Madison IN

Just outside of the state park was the small town of Madison, Indiana. With about 12,000 people, separated into two main areas, I'd say tourism might be their big business. With what seemed like a dozen places with Red in the name, and a few other random places, the tourist area was our main hangout beyond Clifty Falls. 

We started in a parking lot near the middle of town, between the town and a river. Ironically, the first place we stopped at was a bike shop. Fizz'z bike shop was practically a hole in the wall, but hey. so are most of the great bike shops. I know deep down, I was hoping for a Montague, something I have been trying to chase down since the day my dad died. (Back in August 2003, the day before the great Midwest Blackout. I discovered my bike had been stolen between finding out my dad died, and the power going out. It was not a great couple of days.) The bike shop didn't have any Montagues, but they did have a tandem with riser bars. It was very tempting, and I really could have bought it if I really wanted to. But while it was a good price, my new car had zero chance of getting that thing back home. Maybe if I had a roof rack? Then again, the shop's internet was down that day, and with it, the credit card machine. So... Onward we went.

Up next was Gifts That Last which was very much a new age store. It has been years since I've been inside a place like that, it would have to have been when I was an Undergrad. Not even Crazy Wisdom in A2 compares in many ways. There were some neat things there, crystals, terra cotta warriors, large geodes, and so on. It brought back a lot of memories from when I was in high school, back when I had a nice rock collection.

We proceeded to Madison Made, which was pretty much a laid-back shop that seemed to be there to cater to tourists. We got some cups there but didn't really feel a draw to any of the shirts. (If we went back a second time, maybe.) 

We then stopped at Red Roaster, which was part of the whole Red places. (We had planned to get a pizza from the Red Pepperoni, which was across the street from the Red Pepper, but didn't get around to it.) I got hot tea, and it practically burned my fingers through the cup. And by that, I mean I had to wait almost half an hour to even begin drinking it. I like hot tea and coffee, really, but there are limits to just how hot it needs to be. Their tea was way too hot. It would actually cause us to have to double back for McWhiggins, since I couldn't take my drink inside. 

The next place we were able to stop was Fountain Alley Body Care. Somehow, we ended up buying a bar of soap. It smells nice, for what its worth, and we probably would go back for more I guess. We laughed about this a little since when we were in New Orleans there were two different stores handing out slivers of similar soaps. These slivers easily could have been mistaken for candy, and that would have been a horrible mistake to make. Full bars don't look like candy though, so yeah‽

We also stopped into Madison Buy Sell Trade which reminded me in some ways of the antique store one of my friends dad had years ago, but with a heavier lean towards modern things. I picked up a manga sampler from Yen press, who for some reason I had thought went out of business. I am so far behind on manga, though it is really expensive over the long term. 

By now, my tea was gone, and we could enter the maze that was McWhiggins. It was a strange mix of modern and vintage toys, and some really random toys that I honestly have no idea what era they came from. There were things I hadn't seen in years, and there were a lot of tempting things there. I'm honestly not sure how we got out of there without spending a bunch of money.

After this, we headed over to Lanthier Winery. It was actually the second one we stopped at, but the first one, Thomas Family Winery, was closed. No sign on the door, just closed. So, one thing that is interesting about Indiana compared to Ohio is that they are not required to charge for wine samples. Now, I do find that interesting, because there seems like there is a great imbalance between Ohio and Indiana in this. Indiana is free, and Ohio is like $1 for a sample. Maybe Ohio is going for profit. No idea, and trying to look it up just got me outdated and weird information. The law seems confusing on purpose. (Actually, I can follow it, but I can't explain it. Though I now understand why different places have different prices while still saying State Minimum pricing.)

After this, we headed back to the park. That evening, after a Walmart run, we stopped at Mad Love where they seem to have a thing for smash burgers. Honestly, until that night, I thought smash burgers were a trademark of the restaurant with that name, not a style. I think I had eaten too much, maybe it was the giant pretzel, but I struggled to finish that meal. I think this might have been among my favorite places in Madison that we stopped at for food, not that we stopped at a lot of places. Mad Love really reminded me of a mix of Hard Rock Cafe and the bar at the hotel we stayed at during our last trip to New Orleans. While I think there is a Hard Rock in Indiana, I really don't care to go to it. (We went on both trips to NOLA though.)

Madison was an interesting place, but I don't think the downtown would hold my interest for more than a day. A few of the places I would go back to, but I don't know if I would be able to make a true multi-day trip out of it. I hope to get back there when it is warmer to explore the park more, though I don't think it will be a priority. Maybe if I get back into camping this summer, I might camp there. I don't know. 

Halestorm / Evanescence

We finally made it to the concert on Jan 14th, which was rather lucky, as a snowstorm came in a few days later, canceling their Pennsylvania show. Since this was a bit worse for timing than the original December date, being after work instead of on a Sunday. Of course, this became a day I was up an extra hour early, for no good reason. Ironically, my wife's job shut down that day due to staffing issues, so she didn't have to go in. This actually made things a little easier, since we had a long weekend trip planned before the concert was rescheduled. I was really happy to have gotten my favorite coat back that same day we were to leave, but a cover for my car so luggage and such wouldn't be visible failed to show up as scheduled. (It was due to be in on Friday, but did not arrive in time.)

After I was done at work, I actually made great time getting back home to pick up my wife, got the car loaded, covered the gear with my Flying Pig blanket, and we headed south. We probably should have stopped for diner, but where is the fun in that?

We got a great spot in the parking garage next to the Heritage Bank Center for $20, and about the time the doors were set to open, we headed up. I probably should have had my coat on me for that, since we ended up standing outside in the dropping temperatures for a good 20 minutes, and I did not have my warmest kilt on. Or a jacket. I debated buying a hoodie from one of the merchandise scalpers that were walking around the lines, with handheld card readers for ease. It wound up that the shirts they were selling were not actually inside the area at all, there were no shirts other than the scalpers with both of the headlining bands listed. We actually were a bit disappointed in that.

Finally, as the line sort of moved a few feet, we found out that our floor seat tickets meant we were on the wrong side of the building. This meant a quick trip around the building, and after they checked our Covid status and ID, we were in the warmth of the building. We found the merchandise windows and looked over the gear. The shirts were easily double the price of the outdoor hawkers, at $40 each, and $70 for hoodies. Initially, we got a shirt for Evanescence and headed to our seats. It was a long way down, being on the floor, but it was not too bad.

I headed back up to get snacks, and I found a few different things. More than I could carry, and I knew that Garmin was going to give me my stair climbing goal that day. For the first trip, I got a Lilith Czar hoodie for myself, and two soft pretzels. The second trip up was for two drinks in Tiki cups. They were amusing, but it probably was a bit cold for frozen drinks. Not that I was going to let it stop me from getting a Tiki cup. I got back to our seats, and my wife mentioned a bag she saw someone else have from the vendors to hold stuff. Once more onto the breach, this time I ended up buying an overpriced Halestorm tote bag. (I would discover later that the hoodie has the ♀ sign on the hood. I wouldn't have bought it had I seen that. Wearing that with a kilt could send some mixed messages.)

Eventually, the show began, the opener being Lilith Czar. She did a few songs, and I had heard a bit of her stuff on Spotify before the original tour date was postponed. She did a few songs, then Halestorm got set up. We were more familiar with their music, We stood up for most of their songs, and noticed our feet were getting cold. Really cold. Once we were standing, and not in the temporary seating that they put on the floor, was realized that ice for the hockey rink was still on the floor, under the wooden floor they placed for the concert. And that ice was a lot colder when standing.

There was a short intermission that followed, as they rebuilt the stage, transforming it between the two headliners. It was rather impressive, and soon the show continued.

I wouldn't be able to say what my favorite part of the show was, they weren't my favorite artist per se, but I enjoyed the music. It was interesting the times the other headliner would come out and have both of them singing together, It was also interesting when the artist encouraged people to use the lights on their phones like previous generations used lighters. Thousands of cell phone flashlights lit the area surprisingly well.

Once it was over, we began what felt like a long drive to the hotel we had booked in Indiana. It was about the same drive time from the concert to the hotel as it would have been to go home, but I hate to say, we really wished we had more to eat than a soft pretzel.

Postponed Concert

It has been a long 4 months, the job hunt had a few ups and downs, but nothing permanent yet. I fell behind in the blog, again, and with so many things. In early December, we were supposed to go to the Evanenscense / Halestorm concert in Cincy, but it got canceled at the last minute. (Actually, about an hour before we were to leave. Close enough. The official email was less than 90 minutes before the doors were set to open.) Now, I already paid $235 for the night at the hotel, and it was too late to cancel, so off to Cincinnati we went. 

We arrived about when we had expected, and checked into the AC Hotel. I know I may have paid a bit extra for a river view, but it was more of Moerlein Lager House. I mean, sure, we were a few stories over it, but that was the main thing it felt like we could see from the hotel room.

We went for a quick walk around the stadiums, curious how many people missed the memo. There were a few, though what really caught our attention was a group that came from the parking lot, with signs and wigs and so on, who were upset that it was canceled. They stated they drove two hours just to be sure because they didn't really believe it when they got the email. 

We doubled back to Moerlein Lager House for dinner, which was nice since we never got to go there during the Flying Pig. It was pretty good, and it wasn't too crowded. Though, to be fair, there was a home Bengals game, just a few hundred yards away. 

We then made our way up to another interesting place down in the Banks district, titled rather logically as Fishbowl at the Banks. We sat inside for a few minutes before making our way to an igloo they had outside. We had that space to ourselves for a while, before two women joined us, carrying four jello-shots in syringes. They were also there for the postponed concert, and they handed both of us one of the jello shots. (We looked, but even with the Fishbowl logo on them, we didn't see them on the menu. They were good though.)

After some time in the igloo, we headed back to the hotel. It was a shame that we both had to work the next day, but that was part of why we had the hotel in the first place. I was still a little groggy on my way back to work, but having to drop my wife off at work on the way meant an early start for me.