Honoring the bounty of the earth is one of the traditions of this small town in the rolling hills of southern Indiana. It’s here in the fall where the orchards are filled with trees bearing bright orange-colored persimmons.
And every year, the fruit that has put Mitchell on the map is celebrated at the Persimmon Festival, drawing almost 40,000 people to a town of 4,600.
Persimmons are all over the place–and not just during the festival.
“We paint persimmons on everything,” says Mark Kern, clerk-treasurer for Mitchell about the fruit with a rich lush texture and taste unlike any other fruit around. “They’re on the city bus, on our water tower, and we have persimmon trees growing everywhere.”
But persimmons aren’t the only reason to come here, even during the festival.
The festival, entering its 55th year, lasts a longish week (this year: Sept. 22-29), a long time just for persimmons. So while the festival offers all kinds of foods made with persimmons, a 5K persimmon race, persimmon princess and queen contests, and a persimmon pudding contest, which usually attracts about 200 contestants, it also leavens the celebration with some non-persimmon content. That includes a candlelight tour of the Pioneer Village at Spring Mill State Park, crafts shows (home-made quilts, antiques), a “Volksmarch,” an antique car show and carnival rides.
The finale, of course, is the Persimmon Parade, which, according to Kern, is the second largest in the state. (Only the IPALCO 500 Festival Parade, known as the nation’s longest motor vehicle parade, at the Indy 500, attracts more people.)
Antique shops
Visitors in any season, however, will discover that Mitchell offers a lot to see and do in its small-town setting.
On Main Street at the Old Mill Cafe, a 52-year-old eatery, waitress Janice Radcliff serves burgers and biscuits and gravy to her customers. “This is the kind of place where you know everybody,” says Radcliff as she works the old-fashioned soda fountain–a fixture from when the place was a candy store back in the 1940s.
Down the street from the Old Mill Cafe are several antique and gift shops housed in restored buildings, some of which are on the National Register of Historic Places. The stores, with names like Persimmon Tree Antiques, Rainbow’s End and Three Hearts Flowers & Gifts, are filled with old treasures that harken to the past.
Amish men clothed in black and their wives, dressed in homemade, simple dresses with bonnets on their heads, also seem to be part of the past as they park their horses and buggies in front of the stores, where they sell homemade baskets.
Near downtown, next to the Municipal Building, a rocket-shaped memorial salutes Mitchell’s native hero, Virgil “Gus” Grissom, as “One of Our Own.” Grissom, the second U.S. astronaut to go into space, died in 1967 in a fire in his Apollo spacecraft at Cape Kennedy. According to his brother, Norman, publisher of the Mitchell Tribune, the community is in the process of restoring the family home as a tribute to his brother.
Pioneer Village
There are several other Grissom memorials, including one located in Spring Mill State Park, 3 miles east of Mitchell. But the park’s big draw is Pioneer Village, a reconstructed pioneer settlement that dates back to a gristmill built there in 1814.
Restored in the mid-1930s, the village introduces visitors to early settler life as portrayed by state employees and volunteers, dressed in period costumes. Stroll through the village, stopping at the shops that made up the commercial district of the town–the apothecary, distillery, weavers, meeting house, carpenter and blacksmith–and listen to the interpreters talk about what life was like back then. Buy a bag of old-fashioned corn meal, freshly ground in the old water-powered gristmill for one dollar. Walk through the stone arch and into the pioneer garden, lush with flowers. And follow the settlers to their final resting spots in Hammer Cemetery, outside the village, where many of the founders are buried.
The wooded hills of the park can be explored by horseback on hour-long trail rides available at the Saddle Barn. Those who have eaten way too many persimmon goodies can burn a few calories by trekking along the marked trails or diving into the park’s Olympic-sized pool.
In Southern Indiana, where the soluble limestone turns the land under the hills into a complex system of caves, you’re never far from a cave, and the park is no exception, offering a boat tour of Twin Caves. Cave cognoscenti describe Twin Caves as a dry cave. That means no “cave kisses”–more on this later–but a greater likelihood of a bat sighting, as bats prefer the dry caves to the damp. Those who prefer to travel underground on foot can take a walk through Donaldson Cave.
Underground voyage
Just north of Mitchell, another cave experience–Bluespring Caverns Myst’ry River Voyage–sounds hokier than it is. The Myst’ry River, at 21 miles, is claimed to be the longest subterranean river in the United States. To get to it, there’s a fairly steep, 1,000-foot walk into the cave–and don’t forget your sweater (caves are a consistent 52 degrees year-round). The tour, which lasts an hour, travels about 1 1/4 miles through the cave, ending when the way becomes impassable for the 17-person flat-bottomed boat.
Now about that kiss. Bluespring Caverns are damp caves, their walls coated with a fine film of mud. Overhead, water drips from stalactites. When the drops hit boaters, the clammy experience is affectionately known as a cave kiss.
Despite dripping ceilings, the tour is memorable as the boat passes through high vaulted chambers into narrow passages that twist and turn with the contours of the river. The somewhat murky water is abundant with rare albino blindfish and crayfish.
Even if you can’t make it to Mitchell when persimmons are in season, it’s still possible to take home a sampling of the fruit–at least for a while.
For the last 32 years, Vernon and Dymple Green have been processing persimmons into pulp, canning and freezing it under the name of Dymple’s Delight. The pulp, made in the gray shed next to their house on the 110-acre farm where Dymple has lived since 1940, is used to make muffins, puddings, breads and pies. Local dairies use Dymple’s Delight in persimmon ice cream, a big taste treat in the fall.
Dymple Green, who has been a judge in the persimmon pudding contest for many years and more than a quarter century ago created another contest (persimmon novelty/dessert) for the Persimmon Festival, has compiled her recipes in an orange-jacketed cookbook, “Persimmon Recipes,” which is sold at the festival and in local stores for $3.75–or you can order it from her for $4, including postage (Dymple Green, Route 4, Box 53, Mitchell, IN 47446).
Through the years, the Greens, who might be the only people in the U.S. who make persimmon pulp, have become celebrities of sorts, featured in glossy food magazines like Cuisine and Saveur. But because of health problems, the Greens are curtailing their persimmon pulp business. The frozen pulp is still available, at least until they run out, at Applacres, a farm stand on Indiana Highway 37 north of Mitchell.
On the day I was there, you had to ask for it because they keep it in the back. Hurry. There’s not much left.
IF YOU GO
GETTING THERE
Mitchell is about 265 miles from Chicago. Take Interstate Highway 90 South to Interstate Highway 65 in Indiana. At Indianapolis, take Interstate Highway 465 South to Indiana Highway 37, then go south about 80 miles.
THE FESTIVAL
The 55th annual Mitchell Persimmon Festival will be held Sept. 22-29. There is no admission fee.
DINING
The Old Mill Cafe & Dining Room, 641 W. Main St., is open for breakfast and lunch, opening at 7 a.m. and closing at 2 p.m. on weekdays and 3 p.m. Saturday and Sunday.
Jack’s Lounge and Restaurant, 505 Main St., serves from 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. (until 10 p.m. Saturday and Sunday).
Joe’s Family Restaurant, Indiana Highway 60 at 9th Street, has the same hours, except for Sundays when it’s closed.
There are also several chain restaurants, including a McDonald’s and a Dairy Queen.
LODGING
Historic Spring Mill Inn (877-9SPRING), in Spring Mill State Park, 3 miles east of Mitchell on Indiana 60, has a restaurant and an indoor/outdoor pool. Open all year.
Room rates from $74.
About 2 miles out of town, Stone City Motel (812-275-7515), 2816 Mitchell Rd., has rooms for $28.
More lodging is available in Bedford, 10 miles north of Mitchell, as well as in Bloomington (home of Indiana University), 35 miles to the north.
PARKS
Bluespring Caverns Myst’ry River Voyage (812-279-9471) is open 9 a.m.-5 p.m., daily from Memorial Day through Labor Day and on weekends in April, May, September and October. Admission: $9 adults, $5 children (not recommended for infants).
The park is between Mitchell and Bedford, 1 1/2 miles from the intersection of U.S. Highway 50 and Indiana 37, on Bluespring Caverns Road. The way is well marked with signs.
Spring Mill State Park (812-849-4129) is 3 miles east of Mitchell on Indiana Highway 60. It is open 7 a.m.-11 p.m. daily, year-round. Admission is $5 per vehicle ($3 if you have an Indiana license).
There is no separate admission charge for Pioneer Village, which is open 9 a.m.-5 p.m. daily. The Saddle Barn (812-849-4279) is open 10 a.m.-6 p.m.; trail rides are $13.50, and pony rides around a little corral are $4.
Twin Caves is open 9 a.m.-5 p.m. daily; admission is $3 adults, $1 children. Use of the pool at the inn is $2, plus a 25-cent locker fee.
INFORMATION
Greater Mitchell Chamber of Commerce, 800-580-1985; www.persimmonfestival.org.
— J.A.
