The Way I See It

Tour de Evansville

<<<phoenix

August 26, 2002

I felt so bad about erasing all those photos the night before that I drove back to downtown Evansville on my way out of town, ran around for two hours and re-shot all the photos. I had to reduce the quality to post them on this site. This is Evansville, Indiana, where I came from (close up):

Uhhh...a Polish Pigeon?>>>

Seko told me she used to frequent a little Italian place when she worked the Evansville Philharmonic in 1994 and would pass it on her way back from the Civic center. So I located every Italian place I could near the Civic Center and photographed it. When I emailed her this photo she said this was it! Angelos...cute:

Angelos on the Evansville, Indiana walkway>>>

Here is the Greyhound bus station my parents left me at on December 12, 1984 when I headed out for my 20-year adventure in the Air Force (breaking things and killing people). I also left from here on January 13, 1988 for my 2 1/2 day, cross country adventure to San Francisco, and, ultimately, two years in Japan...bicycle racing...Miimii...marriage...cats...divorce... broken relationships...counseling...insanity...

Scene of many exits>>>

Here is our courthouse, built in 1891, standing 193 feet high:

Evansville Courthouse>>>

Evansville Post Office, built:1869
This is the old post office my father used to work in. Around 1970 a new 'modern' post office was built and this one is now used to raise monkeys for the annual Evansville "Monkeys on the Ohio". Okay well maybe my memory is a little hazy...I'm not sure what it's used for now...this was the first I'd been down town in ten years.

Old Post Office>>>

Here's the riverside on the Ohio River. If you look closely in the background you can see the stacks of Evansville's
riverboat. I don't know what they call it...but you can gamble on it:

The Ohio River>>>

A modest skyline. To the lower right, once again, is the Greyhound bus station (blue building) which I left from when I joined the Air Force in 1984:

Modest Skyline>>>

Old National Bank...20 stories and the tallest building in Evansville. Like I said, we're pretty modest, and damn proud of it:

Old National Bank>>>

Sandy's Pizza>>>

Sweaty and tired, I spun by the cemetery for my first quiet time with Uncle Bushy since his death the previous October. I sat on Bushy's stone, cried for five minutes (always checking to be sure I was the only live one there) and then drove yet another hour out of my way to Ft. Branch, Indiana, where my mother grew up. In 1951 her parents Margaret (age 58) and Henry (age 65) sold their farm, moved into town and bought a grocery store. At that time my mother (age 22) was the only sibling still living with her parents so she worked in Weiss Grocery. After two years they lost so much money from customers not paying (my grandparents were very generous) they had to close down.
In 1998 Sandy's Pizza opened in Ft. Branch and this sign turned up in their dining room along with many signs and relics from old Ft. Branch. My mother loves to visit there and eat and she tells everyone in the joint she's Henry Weiss's daughter. It's gotten so bad I try to see if I can tell them first. She wanted this photo. I ran in to the pizza joint, lined up the photo, shot it, smiled at the lady at the counter and said,"Hi!" and ran out. Then it was a long, sweaty, 13-hour drive back to Virgina.