Indy

I made my first trip to Indianapolis this week. Like most business trips I was in and out in just under 30 hours but which is never really enough one to evaluate a city bu initial impressions were favorable. It is clean, and appears to be safe. The people are friendly, like most Midwestern towns, and it seems to be very sports orientated.

I flew in and saw the Indianapolis Motir Speedway from the air. It is huge and a unique way to get the full perspective on its size.

I arrived a my hotel (The Marriott Downtown), only to be told that they had overbooked the hotel. Gut check time. No problem they said. They would upgrade me to their JW Marriott Hotel just a block away and my room would be free. That was awesome. Both hotels had NFL Combine ads all over so I guess they had a number of NFL teams and hopeful players staying their. I saw a number of football types but nobody that I recognized.

I had dinner at St Elmo's Restaurant on a recommendation of a friend. It was very good. The service was exceptional and very fast. The shrimp cocktail is their speciality. 5 good sized shrimp lather in Cocktail Sauce which has a huge amount of horseradish. It is made fresh daily, but we warned it is hot, and will clear out your sinus passages. I followed that with a Rib-eye that was delicious. With each entree they also offer a choice of bean soup or Tomato Juice. I thought the choice was interesting and went with the tomato juice. Sure enough it was just tomato juice.

Dinner was washed down with a Goose Neck Seasonal Ale From Illinois. This was a dark beer, almost black but surprising lighter than it looked. It was easy to drink and not over powering.

New Game

PrimeTime, T-Bone and I were off to a business appointment and continued a conversation from earlier in that day. If you were a state what would you be? PT took California, I took Texas. The Minx was Nevada (because of Vegas). We then went on what if you were a city. If you were dreary probably Seattle, if you were dark and angry maybe Oakland, if you are run down Detriot or Camden. You would be Harrisburg is you are a little out there, and not as successful as you should be.

We then went to New York neighborhoods, and cars. Interesting to see what people think they are and what others think of them too.

Shoe Size

I'm constantly buying shoes for somebody in my house. The kids are always growing out of their shoes, or a new sports season requires a different kind, color or size. What is amazing to me is that so few shoe varieties come in a wide fit. Two people in our house take wide and the rest normal. Why is that?

What happens if pants only came in variable lengths but not widths. That would be uncomfortable too.

Brookside

Getting back into the habit of posting favorite things and random thoughts.

At Christmas I was in Costco (one of my favorite stores) and walked past a sample table of Brookside products. I took a sample, loved it went back for more, and then purchased a packet of Dark Chocoalte Pomegranates. As you can imagine it is small pieces of pomegranate covers in dark chocolate. Absolutely delicious. I can even convince myself of the health effects of fruit and dark chocolate.

6 more weeks

Phil saw his shadow and predicts there is 6 more weeks of winter but the great news is there is less than 24 hours to wing bowl.

Countdownn

What happens in 1 day, 20 hours and 25 minutes? Clue, the greatest sporting event in Philadelphia (at least in winter).

Uggs

When should Uggs be worn? I just saw a professional in our office wearing Ugg slippers. Not the boots, slippers. Very interesting.