December 27, 2010

Blackhawks & Chicken Lips


The Jordan Statue



Unite Center - Home of the Blackhawks



United Center Scoreboard



Patrick Kane at the Bench



Patrick Kane and Roberto Luongo



Jonathan Toews doesn't need a helmet...



Vancouver Canucks



Duncan Keith



The Chicago Blackhawks



Warm-ups



Both Teams Warming-up



Battle for the Puck



Faceoff from Center



Faceoff in the Offensive Zone



Blackhawks v. Canucks




Zamboni's in Action



Canucks on the Attack



Welcome To The Madhouse



The "Madhouse on Madison"



Chicago's Championship Teams



Chicago Blackhawks - Stanley Cup Champions


Chicago Bulls - NBA Champions



The Sears Tower


Chicks on the Square in Macomb, IL



World Famous Chicken Lips

December 02, 2010

Back from Turkey-break...

After a much enjoyed trip back east, spent some time in New York and had a blast seeing everyone in Leesburg it was back on the road. Flying out of Dulles at the wee hours of the morning, I arrived in Indianapolis with some time to kill. I made the trip to Carmel, IN which is a very artsy district and looked like a fun town. The reason for my trip was to visit Bub's Burgers & Ice Cream. This restaurant was featured on Man V. Food, and it lived up to the reputation. The staff was very friendly and the atmosphere was great. It was a modestly sized establishment, but the walls were covered with photos of champions of the Big Ugly challenge (1 lb. hamburger). There were also larger photos of individuals who ate more than 1 Big Ugly - the more you eat; the bigger your picture. I felt somewhat adventurous and ordered an Elk Burger - which was suppose to be high in protein and low in fat. It was very good. As you can see from the pictures - they have a very large cut-out of Adam Richman as well as his victorious photo from eating 3 Big Uglies.

After crushing the elk burger, I picked up Seth at the airport and we headed down to Kentucky. That evening we spent in London, KY which is a small town which is known for being home to the one and only Colonel Sanders. It is an hour or so outside of Lexington and about 2 hours away from Louisville. So after working in London, we head west to Louisville.

Louisville, KY was a treat we visited a bar, Brick House Tavern and Tap, which was a glorious "Man Cave". They had 70-ish beers to choose from and quite the menu. Breakfast foods were served all day, I ordered the Mahi-mahi and hashbrowns and it was delicious. Right in the middle of the bar was a giant fire-place that you could sit around, and the seating situation was excellent. You had the choice of sitting at the bar, at a standard table or booth, at tables surrounded by couches, or my personal favorite the Rec Room section - which was adorned with 12 leather recliners and 4 flat screen tvs. We sat in the recliners all night long, and had wonderful service from Norma, when our food came out the brought a tray out for us to use while sitting in the recliner. The wait-staff were all women, the uniform was daisy dukes and tiny black golf shirts, and all had "trading-cards" to provide you their name, interests, and favorite sport teams. When ordering beers you had the choice of the "Sissy-size" 16 oz or the "Man-size" 22 oz. They also had cheap canned beers (PBR and Natty Light), bottles (domestic and imported), 40s, mini kegs, and beer bongs (see picture). The beer bong was basically a giant graduated cylinder that sat on a chilled base with a draft tap attached. You could get a half-bong (4 beers) or full-bong (6-7 beers). Adorning the walls were inspirational quotes and a "Man Cave" mural. After spending several hours here we went up the street and visited Fox and Hound bar, and it was here that I taught Louisville 'How to Dougie'.

A wild and crazy night in Louisville to start the week, and now it's off to Chicago for the rest of the week, and perhaps a Chicago Blackhawks Game!

Bub's Burgers and Brick House Tavern and Tap


Bub's Burgers and Ice Cream (Carmel, Indiana)



Adam Richman (Man V. Food) eats at Bub's



The Classy Beer Bong - at Brick House Tavern and Tap (Louisville)

November 29, 2010

The Hoosier State

After a weekend pit-stop at Virginia Tech for some birthday raging, visiting with friends, and a hot date...(shout out to the Zeta ladies) it was off to Indiana. The week started in Fort Wayne where the Akron Girls Basketball Team stayed at the same hotel. The day in Fort Wayne was rather uneventful except for the massive hunting rifle that was showcased around lunch-time in the parking lot.

It was then off to the state capital - Indianapolis. We had several days to spend in Indianapolis, and we filled them with lots of activities. One was trying my first Penn Station East Coast Subs - delicious chicken parm! From there it was off to the Racing Capital of the World...the Indianapolis Motor Speedway (home of the Indy 500 and the Brickyard 400). We toured the museum and the track and took a ton of photos.

That evening I reconnected with a family friend who I had not seen in quite some time. We went downtown to the Weber Grill, where all the food is cooked on 'Weber' grills. I had "beer-can" chicken and a baked potato which were both delicious; much like the aforementioned menu items the ribs were also tasty. It was great to catch up and have a good meal.

The next day was spent downtown Indianapolis working at Union Station - which has now been converted into a hotel, banquet hall, and other assorted uses. After work we headed to Lucas Oil Stadium, which is out-of-this-world big. To fit the entire structure into the photo I had to walk across the entire parking lot. Afterwards, a trip to the center of downtown where a traffic circle is located. Around this circle are a unique monument decorated like a Christmas tree (dedicated to soldiers and sailors) and a building lit up to resemble the American Flag.

This evening we walked over to Conseco Fieldhouse. It was about 30 minutes to tip-off when we arrived and I bought tickets from the ticket-office for $5 on the club level. The seats were great, and I got to experience a wonderful arena. The corridors were packed with history of the Pacers - both historic and modern (including about 3 shrines to Reggie Miller). The game unfortunately was a blowout, with Danny Granger and the Pacers ruining Eric Gordon's homecoming and Blake Griffin's dunkfest. However, the other forms of entertainment were quite awesome. The Pacers have their very own Pep Band - who paraded around before the game and tooted their brass instruments throughout the event. The halftime entertainment was a 1-handed juggler who used bowling pins, tennis balls, rings, etc as props (pretty impressive). Lastly there were the Pace Mates (Pacers Dance Team) who were all very pleasing to the eye individually; however, not so much as a cohesive unit [perhaps the worst choreographed pro-team I have seen]. All in all the experience at Conseco Fieldhouse was a good one...but the people of Indy should really support that team - you have a great stadium, good young players, and a Pep Band for crying out loud. The reason I am calling out the Pacer fan-base is because they have a section of loyal Pacer fans 'Area 55' who attempt to distract/disrupt the visitors, but the only problem is that their entire section was quieter than one 12 year old girl sitting up in the nose bleeds.

Indianapolis was a great city, and can not wait to come back and experience even more...

November 20, 2010

Sightseeing in Indianapolis

Indianapolis

Downtown Indianapolis



Historic Union Station



Union Station and the Crowne Plaza Hotel



View From Traffic Circle in Downtown Indianapolis



Sailors and Soldiers Monument



Ameircan Flag Building



The Weber Grill


Indiana Pacers v. Los Angeles Clippers

Conseco Fieldhouse - Home of the Indiana Pacers



Side of Conseco Fieldhouse



Interior Corridor of Conseco Fieldhouse



Welcome to Conseco Fieldhouse



The Pacers Pep-band



Darren Collison and Roy Hibbert



Conseco Fieldhouse - Home of the Pacers



Area 55 - Pacers' Rowdy Fans



One-handed Juggler for halftime entertainment



The 'Pace-mates'



Clippers' Pre-game Huddle



And We're Under Way - Clippers v. Pacers



Eric Gordon for 3



Eric Gordon at the Charity Stripe



Blake Griffin Bricks a Free-throw



Danny Granger at the Line



Indianapolis Pacers Championship Banners



Retired Jerseys in Pacer History


Checking out Peyton Manning' Palace!


Lucas Oil Stadium - Home of Super Bowl 2012



Lucas Oil Stadium - Home of the Colts



Lucas Oil Stadium Entrance



Sliding Glass Pane at Lucas Oil



The Side of Lucas Oil



Down the Side of this Monstrosity



Colts Light-up Sign


Indianapolis Motor Speedway and Museum

Indianapolis Motor Speedway - Racing Captial of the World



Welcome to the Indianapolis Motor Speedway



Approaching the Front Stretch at Indianapolis Motor Speedway



The Grandstand on the Front Stretch



Victory Lane



Pagoda at the Finish Line



The Famous Finish Line Bricks




Pagoda Profile



The Leaders Tower



Gasoline Alley - Garage Area



Leaving the Home-stretch



"Never Give Up" Chevrolet Statue



The Racing Hall of Fame of the World



Main Corridor of Indianapolis Motor Speedway Museum



The Indy 500 Trophy



Champions Drink Milk



The Old Indianapolis 500 Trophy



Modern Day IndyCar



Collection of Indy 500 Champions



Even More Champions



Camel Cigarettes IndyCar



Brickyard 400 Trophy



The King's #43 STP Racer



"Smoke's" Home Depot Championship Car



Let's Go Racin'



Garage Exhibit



Look at these Hot Rods



Corvette and Giant Trophy



The 1st 3-Volt Car



The Harley Davidson Human-Missile




Super Slick Mercedes-Benz



Lotus & Trophy Collection



STP Lotus Whip



The 98 Flame Special!



Ford Lotus Open-wheeler



Open-wheel Ferrari Racing



Old School Muscle Whips



Racing with a 'Wing'



Stack of Spare Tires



Pretty Impressive Car Collection



Racing Motorcycles



Old Indian Motorcycles



Old-School 2 Seater



Primitive Whip - Max Speed 10 M.P.H