24 Hours in Indiana // An All-American Road Trip

I started writing a very whiny "case of the Mondays" post... but I've ranted, and moved along. Here's something much more fun and positive to read.

Here we go:

Sometimes... you impulse buy concert tickets. Oh, you don't? Really? Just, me? Ok then.

I impulse bought concert tickets for KC last Valentine's Day... they were a REALLY good deal... and I figured it would work out pretty well to take a little extended weekend trip out to Indianapolis. KC has a good friend who lives in nearby Bloomington... it was a great plan. Well, life happens, and we were asked to go to Alaska for work less than one month later at the beginning of July and were already headed to Florida at the end of July.... so we were low on vacation days... and needing to save cash.... so, we decided on a slightly more than 24 hour trip... we might be a little nutty...

We got to see Chris and his sweet girlfriend Anna, we saw a little tiny bit of Bloomington, even less of Indy, drove a lot.... but the concert was GREAT. :) We were pretty exhausted by the time we got home... which was too bad.... but it was definitely a true road trip.

Wayyy later... here you've got some pictures!

Indianapolis, IN: 

Glass Animals at The Old National Theater - A cool venue, it used to belong to the Shrine. My grandparents were Shriners... and my grandma was really concerned about this being a Shrine building. Technically they aren't allowed to sell any of their memorabilia. : / The pillars made it kind of hard to see, and the employees were smoking in the side rooms where the alcohol was held... and setting off the fire alarms... #classy... but other than that it was a good size for seeing a band you love. Glass Animals were (was?) great live! We definitely prefer cool small venues!

Bloomington, IN:

Upland Brewing Co. - Yummy food. After being in the car I was craving veggies! They have a nice vibe, and outdoor seating there. We shared a nacho appetizer, I got a salad, I think Anna did too, and the boys got burgers and fries. 

Bloomington Bagel Company - Noms. We stopped there with Chris and Anna for a quick early morning breakfast before they were off to work. We got breakfast sandwiches with egg and sausage... but they had so many options.. it was tough to choose! We love this place... it would be amazing to have one here!

There was a cute town square surrounded by little shops. We went into the bookstore, and didn't buy anything, but looked around for a bit. We stopped by a game shop as well.. but the employees were very preoccupied with an online game... and didn't really look up.... : / The day was nice, and we had fun walking around the old buildings and sculptures. We didn't have a lot of time before we hopped back into the car!

Casey, IL: (aka the town cornering the road trip traffic crowd on "the world's largest" stuff.

This little town claims to have The World's Largest Golf Tee, The World's Largest Windchime, The World's Largest Knitting Needles, and The World's Largest Crochet Hook. That's a lot of stuff. The latter three are all close together, and the golf tee is on the golf course. It wasn't that easy to find... and the town was mostly not open yet... but we went ahead and visited all 4. And took pictures... #becauseroadtrip . The sleepy town, became a leetle bit creepy, we also wondered why exactly there would be scripture on a huge golf tee... but hey, it's the Midwest. Bottom Line: fun if there's time and you like silly road trip stuff. Definitely gave us a little time to rest from driving. (after googling, it looks like they have even more large items on display... ) and unrelated, but fun sounding, a popcorn festival. 

Highland, IL:

Blue Springs Cafe - Home of the "foot hi pie". We saw a road side sign advertising that the place was on food network for it's "foot hi pies," we love pie, so we headed that way. The place was pretty old and very '90's country (plaid table cloths, oak furniture, frilly curtains..), overall not the worst, but kind of funny. We ordered lunch, which was decent, and pies to go, because how could we not try it. KC got banana and I got chocolate. I don't really like chocolate pie.. .so I don't know what I was expecting, but it wasn't great. KC's was better... though overall perhaps not worth the "hype". It certainly wasn't bad... and I would prefer "real food" to fast food while on the road, so it definitely served it's purpose. I could take it or leave it. Another good, "road trip" thing though. I've never seen so much meringue.

Also, it would have been great to meet Plucky!! There just was not time! :(

What's the funniest "road side attraction" you've seen?

Do you like to take road trips?

Anyone else impulse buy tickets...?

XO,

Alexandra