottle of apple cider (disappointing -- tasted like caramelized sugar water), peach cider (good), and peach preserves (haven't opened them yet). I was crushed to learn that they were fresh out of postcards.

Sadly, the Big Peach does not seem to have its own web site. However, you can mentions of it at Roadside America (the sun was in exactly the wrong spot for me to take the nice picture taken by John Holmes) and Road Escape (where you'll find an interview with the owners).

This was a very nostalgic trip for me. The weather was beautiful (because there was a drought), and the land as warm and friendly as I remembered it. I was in some danger of wishing to live there, maybe thinking that I'd meet Grandma and Grandpa around some corner.

But of course that cannot be.

And you gotta drive half an hour for a pizza.

Labels: Foto Friday, Indiana