Weekend in Indy

The first thing I noticed when I arrived in Indianapolis last Thursday night was the accent. I've never been to Indy, not counting a stopover on a trip to Purdue, but I never would have thought that the people living in a city just five hours away from my hometown would sound so southern. I mean, it's all the Midwest, right? Anyway, I spent the weekend with Amy, one of my college roommates and best friends, who hasn't yet adopted the sound of the Hooisers surrounding her. A little before I moved out here, Amy started an internship at The Indianapolis Star, was eventually hired onto staff, and hasn't left since. It was the first time I've seen her new place (a great apartment in what used to be an old hotel), met her new friends (very cool), and saw her new city (which kind of reminds me of downtown Lansing on a larger scale). We spent a lot of the weekend doing what we would have done on an average Saturday at MSU two years ago: drank, cured our hangovers with Qdoba, shopped and then spent hours choosing and rechoosing our outfits for the night. To celebrate Amy's birthday, a couple other friends drove into town -- Jeremy from Lansing, and a very pregnant Tara from Chicago with her one-and-a-half year old daughter Adriyanna. Adriyanna, by the way, is absolutely adorable and so different from the last time I saw her, meaning she actually talks and walks (well, actually runs) now. We spent much of Saturday at the Children's Museum, which is amazing even for adults; Dinosaurs, sand boxes, artwork, it would take days to explore everything there. We also drove by the Indianapolis Speedway, which is much bigger than I imagined and pretty impressive, even though I still don't understand the sport. Of course, Sunday night came much faster than any of us wanted. Now I can't wait to show Amy my new place, new friends and new city.