road trip–indianapolis

Ah, the motor racing capital of the world.  I calculated that with a modestly early start we’d be able to hit Speedway, Indiana just before lunch, enough time to see the Hall of Fame Museum at the Speedway.  I’m not the fan I was a few years ago, but I still love old race cars, especially the really frightening concoctions of sheet metal and explosive fuel from the 60s and 70s, and Indy has a great collection.

K and I made it in some form or other to all of the F1 races at Indy before they stopped them in 2009, so I knew the territory pretty well.  There’s the gas station where your mom threw up before the driver autographs sessions one year.  There are our old seats, etc., etc.  The HOF Museum isn’t much more than a room full of cars, but for a couple of bucks each we got to stretch our legs, enjoy the air conditioning and rest rooms, and look at some really boss hardware.

They did find a few favorites.  There’s a pink car from the 1950s that O thought particularly cute.  C found winning cars from all of our birth years, and I found the two Indy cars that I saw win races there.  All of it pretty cool, and not remotely overwhelming.

One tradition K and I had was the Mug and Bun, an absolute dive of a drive-in about a mile from the track, and that was lunch today.  They’ll bring the food out to you, but that’s a huge mistake, because then your car smells like french fry grease for a week.  We opted instead for the attractive picnic area, housed under a rickety, homebuilt roof and staffed with surly but competent waitstaff.  There’s a general attitude of distrust–don’t steal the napkin dispensers, no outside food, tip your damned waitresses–that I’m sure is richly deserved from decades of race fans.  The food, frankly, isn’t so great, but it’s a pretty rich sensory and visual experience.  The kids certainly enjoyed it, and no one was hungry for the next leg of the trip, anyway.

Girl.  Mug.  Bun.  Win.

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