Divergent

May 20, 2021

Divergent

Kathy and I have an arrangement and that is that she will accompany me to Indianapolis every other year to attend the Indianapolis 500 and all the accompanying festivities (most of which were canceled this year due to the pandemic).  Not attending last year meant that this would have normally been her year on and she would have made the trip, but this was far from a normal year and she had a very close friend who was getting married this month and so she headed to New England to see family and to attend the wedding in New Hampshire while I was in Indiana.

 

Having missed only the pandemic rescheduled -no fan version of the race held last August, I was anxious to get back to the Speedway and to attend my 49^th race in 50 years. Next year Kathy will join me to celebrate my 50^th Indy 500.  So I was on my own for the time I was in Indiana, which is fine because I was staying with my sister Michele and have tons of close friends still living there.

Kathy was able to take her first real trip since the pandemic started and getting to see her father for the first time in almost two years as she stopped in Marshfield to see him as well as her aunt Kathy and uncle Al before driving up to Sunapee, New Hampshire to attend her friend Tina’s wedding. While in Marshfield, Kathy was able to go Kayaking with her Aunt Kathy.

I was enjoying my first few days in Indianapolis, heading to the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Museum, which is always a part of my annual visit. This year they have a wonderful new exhibit highlighting the career of 4-time Indy 500 winner, Rick Mears. It is a fantastic exhibit that features all four of the cars that Mears won while driving as well as a number of other significant cars and memorabilia from his storied career.

While there I signed up for the exclusive “Basement Tour” which is one of the few things at the Speedway that I have never done. The basement of the museum is packed full, with about twice as many cars there as are on display at any given time. It is also where they work to restore old Indy Cars. No photos are allowed in the basement, but it is a terrific experience, especially for long time fans such as myself. My guide was excellent, though I think my knowledge of many of the historic cars was on par with his. Many of them I had the pleasure of watching compete over the years.

I also try to see new things or revisit favorite places while I am in Indianapolis and I did plenty of both on this trip. One of the places I went to was the Heidelberg Haus Café which is a German Bakery that has been open for 53 years, but that I had not been to since I was maybe eight or nine. My family used to go there to get German food and baked goods fairly often, so it was very nostalgic to be back. It seemed pretty much the same, a quaint but good eatery and kitschy gift shop.

 

Of course, wherever I travel, I like to check out the local craft brewery scene and while I have visited many Indianapolis area brew pubs, there always seem to be a few new ones popping up that I have not previously visited. I went to a few this trip including Mash Craft Brewing, the Blind Owl, Big Lug Brewing and my favorite the relatively newly opened Guggman Haus Brewing just off of 16^th street near downtown.

It features a great selection of German themed craft brews and is well worth checking out if you are in the Indianapolis area. It is so great to be able top get back into real life scenarios now that the pandemic is slowly coming under something resembling control. Being vaccinated takes a load and worry off and while I still am taking precautions, it feels as if life is slowly resuming. We wouldn’t be able to travel at all if we couldn’t find a great person to house and pet sit and this time our friend Renae stayed at our house and took care of the cats and Jack, so thanks so much to her.