Indianapolis on "Blue Monday"...

On our first anniversary my hubby suggested that we make a trip out to Indianapolis to see a football game.  I, of course, almost had a heart attack and agreed that he might possibly have come up with the best idea ever!  So we searched for tickets and found a Monday night football game just for us and bought them.  We debated on driving.  We debated on flying out on Monday morning.  Then we decided that the best idea was to fly out on Sunday and return to New York on Tuesday.  We found a hotel right by the stadium; why would you stay anywhere else when going to see a Colts game?  I have to say, the one nice thing about not having a baby right now, is that me and my hubby can do things on a whim.  Did I mention that this was his best idea by far?  Just checking.

Flying out of Laguardia was more simple than we thought it would be.  But then again, we have our Garmin, which is probably a life saver for anyone driving in NYC.  I'm pretty sure that GPSs have saved many a marriage.  You can't yell at each other, you can only yell at your Garmin if she messes up; which is rare.  The flight was nice and short; just the way you like a flight when you're both not a fan of flying.  When we arrived at Indianapolis airport we couldn't believe how clean it was!  It was insane.  There was even a guy with a little tennis ball on a stick getting the scuff marks off of the floors.  It was so quiet and so peaceful.  I've never been to an airport like that.  No one is running around like crazy.  No one is yelling on their cell phones.  It was like we entered the twilight zone; and it was a really great episode.

Indy is pretty amazing.  Not much to look at on the outskirts of Indianapolis; it's just really flat, everywhere.  And coming from NY where everywhere you turn there is mountains, it's just a little bit of an adjustment.  It's always weird when you travel to different parts of the US and realize that you're all Americans, but are just so very different; that everyone has such a different norm.  

Driving into Indy all I could see was Lucas Oil Stadium.  It's massive!  

I still couldn't believe that I was going to my first NFL game, to see My NFL team, in their home stadium.  How cool is my hubby?

After checking in our hotel, we took a much needed nap (Did I mention how I worked till 3 a.m., fell asleep around 5 and then woke up at 9 to head to the airport?—after doing the same thing on Friday night to take my brother to the airport on Saturday morning?)  Then we decided to walk around Indy.  It's beautiful!  It's like a big city with a small town feel.  All the stores and restaurants had blue pride in their windows, "welcome to blue country" on their doors, and Colts specials everywhere.  We went out to a great place for dinner and I was actually able to watch Sunday football!  It was great to finally see the games instead of working during them; the local wine wasn't too shabby either... a bottle and a half later, I was feeling good.

It's like how small towns in Texas go crazy for their high school football teams, but it's on a massive scale.  Their were Colts pep rallies with bands and former Colts signing autographs.  Everywhere I looked it was Colts.

The whole city was blue.  I love football.  Even the hubby said that he's never seen anything like it and he's a... JETS fan... it's like in Indy it's like they're in their own little blue bubble.  Everyone is tailgating on the streets, there are drinks for sale on every corner, and every bar is overflowing.  When we went for lunch on Monday we ended up at a place called Harry & Izzy's— little did we know that it's part owned by Peyton Manning.  When we walked in, we had to ask if the hubby needed to take his hat off (it's white table cloth) and the response was, "Oh, of course not, it's Blue Monday, it's all about the Colts..." The food was amazing and the atmosphere was great.  And on top of a great lunch, a special thanks to the Maitre-d who let us know where Manning lives while in the city.

Where Peyton Manning Lives While He's in Indy

So the hubby asks, "so now you want to move to Indy when I retire?"— 

I have to say, it's an awesome city: music, arts, zoo (we touched sharks!), museums, comedy clubs, and yet it's spotless.  

Although there is a homeless person on every corner; I'm pretty sure that each homeless guy has their own territory, because it's one on a corner, no more.  Interesting.  And yet the homeless people aren't really that dirty and they're still polite.  Weird.

I don't know if I could move somewhere so flat!  I think living in Indy would be awesome, but the outskirts of the city are blah.  The city is just awesome, but then you look around and all you see if flat land.  Coming from a country girl, I just have to see some mountains, some color, something more.

The game was amazing!  I never realized how huge the stadium was!  It was unbelievable.  Our seats were further down then we thought they were but we could still hear Peyton making his calls on the field.  I loved it!  When defense was on the field the place was insanely loud and the second that offense and Peyton stepped on the field, you could hear a pin drop; then he would shush the crowd with his hands so he could call plays and you could hear complete silence!  I'm so glad I got to experience it.  Of course, we won!  Even with lots of injuries!

We had an amazing time— even my hubby of a J-E-T-S fan had a great time.  We flew back to NY on Tuesday; the flight was so quick (1h25min) that I'm pretty sure we'll have to do it again.  Hopefully next time it's a Colts/Jets game, that way we'll have the best of both worlds and I can protect my hubby as he's heckled by the die-hard Colts fans.  Thanks hubby, this was your best idea yet!