“Thelma and Louise” Search for Pies in Ohio

On a road trip from Indianapolis to Toledo Ohio with Judy R., we were on a mission to find pies. Well, Judy’s main mission was to visit her family in Toledo, and I was the one who wanted to eat pie at a restaurant which had come highly recommended. We called this the “Thelma and Louise” trip (minus, of course, murder and mayhem) as we agreed to be spontaneous, indulge our curiosity, stop when something looked interesting, and search for pies. We know each other well as we were roommates for four years in nursing school and knew how to be flexible as we meandered the back roads of Indiana and Ohio.

Places: We stopped at many interesting places along our route: Warren Harding’s Presidential Museum and Library; marshy shores along Lake Erie with wildlife preserves Magee Marsh and Ottawa National Wildlife Refuge; Toledo Botanical Gardens; and Fort Recovery, Ohio site of the headwaters of the Wabash River. We searched for a place to eat a pie at these stops but without success.
       As we stopped in Port Clinton on Lake Erie, we asked Google to search for places to have pie; Google recommended a PIZZA pie place. The restaurant where we ended up having dinner did not serve any dessert (but the perch and walleye were delicious.) The famous pie restaurant at McGee Marsh that I was seeking is closed on Tuesdays…it was Tuesday. Driving through many small towns, Google gave us directions for very promising pie places. One was in a lovely neighborhood, but the address was someone’s home; we decided against knocking on the door. Google’s suggestion for café’s, coffee houses and restaurants in most of the small towns we were passing through were clearly closed, possibly an aftermath of pandemic. In Fort Recovery, Ohio when we stopped to walk the town square and view landmarks, we learned from the docent at the Historical Museum that there was a great pie place two blocks away that would be open until 5 PM. It was just 4 PM, so I dashed over there only to find a sign on the door “closed at 3 for a family emergency.”

On our  way home, I reflected on the lessons learned about how to search for a place for pie when on a road trip: 1) it is no longer easy to find places that serve pie; 2) key search words such as “bakery” or “pie” do not guarantee a PIE; 3) many places that may have once served a pie are now closed; 4) search engines and pie place websites are not updated; 5) don’t search for a pie when you are hungry aka hangry; 6) even if you search before you start the trip, as I usually do, you may not find a place that serves that is open; 7) a good strategy is to ask people who live in the town as you are passing through; 8) be persistent!

Finally, we were saved from driving off the cliff by a pie place in New Bremen, Ohio. The Pie Shell is tucked into a strip mall and was easy to spot as we were driving by. Although this place did not have seating, it had a huge inventory of pies. Because this was the first pie of the entire trip, we each purchased a slice of pie to eat right then, and sat on a bench in the bakery that was there to sell.

People: The pie proprietor at the Pie Shell was helpful when explaining about the pies made here and showed us what the pie shell looks like. The crust is made with canola oil and both white and wheat flour. Each pie shell is par-baked (blind baked) before the filling is added.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Pies: Judy purchased a cherry pie with crumble topping to eat after dinner when we returned to Indianapolis. Judy, as it turns out, has well developed taste buds for pies. There was an unusual flavor or spice to this cherry pie which Judy recognized as being Red Hots or Cinnamon Imperials– those small, red candies with a fiery cinnamon flavor. Sure enough, I found the recipe: you can take-1/3 cup red hots and melt them in 1/3 cup water and add to the filling. A spicy ending for our “Thelma and Louise” road trip.