May 18th

I arrived at Indianapolis and summer today – 89 degrees!

Remember last month I said that Arkansas was probably the state about which I knew the least going into my trip. For big cities, it might be Indianapolis. The only things I could think of were the Indianapolis 500 (which is next Sunday) and the pro football combine, which is now nationally televising 40 yard runs and bench presses.

I spent the afternoon downtown. On the one hand, there are a lot of tall chain hotels and a huge convention center so the city’s central location in the country must attract a lot of meetings. But then there are canals with pedal boats right in the middle of everything and seemingly every third person was scooting along on one of those Razors or whatever they call them these days. So I conclude that life is being enjoyed in the Hoosier state capital. I certainly enjoyed my time there.

Indiana has had 6 vice-presidents, including the present one, but its only president was Benjamin Harrison, best known as the grandson of William Henry (Tippecanoe) Harrison and the White House occupant between Grover Cleveland’s two terms. He was a lawyer, volunteered as an officer in the Union army, admired Lincoln, got involved in politics, served one term in the Senate and was a compromise Republican nominee and defeated Cleveland in the 1888 election. During his ride to prominence, he built a handsome house with the latest modern conveniences on Indianapolis’s emerging north side, where he lived with his artist wife Caroline and two children. Unfortunately, Caroline died shortly before he lost the rematch with Cleveland. He remarried four years later and had a daughter at age 63, possibly the only president to have a child after leaving the White House.

I had a tour of the Indiana State House, learned more about the history of the state in the State Museum (including the many possible origins of the nickname “Hoosiers” – see below) and then took some trivia quizzes at that tribute to student-athletes at the NCAA Hall of Champions. To cool off after dinner, I treated myself to only my second ice cream of the trip.

The song of the day is “Back Home Again in Indiana”, written in 1917 and sung every year before the big car race. Jim Nabors did the honors for many years.

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

•