Over my 47 years, I’ve done my fair share of travelling across these United States. I thought it would be an interesting experiment go look back at those trips to each of the 31 states I have visited (62% isn’t bad, is it?) and see if, and when, I may be returning. Working in alphabetical order, we start today with the 19th state to be added to the Union: Indiana.
State: Indiana
Joined the Union: 1816
Visits: 1100+
From the fall of 1992 through the spring of 1997, I matriculated at Purdue University in West Lafayette, Indiana. Accounting for breaks, weekends home, and other holidays, I estimate I would have spent over 1100 days in the Hoosier State.
While it is possible that I visited the state of Indiana at some time during my youth, given its proximity to the Chicagoland area, the first confirmed visit would have been in the early 90s, when I made my campus visit to Purdue. I can’t say that i have any particular memories from this trip, but I’m fairly sure it happened. Starting in August of 1992, West Lafayette became my home away from home for the next five years. In December of 1993, I made my first visit to Indianapolis for a double header of Purdue women’s and men’s basketball at Market Square Arena.
As I was stopped at a gas station before getting on I-65 on my way home after graduation, I said that I would never return to the state of Indiana again. That pledge lasted a little more than two years, as I returned to campus in September of 1999 to see Purdue defeat Notre Dame at Ross-Ade Stadium. I would return again in December of 2000 for the final game of the season, seeing Purdue defeat IU and earn their first trip to the Rose Bowl since 1967.
My next trip to Indiana came in March of 2001, when I saw the Monkees at the Star Plaza Theatre in Merrillville. In November of 2004, I returned once again to my old stomping grounds to see Purdue once again defeat Indiana at Ross-Ade Stadium. I made two football trips the following year, watching Purdue fall to Notre Dame in October and defeating Illinois in November. In 2006, I made my first visit to South Bend with friends from work to see Notre Dame once again defeat the Boilermakers at Notre Dame Stadium.
My next trip to Indiana came in November of 2008, when Purdue managed to defeat Michigan at Ross-Ade Stadium. The following September, it was another loss against Notre Dame. In October of 2011, there was another family clash as Purdue defeated Illinois by a touchdown. Two months later, I spent New Year’s Eve of 2011 at Mackey Arena, watching Purdue defeat the Fighting Illini in my first basketball game back on campus since graduating in 1997. I returned a little more than a year later on the second day of 2013 for another successful tilt against the Illini at Mackey Arena.
In 2013, I made the mistake of returning to Ross-Ade stadium in September with a work friend, as her husband’s alma mater, Northern Illinois, throttled Purdue. In March of 2015, a trip to Mackey Arena saw the basketball team beat the Illini, but the football tilt that November went the other way.
After a three-year break, I returned to campus in June of 2018 with Danny for a campus visit. Starting in the Union, we traipsed around campus, taking in the sights, checking out the engineering buildings, looking at dorm rooms, and having a wonderful time. Little did I know that this visit would turn into many more in the years to come.
I spent the last weekend in October 2019, including the morning of my birthday, in Indianapolis with the rest of the family for an exciting marching band competition. After an early morning performance at the home of the Colts, we killed time during the day with miniature golf and a showing of Joker before returning to Lucas Oil Stadium for a late night of more marching and awards. Sunday morning breakfast ended the trip before a long drive home.
In March of 2021, in my first sporting event following the COVID lockdown, Danny and I headed to Indianapolis for the first round of the NCAA tournament at Lucas Oil Stadium. Unfortunately, things did not go our way, as Purdue was upset by a North Texas squad that played over their head.
With Danny now attending Purdue and COVID restrictions mostly lifted, trips to the Hoosier State have picked up frequency. The fall of 2021 saw us making three trips for, or related to, football games. In September, Purdue managed to hold off Illinois to make one side of the family happy. In early November, Purdue managed to upset Michigan State. Finally, the weekend after Thanksgiving, we drove Danny back to school and watched the band practice in the football team’s indoor facility, but left before the IU game the next day because of light snow.
In December, I returned for a women’s basketball game where Danny was performing. This past February, we went down for another game, the last of the season. In April, we attended Danny’s band performance at the Elliot Hall of Music. Danny returned to Indianapolis and Lucas Oil Stadium this past August for the DCI Championships. After his corp unexpectedly made the finals, we ended up sending four days in Indiana, with three days of competition.
This fall, I’ve been to campus twice to see Danny march in football games. The first time, a loss against Penn State, was followed by my first Purdue volleyball game the next morning before heading home. The second, about a month ago, was another nighttime game, a homecoming victory against Florida Atlantic.
Will I return? Most certainly. I don’t know if there is any football left in me for this year, but we are already looking at basketball games.