Travel: There’s plenty to enjoy in Roanoke, Indiana |

Oh dear. What kind of a guy gives his wife a bunch of cattle?

A loving one, it turns out, because that’s just what Alice wanted.

See what happened in New York is that Pete Eshelman got drafted once again. This time it was by the Yankee’s principal owner George Steinbrenner who selected him for a job in the front office. It’s all a little complicated but let’s just say that many people described the former pitcher as Steinbrenner’s right-hand man. Pete’s more modest about it all but there are facts that can’t be aw-shucked away. From there, he and his brother started a successful insurance company in Roanoke, a tiny hamlet just 16 miles outside of Fort Wayne. In the process, they re-invented the downtown by reviving abandoned buildings.

To start, there was the issue of where to wine and dine big time clients who wouldn’t necessarily be awed with hamburger and fries. That problem was solved when the Eshelmans bought the empty bank building across the street and turned it into a private dining establishment. Word got out about the quality of the food and soon it transformed into a restaurant named after a distant Eshelman New Orleans ancestor named Joseph Decuis.

But it wasn’t enough to just serve great food. In the ultimate my-farm-to-your-fork concept, their home in the country became a farm where Alice kept her cows. These weren’t just any type of bovine that you might see in a field. They were impregnated by Wagyu bulls, a Japanese breed known for its wonderfully tender and highly marbled meat. Indeed, Joseph Decuis is the only restaurant in the U.S. whose owners raise their own Wagyu beef.

Added to the mix were free-range heritage chickens laying eggs in their extra-large coop that are used for the restaurant, two acres of heirloom vegetables, and prized Old World Mangalitsa pigs for all things pork gracing the menu.

A turn-of-the-last century home down the street from the restaurant morphed into the Inn at Joseph Decuis. For those who wanted to buy prepared gourmet meals as well as Wagyu beef, stop at the charming Joseph Decuis Emporium next to the restaurant. Also stocked with wine and Indiana-sourced culinary items, it has a café for lunch.

For those wanting the Green Acres experience but in high style, consider a stay at the Joseph Decuis Farmstead Inn Bed & Breakfast across the road from the Eshelman’s farm.

Located six miles from Roanoke, the Italianate-style inn dates back to 1884 and was owned by the same family for generations until the Eshelmans purchased it, turning it into a luxurious but cozy bed and breakfast with a large living area, a wonderful farmhouse-style kitchen, and bedrooms for guests. The old carriage house got the same treatment and is also a place to spend a night or two. Despite all the restoration, the inn retains its architectural integrity and country-like feel. This ambience is reinforced when morning comes around and the rising sun is accompanied by the crowing of roosters.

For guests staying at the Farmstead, there’s not only a breakfast feast, but the chance to feed the barn animals which include Rainbow Dixie and Naked Neck chickens, rabbits, goats, turkeys, and Tara and Zoe, two miniature horses.

It’s somewhat difficult to reconcile Alice the actress with the woman who picks me up for a farm tour. She’s driving a tractor-like vehicle and she’s wearing large clunky good-for-any-type-of-weather boots. Sure, she’s still blonde and good-looking but when walking around the farm, she often stops to pluck a weed from a vegetable bed or to shoo one of the 60 or so chickens out of the way.

Nor is it totally unusual to share a glass of wine with her (the old bank vault is now the wine cellar) in the New Orleans-style garden at the restaurant and listen to her talk not about Broadway plays but about the chilled summer squash soup their executive chef Marcus Daniel created from the veggies they raise or how their Wagyu beef is so tender that even cuts normally considered of lesser quality in other types of beef are tender enough to be eaten like steak. After all these years, she’s still excited about farm life.

Depending upon time, Alice likes to show off her Wagyu cattle who seemed to live a soft loft and the hen house where the chickens roost. Alice just recently hired a gardener but up until that, she and Pete did much of it themselves. The farm is immaculate and the Eshelmans give the same care to the animals. Pete actually traveled to Japan to meet Shogo Takeda, a famed Wagyu farmer who taught him the secrets of raising the cattle.

But it isn’t only food, wine, and countryside living for those visiting Roanoke. Now a destination there are a plethora of shops in the downtown’s Victorian-era buildings including Katharos Art & Gift with its shelves and walls showcasing works by local artisans including glassware, wood and metal tables, oil paintings, art sticks, jewelry and more. There’s trendy women’s clothing at Ella Chic Boutique and Peony & Rose Boutique. Saving Grace Vintage Shop & Studio specializes in re-styled and painted furniture, paints and stains, and women’s accessories.

Revive Décor & Consignment has upscale offerings; Paper Moon features an assortment of jewelry and gift items; and Grandma Sue’s Pies for homemade noodles, jams, and jellies as well as hand rolled pies. 40 acres of trails are part of the charm at Two-EE’s Winery near Roanoke. Stop by for a wine tasting either indoors or out (reservations are suggested). Get into the spirit of this small community with such events as the Roanoke Farmers Market on Friday evenings, their Fall Festival from Sept. 8 to 10 and Oct. 10, a Renaissance in Roanoke—a juried art show and handcrafted marketplace.

Or you can just hang in the garden, stroll to the inn or enjoy the sound of roosters in the morning at the Farmstead.

For more information, visit josephdecuis.com