"The Hoosier State"

Welcome to Indiana

Indiana/Michigan border on I-69
May 27, 2005

Indiana has a special place in my heart, since my Mom and her family call the Hoosier State home. One joke I always have with my Mom is based on a commercial that used to run about Indiana Beach, a theme park located in Monticello. The slogan for the ad was a crow declaring: "There's more than corn in Indiana!" My follow-up was: "That's true; there's soybeans and wheat too!" While that might seem unfair, Indiana does contain a whole lot of farms and I think most people outside of Indianapolis would agree that it is a farming state. In my travels as a college student, I can say that Indiana has some beautiful college campuses in Bloomington (Indiana University) and South Bend (Notre Dame).

I have crossed this border numerous times to visit my grandparents, so I had seen this sign several times before. I really like "Crossroads of America" as the state motto, because if you look at a map, the criss-crossing interstates show that all roads really do lead to Indianapolis. My one complaint about this sign is that it is very small compared to the other road signs (like the one in the background with exit information), and it can get lost amidst the roadside clutter. One of my favorite signs (I need to get a picture of it) is just across the Indiana state line advertising a store that sells cheap cigarettes. Its name? "The Butt Hut."

Welcome to Indianapolis

July 9, 2005

For all the times I've been to Indiana, I've only been to the "Circle City" a few times before, and never down in the capitol area. I really like Indy; it just has a real friendly feel in the downtown area, perhaps because it is so used to having visitors for its various big-time sporting events throughout the year, particularly the Final Four. The design of Indianapolis is quite ingenious, with the Soldiers & Sailors memorial at the center of the town, and all the streets are laid out in a grid around it. I think it's probably the most underappreciated town in America, since it has a steadily growing population (it's the 12th largest city in the country at just over 750,000) but it often is portrayed as some small one-horse town amidst the corn fields (well, the second part is true).

The capitol itself seems fairly ordinary from the outside and it is so obstructed by buildings that I couldn't get a shot of the entire building without something else blocking it. It's located right in the heart of downtown, about three blocks from the exact center of the city. I really don't like the dome, since it is supposed to be the focus of your attention, and the dark coloring seems drab and boring. The grounds are almost non-existent, since the building is nearly right up to the sidewalk on all sides. But I managed to take a tour inside, and it was pretty impressive. We were allowed to enter both the senate and house chambers, as well as the supreme court.

Miscellaneous Indiana Symbols

State Route Sign

License Plate

Seal

Quarter