quote:

Originally posted by Gus:
Dear IMJ: like Amy said, head to the Brickyard and watch practice/time trials. If you are not a racing fan now, you will be when you see these babies whip by you at 220+ into and through a corner.

OK I will grant you the time trials. But no more. Alright, maybe the race. But that's it!

I just got back from a visit to Indianapolis today. (Grew up there, too, and my parents still live there.)

The downtown is very nice - there's the new football stadium going up, the new minor league baseball field, Conseco Field House, the famous Circle, lots of nice restaurants (chains mainly but for the definitive Indy dining experience you must go to St. Elmo's. The shrimp cocktail sauce will blow your head off - very heavy on the horseradish but a must-have. The steaks can't be beat.) Also right there, along the new White River pedestrian area, is the Eiteljorg museum of western art - it's terrific. Also the new Indiana State museum, and the zoo are there, too.

Broad Ripple is OK, but nothing you can't see up here, really.

I think time trials are this weekend - I know the track just opened up for rookies this past weekend and veterans can start practicing on Thursday. But even if they aren't going on, just go to the track anyway. Practice will be going on and you can see the museum, too, which is nifty.

There's a lot more going on there than when I was a young'in (we moved away about 18 years ago), but even so, it's not really a major metropolitan area. The best parts of Indiana are not in Indianapolis; they're in the smaller towns, pretty little state parks, covered bridges, the beauty of Brown County and Madison, etc.

Still, gas was twenty cents a gallon less in Indy than it was up here today, so there's that!

Scribbler, where did you go to high school? I didn't know you grew up there! I think we are close to the same age....perhaps we crossed paths many years ago.

I have a vague memory of having this discussion with you before, Amy, but naturally, I've forgotten the details! Anyway - I went to Ben Davis High School, and Mr. Scribbler went to Northwest. Where'd you matriculate?

We lived there until about 1990; my oldest son is a native born Hoosier. Now I think of it as a nice place to visit, but I'm glad I don't live there! Growing up there you don't realize how very, very conservative and religious that state is - it's about as Red a state as you can get. There are still restaurants in my parents' neighborhood that refer to French Toast as "Freedom Toast." And the new state license plate has "In God We Trust" as part of the logo.

Perhaps we did have this conversation...sorry. Ah, Ben Davis - home of the Sparkplugs! (always did love that name) I went to Hamilton Southeastern. It is a very red state and I was certainly raised in a conservative, Catholic home. A testament to my parents that they voted blue - they are fed up! Gotta love 'em!!

No - it was Speedway Sparkplugs. Ben Davis Giants!

My father, in a warped interpretation of logic I cannot begin to understand, voted in the Democratic primary even though he's Republican. He voted for Hillary Clinton - but not because Rush Limbaugh told him to (that, I would have sort of understood, for him). No, he voted for her because he detests Obama and did not want him to be the Democratic candidate from Indiana (Hoosier pride, I guess?). So he voted for Hillary. Even though he has absolutely no intention of voting for any Democrat in any general election, ever. So in effect he tried to help a candidate win a nomination to be a general election candidate who he will not vote for. Never. Not even if hell freezes over.

I can never, ever understand my parents' politics.

Oh yeah - that makes more sense (Speedway Sparkplugs).

And as for parents, you know, we can pick our friends but can't pick our family!!