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(32) Thanksgiving and Black Friday

Again I find myself well past due for a blog update, so here goes.

Thanksgiving is such a humbling time of the year. It reminds us all to reflect on the many blessings we share, and reminds us that the glass is half full. Most of all, it centers our focus on the importance of family, something we oft take for granted. It is great to be home again this year to spend time with family, and of course to enjoy a good meal. I certainly love a good meal, and anxiously dreamed of succulent turkey, real mashed potatoes with gravy, and a mound of delicious stuffing. Not to mention the assortment of desserts! The day started out with a trip to Monica's new apartment here in Franklin. I was going to help carry some furniture in that was being delivered, but my Donna Delphi (my GPS) insisted we take the scenic route. I was a bit late as all the furniture was inside and Todd and his father were fitting a slipcover onto a loveseat. We headed for Greenfield shortly after, Monica along for the ride.

When I arrived at my mothers house, she was in the kitchen preparing the feast. I got a sneak peek and a few photos with my new Canon Rebel XSi. Allison got her camera and we were the photographers of the days events. Grandma and Grandpa Stair were down from Lafayette, and it was nice to see them as it had been a while. We lounged, relaxed, and talked while the food was cooking and filling the air with a mouth-watering aroma. Before we knew it we were chomping away at some excellent homemade cuisine. Afterwards, we did some preparation and planning for Black Friday shopping, and I set off for home to catch a nap before the shopping frenzy.

Well the plan was to meet at my house at 11pm, which came before my nap did. We headed down to Taylorsville outlet mall for the midnight madness sales. We made a lap around the whole compound, stopping in stores that perked our interest. There was a lot of folks there, but reportedly not as many as last year. We really didn't find anything we were looking for, or at least any deals worth sticking it out in the line for, so we walked back over to Max & Erma's where the Subaru was parked. We decided to go inside for a bite to eat, but mostly to burn some time as it was only a little after 1am and the other stores don't open until 4am. Monica and I had the breakfast bar that they had set up solely for shoppers, while Mom went with soup and a sandwich. We headed back to my place to warm up and take another power nap before the second round of shopping. Again, my nap didn't come. I sat reveiwing all the deals online, noticing that many, if not all, of the things on my list were best purchased online. If they weren't cheaper, it wasn't worth waiting in line for the difference. Needless to say, once 4am came, I decided I'd stay home and snatch up the Christmas gifts on my list rather than take another nerve-racking tour under the fluorescent lights. Mom headed on to Target to get an in-store only deal, and Monica decided she had better stay home and get some sleep before work at 9am. I just don't enjoy black friday shopping, contrary to what some might think. I do get very excited for Black Friday, and even make a sport of it. However, the atmosphere of a retail store packed to the gills of card-swiping consumerists is an environment that I'm not comfortable at all in.

See, I had a real tough day one Black Friday. It was 2004, and I was in Kabul Afghanistan. I'll spare the details, but long story short, I jokingly said at the end of that day "I'd rather be black friday shopping that go through another day like today." A year passed by, and when I heard mention of Black Friday that year, I instantly recalled my horrendous day just a year before. In the spirit of Thanksgiving, humbling and centering oneself, I decided to put myself through the hell that is Black Friday to a guy like me. And I've continued to do so every year that I'm home in the US. Now I look forward to it, as I'm often in need of re-centering each year, and it puts a smile on my face to have this annual reminder that there are FAR worse places to be than a crowded department store at 4 in the morning.

Anywho, enjoy the pictures, as they are taken with my new Canon DSLR camera! It takes some fabulous shots!

Until next time...

(31) 2009 Indianaplis Moto GP

I scored some free tickets to the 2009 Indianapolis Moto GP. This is the 2nd running of this race here in Indianapolis. Moto GP is a motorcycle racing circuit that is heavily popular in Europe. They only come to the United States for two races each season, one being Indianapolis Motor Speedway.

Last year the race was conducted under inclement weather. I've heard mixed opinions by those who attended. Anyhow, this year I am home to attend and the weather is looking promising. I wake up about 7am and load up the car. I pick up my buddy Jamie and my Dad and we stop by Long's Bakery in Southport for some fresh donuts. After getting our fill, we head north for the speedway.

(30) Symphony on the Prarie

Took a trip to Connor Prarie with Mom, Todd, Mandy, Allison, and Amber to see the Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra perform with a Queen tribute band. It was quite a show, and a great relaxing way to spend an evening. There were thousands in attendance. We set up our lawn chairs and cooler and had a tasty fried chicken dinner from Kopper Kettle. The band's performance was very impressive. I'll let the video here do the rest of the talking.

If you're looking for a nice family fun activity some weekend, be sure to make a trip out to Connor Prarie and support the Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra. They have different theme bands to choose from. You will have a blast!

(29) Hershey's Chocolate Trap and Gettysburg

Sunday morning we woke up from our slumber at the Quality Inn in Burnham, PA. We packed up the bikes, chugged down some complimentary coffee, and drove on for Hershey, Pennsylvania. We had decided to make the 2 hour ride to Hershey to scope out the Hershey Chocolate Factory. We arrived around 1030am and parked the bikes. The Hershey factory was overlooking us atop a huge hill, with 'Welcome to Hershey' spelled out on the front lawn.

Unfortunately, we weren't going to be able to go to this huge factory, because they no longer give tours of the factory. Now tourists are directed to a Hershey Chocolate Theme Park. They have rollercoasters and the whole shebang. I was pretty disappointed because I was looking forward to a history lesson and to experience the factory myself. Instead I was looking at walking candy bars, and gazillions of ways to blow your money. It was just a tourist trap. We did go into the main building which was mostly a gift shop, but it did have a free 'mock' factory tour. It was playing some hideously annoying music (like it's a small world after all annoying). That was barely enjoyable, but was probably the highlight of our visit. The wives paid to go on a chocolate tasting adventure while us boys looked around the huge gift shop, then headed for the Kit Kat snack bar to sit down and get out of the mobs of tourists for a while. This is where I was introduced to the Hershey build-your-own-sundae buffet. I decided I'd go for a vanilla & reeses ice cream topped with kit kat chunks, reeces pieces, and chocolate syrup. It was delightful. After the girls were done with the taste testing adventure, we high tailed it outta there.

We rode on towards Gettysburg Pennsylvania to get a look at the battlegrounds, museum, and cemetery there. There were thousands of soldiers buried there, many who died at the Battle of Gettysburg. I also got to stand right where President Abraham Lincoln stood when he presented his Gettysburg Address. It was a very humbling experience, but was short lived. After wasting the better part of the day at the Hershey chocolate trap, we had little time to experience all that Gettysburg had to offer. I'm going to have to make another weekend trip for Gettysburg alone.

Anyhow, after a couple hours of Gettysburg, we rode west towards Pittsburgh and decided to stop for the night at the Quality Inn in Somerset, PA. After resting up, we rode all the way back home Sunday. I made it home about 5:30pm. What a weekend!! It was definately a great time, and so liberating just hitting the open road on the motorcycle and discovering what America is hiding in each of its states. Enjoy the pictures!

Until next time...

(28) Dubois Harley Davidson & Denny's Beer Barrel Pub

Let me start this story with a little precursory information. One day while in Iraq, my platoon sergeant (and good friend) Rich Little was doing his normal morning internet routine of reading the Yahoo homepage from top to bottom. This particular day he notices a headline 'Man eats 15 pound burger'. He is amazed at this and reads the entire story, learning that this feat was achieved at a place called Denny's Beer Barrel Pub in Clearfield Pennsylvania. We are intrigued by this place for some odd reason and decide to check out their website. They have a very impressive and tasty normal menu (or so it seemed in Iraq), but they also have a whole slew of monster burger ranging from 2 pounder challenge to the 125+ pound charity burger. We're stunned by this place, and decide that someday we're going to ride our motorcycles over to this place and take a stab at a monster burger challenge.

Enter August 21st 2009:

Today is my day off so I prepare for the 4 day 3 night motorcycle journey. I pack up my saddlebags, strap on my tailbag, and rig up my camera bag to the bike. Everything is ready to go. Rich's buddy is coming along with his wife, but they have to work which sets our departure time to about 6:30pm. They meet me at the Franklin exit off I65 and we fuel up. We rode through about 20 minutes of rain right before Richmond Indiana. After it got dark out we decided to turn into the Hampton Inn in Dayton Ohio to rejuvenate. We ate at a Texas Steakhouse next door and hit the hay.

Saturday morning we wake up and meet in the lobby for breakfast at 0800. We eat a light breakfast and set out on I80 eastbound for Pennsylvania. Going on some advice from a fellow motorcycle traveler we met at the hotel, we decided to stop in Dubois PA to scope out a Harley-Davidson dealership that was built atop an old city street. It was very cool, but I'll let the pictures do the talking. We then continued on highway 322 to Clearfield PA to finally meet the infamous Denny's Beer Barrel Pub.

We park the bikes outside, snap some pictures on our way in, and get a seat back in the corner on the bottom level. We order some drinks and order our 2 pound cheeseburger challenges. We are then given a briefing on how this 2 pound challenge works. You get 2 pounds of cooked meat on a huge bun with toppings on both sides of the meat including cheese, lettuce, tomato, onion, relish, banana peppers, pickles, ketchup, mustard, and mayo. You are allowed to deduct only one of these toppings from the sandwich. Rich picked tomatoes, Coop picked onions, and I picked banana peppers. We sat at our table and chatted for about 30 minutes until the burgers came. And boy did those burgers make an entrance. They commanded attention from everyone in the room as two waitresses walked around the maze of crowded tables and chairs, with the burgers held up high in the air like parade floats. They were HUGE, comically HUGE. They were twice the size I anticipated them to be, which made it more hilarious than intimidating.

She sat the burgers down in front of us 3 fellas, faces red in laughter and embarassment as the entire room watched us begin our journey to the bottom of the plate. We had 1 full hour to devour these mammoth burgers. Coop only made it about 15 minutes and decided he wasn't going to make himself sick trying to eat the burger, so he waved his napkin in the air as a white flag of surrender. Rich and I, having dreamed of this day since being in Iraq, continued to stuff our faces with cheeseburger. Rich made it down to the meat and about halfway through the meat before he dropped out of the race at the 30 minute mark. I had a plan all my own.

At first I took a look at this burger and realized there was no we to possibly eat it like a burger. It was going to have to be completely unorthodox. I began by picking at the bun a couple times and realized this was not a good approach. I then decided to make a sandwich by folding the top bun in half and putting all the upper toppings in the bun. It turned out more like a topping taco. I mowed it down pretty quickly, even the waitress was amazed when she saw that I had the top part of the burger gone in the first 10 minutes. Next, I made a 'pizza' with my 2lb burger patty, placing cheese and a layer of tomatoes on top. I made it about half way through the burger when I was starting to struggle. The burger, even with the cheese and tomato, was just so dry and rough. It really didn't taste all that great. I decided I'd take a break from the burger and make a taco out of the bottom bun and leftover toppings. I folded it up and took a bite. OH MY DISGUSTING!!! All I had in this thing was a thin layer of lettuce, TONS of RELISH and ONIONS! The bread was half soaked with relish and onion juice. I fought hard to eat about half of this onion & relish burger before I decided to switch back to the hamburger pizza. My throat was burning from the acidity of the relish/onion combo. I miserably munched on the dry hamburger, but it was getting difficult to swallow. I started to put a little beer in my mouth with each bite to help it slide down. This worked wonderfully, and it masked the bad taste! I ate all but about a half pound of the meat before I worked up the guts to go back at the relish & onion sandwich. The beer was a blessing at masking the taste, but I was still getting more and more repulsed by the remaining food on my plate. Finally, with 10 minutes remaining, I came to the realization that I was not going to be able to shove down the last bit of burger. In a bit of shame, and relief, I erected a white flag onto the remaining burger and surrendered. I did not make the challenge.

We had a great time anyhow, and picked up some shirts in the gift shop. Perhaps someday I'll be back to reclaim my dignity and crude manhood.

Until next time...

(27) Colts Preseason Game 2

So I get a call today from a friend of mine, Rich Little, and we talk about the plans for our upcoming motorcycle trip the next day. He tells me he's got an extra ticket to the Colts game and asks me if I'd like to go. I'll never pass up a free Colts game, even if it is preseason.

They were coming up from Bedford IN, and were running a little late. I met them at the intersection of County Line Rd and SR 37. We head downtown and find a parking spot a few blocks from the stadium in a parking garage. We decide to grab some food since we were all hungry and walked straight into the Buffalo Wild Wings restaurant right next to the parking garage. We scarf down some wings and beer and head for the stadium about 10 minutes to kickoff.

The place is still being bombarded with fans showing up for the game. We passed a whole slew of beggars, peddlers, and street entertainers on the way. We decide to skip the line for the escalator and take the ramps up to our seats. We were in the highest balcony right in the center of the field. The game had already started, and the Colts had scored their first touchdown by the time we made it to our seats.

We got settled in, and I finally got to take a good look at the new stadium. They had the roof opened up, as well as the side window. The view of the Indianapolis cityscape at dusk through that windowpane looked like a work of art. It was a sight to behold in person, but the picture I got won't disappoint either. The place is outright huge. I felt like I climbed one of the great pyramids to get to my seat.

The game went pretty well. The Colts led the entire game. I'm not going to go too much into game detail because if you cared enough you'd have watched it, and if you don't care then I'm sure you have no interest in reading a play-by-play. After the game we walked back through the circus of t-shirt peddlers, street musicians, and whooping Colts fans. We were anxious to head home and get some rest, for tomorrow kicks off the big weekend trip.

Until next time...