Little 500 Recap

WARNING WARNING! This post is photo heavy. I sure hope no one is viewing via dial up.

I've been talking about how excited I was about attending the Little 500 activities and I definitely wasn't disappointed. Except for all the darn rain and cold, it was a great weekend.

I left work early on Friday to go to the Women's Little 500. I scored some infield passes so I got to watch the practice and bike tuning up close.



I also got to sit in the VIP section. The seats weren't any better than others but at least I wasn't surrounded by a bunch of chanting drunk sorority girls. This picture isn't that good but it shows an exchange between two bikers. Watching them exchange is my favorite thing to see.




Saturday morning, my brother Jake and his girlfriend Kathryn joined the Polack and the boys and I for the spring football game. We all had pancakes first and the kids got to play in the Kids Zone.






Then we went inside the North End Zone of the stadium. The construction was completed a few years ago but we wanted to show it to Jake. Plus its a cool place to visit because of how well it shows off the achievements of IU's student athletes and football program. (Okay, the football program doesn't have tons of achievements but you feel good about the program after visiting.) Quick fact, the North End Zone contains the largest collegiate weight room in the country.

After our North End Zone visit, we still had an hour before the spring game started and since the weather wasn't great, we decided to drive out to the house so that Jake and Kathryn could see the construction. And since the house is so close to Oliver Winery, we stopped to do a wine tasting first. It was fun for everyone except me because I forgot my ID and they wouldn't serve me. By the time we finished the tasting and saw the house, we were getting hungry so we decided to skip the game and go to Mother Bear's. Yummmmmm..... Mother Bear's..... Once lunch was finished, it was almost time for the Men's Little 5 race. We made it there in time to see the parade. My friend and her husband (who is bigwig at the University) are in this car waving at us.


And of course action shots of the race. It was so much fun to watch! Woo boy do they go fast! I even saw a pretty good crash at Turn 2. Two bikes were tangled together and when the riders pulled them apart, one bike lost it's wheel and the rider three down the bike in disgust.






Kathryn, Seeger, and I left at around lap 125 of 200. The rain started coming down a bit harder and we were cold. So we walked back to car and listened to the race on the radio. It was a great finish!

After the race, we went home to chill for a bit and watch Breaking Away. A perfect movie for Little 500 weekend.


My mom was also visiting for the weekend so we left the boys with her and decided to hit the town. Our first stop was Nick's so that we could play Sink the Biz.



We also scored free pizza and beer when the table beside decided to leave. The pizza was only missing one slice.


After that we waited in line at Kilroy's on Kirkwood for about a half an hour and when we finally made it to the door, we found out there was cover so we left and went to a new Kilroy's location called DunnKirk. I really wanted a long island! They had a really bad band playing but it was cool to check out the location which had a bunch of nooks so you are able to get away from the sucky band.


Here's a picture looking out over Kirkwood. Check out the line at Nick's. Suckers!




After DunnKirk we went to the Crazy Horse because a friend was working. Only she had just been cut so we grabbed a few shots and followed her and her posse to the Bluebird to see Dot Dot Dot.


I told Kathryn that all trips to the Bluebird require a DirtyBird. Yummo!


We stayed for the first half of Dot Dot Dot but it was super humid and I was sweaty and people were getting pushy so around 2am, we decided to head home. As we were walking to the car, we decided driving wasn't the best idea and called my mom to come pick us up. Isn't she the greatest for getting out of bed at 2am to pick up her kids? On the way home, the Polack called Mad Mushroom to order some cheese sticks. They were the perfect end to a perfect day.



I'm definitely looking forward to next year and I officially invite you all to join us for the 2012 Little 500!