Tuesday, June 10, 2008

Welcome to the Cross Roads of America

Welcome to Indiana. Home of the Purdue Boilermakers and the Indiana Hoosiers. Indiana's location provides corridors moving north to south and east to west and giving it the nickname of Cross Roads of America.

I can't think about Indiana without thinking about Indianapolis. The Indianapolis Motor Speedway was founded by Carl Fisher in 1906. In 1945 the track was sold to Anton Hulman Jr. and he spent millions improving the facilities. There has been an Indianapolis 500 each year since 1946. Scott Dixon won this years Indianapolis 500 in May. Well, duh. He drives the Target car, of course he's going to win. Hey, he's cute. But Danica Patrick is pretty cute, too. There's a great timeline of women paving the way for future women to race. For all of you that have daughters that may be interested in race car driving, check that out.



I may be totally wrong about this but it seems like everything is centered around Indianapolis. I'm not having a lot of luck finding a bunch of places to visit in Indiana so I need your suggestions! You know I love festivals and this summer has a full line up from the Marshall County Blueberry Festival to the Italian Street Fest to a bunch of different Strawberry festivals and on to the Indy Jazz Fest that looks like a lot of fun! Ooh! And Jack Johnson is playing this Friday at the Verizon Wireless Music Center. I love him.



Other sites you can see are The Children's Museum of Indianapolis where currently they're exhibiting cool super hero's and their artists. Or White River State Park where there are several museums and the zoo all wrapped up in one location. You can get a pass and save money. Check out their website. Or check out the Indianapolis Colts if you're into football. And it sounds like Yats is the place to eat. Cajun food, yum.



I may be totally wrong about this but it seems like everything is centered around Indianapolis. I'm not having a lot of luck finding a bunch of places to visit in Indiana so I need your suggestions!

The fun facts for Indiana are: The state flower is the Peony, the state tree is the Tulip tree and the state bird is the Cardinal.



All Hoosiers meet on the Race Deck this Friday, June 13th to tell us what makes Indiana the Taste of USA!

PLEASE! I need your help! Even if you're not from Indiana.

5 comments:

Claudia @ Highlowaha said...

Cassie Patterson, where are you? This is your day to shine!

Let's see... do I have a favorite Indiana story? Starlight, Indiana... that's it. They have a big farm there and each year my family and I would pick our pumpkin from their patch. We made a whole day of it... hay rides, lunch, pumpkin picking, apple cider... the whole shabang.

Anonymous said...

Cassie was in a retreat all day with me =).

But...Indiana is one of my favorite states because it is the birth state of my wonderful husband Bal. I "lived" in Indianapolis for about three years while teaching a colorguard in the Indy area Warren Central.
Indiana is the marching arts capital of North America. As home to the Annual Bands of America competition they recently signed a 10 year deal to have Drum Corps International there as well. This will mean that each year over 100,000 "band geeks" will converge on the Circle City for some amazing shows.
Also Indiana is home to Nashville/Brown County which has some of the most spectacular leaf displays each fall with a "leaf watch" online so you can plan your trip at just the right time.
Finally, and I'm surprised CKB didn't mention it Santa Clause Indiana, home to Holiday World Theme Park but also a really great place to mail your holiday cards so it can bear the Santa Clause meter stamp.
I'm sure I'll think of more and I'm working on getting some Friday posters.

Anonymous said...

I'm here, I'm here! As Heather mentioned, I was at the Family Weekend retreat from 9am to 5pm today...and you are lucky I am at home tonight and not at my boyfriends house, as I have been every night for the past couple weeks!
So...I do live in the beautiful state of IN, but have only lived here for 6 years. I am originally from the sunshine state- CA! BUT I love IN and wouldnt want to live anywhere else...except maybe the louisville KY area, which is only 7 miles from where I live in IN! and thats how I know Dr. B and Heather, who worked at the university i attend :-( (so sad that its past tense!). ANYWAYS, heather did a great job mentioning santa clause IN and holiday world. i have only been to indy a couple of times, but DUH- GO COLTS!!! lol...another really neat place that Dr. B might enjoy if she just so happens to visit here is Lincoln's boyhood home- honest abe that is (http://www.nps.gov/libo/)! he lived there from ages 7-21. it is really neat, i have been twice. they have people who live and work there and show/tell you all about how lincoln and his family lived!

starlight, IN is pretty cool- my best friend from high school lives in starlight, i live 20 min from there, they have an annual strawberry festival, AND i had my senior prom at the exact place Dr. B is talking about- Huber's! http://www.joehubers.com/

I dont know much about IN history or a lot of neat places to go to because I didnt grow up here. But, its a beautiful place!

Anonymous said...

P.S. My mom and I are actually going to the Jack Johnson concert this Friday and I am PUMPED! hehe

P.S.S. While I am on famous people from IN... John Cougar Mellencamp is from here, and also Christian music artist Jeremy Camp is from IN!

Cheryl Houston said...

Cassie- have a great time at Jack Johnson! I LOVE HIM!!!

I also love John Mellencamp. I didn't realize he was from Indiana!

Thanks for sharing today!