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. Continue reading →
The first quarter of the year is typically the quietest for me. This year started strong, with a trip to Florida for the Citrus Bowl on January 2nd. College basketball ruled the day in February, with my first trip to Bloomington, Indiana coming that first weekend. The Big Ten Tournament rolled into the United Center in March, making me three for three to start out the year.
The second quarter brings the start of baseball season, which easily knocked out the next three months. I added 19 games over these three months, which included the Orioles against the White Sox at Guaranteed Rate Field in April, the Mets battling the Cubs at Wrigley Field in May, and my first-ever visit to T-Mobile Park in June to see the White Sox play the Mariners. Continue reading →
