I arose early so as to get in some sight-seeing on the way to the Windy City. My first stop was right there in Indianapolis: the Atlas Supermarket where David Letterman used to bag groceries. I even took the opportunity to buy some laundry detergent. It's a nice store, the staff was pleasant enough but if any of the current checkers and baggers have the stuff to go as far as Dave, it wasn't readily apparent.

I then motored up I-69 to state highway 26 to the small burg of Fairmount, Indiana. Fairmount is both James Dean's hometown and his final resting place. It's a town that looks much the same as it must have looked back when James was still here. They're very proud of Dean here; the town's historical museum contains a rather extensive collection of memorabilia from his early years, ranging from his baby shoes to his Indian motorcycle. There's also an establishment on Main street called the James Dean Gallery. Run by the town's resident Dean expert, the gallery features quite a bit of memorabilia as well, focusing on his later years and his acting career. The gallery also sells Dean souvenirs of every ilk. There's a store in the middle of town called Rebel, Rebel that features some Dean paraphernalia but focuses more on antique knick-knacks from the '50s and '60s: ceramic ashtrays, old paperbacks, and such. It's a pretty cool store, owned and operated by a guy from Brooklyn, Lenny. A few years back, he attended the James Dean festival held here every September, just looking to sell some Dean T-shirts he'd made and get out of the city for a few days. He fell in love with Indiana - the wide open spaces, the friendly people - and found himself returning often.

Eventually, he opened Rebel, Rebel and he now splits his time between Fairmount and this shop and his wholesale clothing business back in NYC. Eventually, he says, he'd like to move to Fairmount for good. Rebel, Rebel is a cool shop; definitely not what you'd expect to find in a tiny Indiana town like Fairmount.

For the fervent fan, there are other sites in town suitable for a James Dean pilgrimage but as for me, I headed for the outskirts of Fairmount where I took in the farmhouse in which he was raised (it's not open to the public), took a gander at the church he attended in his youth, saw the shop where he used to hang out working on his motorcycle and headed west.

If you follow state highway 35 west and a little north from Fairmount, you hit Kokomo. In the center of town is a nice-sized park which features two rather odd attractions, free of charge. One is a huge tree stump, and I do mean huge . If one were to hollow out this stump, one could put it on the market in Manhattan as a studio apartment, possibly even a one-bedroom. It's 57 feet in circumference and 12-feet high, and right next to it is a steer that's almost as big. Old Ben was the largest steer in the world -- 4,720 lbs., 6'4" high, 16'2" in length -- until he fell on a patch of ice, broke his leg and was put to sleep back in 1910. He was stuffed and sent on a nationwide tour before settling here in a windowed shed for all to see, even all these years later.

I left Kokomo and headed for Chicago, checking in at a Motel 6 near the airport, so I could easily get in and out of O'Hare in picking up my father in the morning.

Continue on the American Odyssey
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