Lunch on a Farm Belt crop tour is more than a meal — it’s an opportunity to explore small-town eateries way, way off the beaten path, and seek out the unique local dish.

Most scouts hit the fields starting at around 7 a.m., so by noon it’s easy to work up an appetite. That helps us embrace home-style foods we might normally shun for reasons of cardiac health. I’m talking about gravy. And dessert.

“My philosophy is to go someplace I can’t find any place else. And especially any restaurant that puts the word ‘pie’ in its name,” said Roger Bernard, director of the eastern leg of the John Deere Pro Farmer Midwest Crop Tour.

On Wednesday, Bernard, another crop scout and I didn’t find anything with “pie” in its name, but we did spot the Eureka Inn in Prophetstown, Illinois.

The inn was built in 1856 in Portland, Illinois, more than 2 miles away from Prophetstown. In 1872, it was moved intact atop a rolling platform of logs, pulled by horses, according to our waitress and the Prophetstown website.

On our visit, all three of us ordered the daily special, chicken in gravy on biscuits, and I had a cup of excellent fresh tomato soup. Afterward, the waitress brought us a plateful of cookies - homemade, of course.

Afterward, Bernard fondly recalled offerings from diners and hole-in-the-wall cafes on crop tours past, including deep-fried pickles and something called the Big Yonk, which turned out to be a hamburger topped with coleslaw. It was named for a racehorse on whom the Indiana restaurant owner had bet and won money.

“It was good,” Bernard said.

President Bush greets diners in a restaurant in Peoria, Illinois January 30, 2007.  REUTERS/Kevin Lamarque.