After Metamora, we drove up to Indianapolis. I admit to not having been to Indianapolis since I was a kid and had no idea what to expect. With my expert navigational skills, we got to Indy and found our hotel.
We stayed at the Hyatt Regency downtown. We got there just at 4, so we were able to check in immediately. I paid like an extra $10 for a “capitol view.” We were on the 9th floor and that extra $10 was worth it because our view was awesome.
I had to rest a bit, but I started trying to find some place for dinner. Every place was way fancier than we wanted. I made reservations at a restaurant, but as we were walking there, we saw Buca di Beppo. We love that restaurant, and we knew that we would be properly dressed. We ordered way too much food, but it was a lot of fun.
We had a pretty good night’s sleep, well, I did. And then we had breakfast in their restaurant. We were seated and we were legit the only guests. It was kind of weird to get all of the attention But, our waitress was fabulous as well as the food. Normally. it’s a buffet, but they said there were so few people overnight, that it didn’t make sense to set up the buffet for so few guests.
I needed to disconnect from life for a weekend. So, mom and I went to Metamora & Indianapolis for a weekend. We started our trip in Metamora, Indiana. Metamora is an old-fashioned type of town attraction on an historic Indiana canal. Metamora
We’ve been many times before. I remember back to childhood when we would take a day trip to Metamora. It’s not the same as it was 30 years ago, duh, but it’s still fun. There are handmade gift shops of different kinds: candy shops, wood shops, a shop dedicated to cookie jars, restaurants, antiques, and more.
Ma and I had a lot of fun. We bought some gifts for Justin, real, local maple syrup, I bought a t-shirt, and we had a good lunch of fish & chips with warm blackberry cobbler for dessert. We walked around and enjoyed the sunshine. It was in the 50s with a brisk breeze so we were chilly, but otherwise we really enjoyed our time at Metamora.
I have naturally curly-ish hair. If I use a “real” shampoo, one that isn’t medicated to prevent me from losing my hair, and I sleep on my hair wet, the curl is really prominent. If I wash it in the morning, and put curl gel on it, the curl is really prominent. But if I just use my medicated shampoo, and decide to sleep on my hair, all the curl is scrubbed out.
To solve this problem, mom and I (well, mostly mom) curled my hair. We put in soft curlers that would hold my hair as a I slept. I was expecting some loose curls or waves. I was completely surprised at the amount of curl I was able to achieve. Shirley Temple (I’m that old) has nothing over me.
Mom and I went to Playhouse in the Park to watch a play based on Dracula. I was in a version of Dracula in high school, and I thought it would be fun to see a professional play. We went to a Saturday matinee. I haven’t been to Playhouse in 20 years, so it was fun seeing how everything has changed.
However, the play, was horrific. I hate to bad mouth a live performance, but I felt like the acting was sub-par. The premise of a female Van Helsing was interesting (though, I think we might have had a woman play Van Helsing in our version). But they had the character be on her period. They kept making references to smelling her blood and knowing that she wasn’t the man she pretended to be. That in of itself could have been cool. But it just had a very unnecessary gross aspect. At one point the character leaks onto a chair and the Lucy character goes to the recently vacated chair to drink the blood. Ewwww. Maybe I’m just not mature enough for a play like that, but I did not like it. Mom wasn’t too impressed either and the couple sitting next to us had similar feelings. So, at least I wasn’t alone.
Although, I may have been disappointed in the show, it was a fun afternoon, just hanging out with ma.
On the way home from the wedding the other night, we had a wee accident. On the way to the wedding, Justin had said that he trusted himself to be able to stop but he didn’t trust the guy behind him to stop if there was an accident. Little did we know that it was a prophetic statement.
We were on our way home, going from Kentucky to Ohio on 471 & the Daniel Carter Beard Bridge. Suddenly there were a lot of brake lights and cars swerving. Justin couldn’t swerve but he was able to stop. However, just as predicted, the guy behind him did NOT stop, and we got rear-ended. In the other car’s defense, he did try to brake and swerve, he just ultimately failed.
We pulled over to the shoulder as did the car that hit us. It was then that we were able to see what happened. A white Subaru Forester bounced off the median that split 71 & 471. The car spun out and ended up in the middle of the three-lane highway.
A couple of other bystanders had pulled over to help. One person appeared to have helped the driver out of the car and was standing with her on the side of the road. Another bystander stopped by our car to check to see if we were ok. He was an off-duty West Chester cop. He also checked on the car behind us. Later we found out that the man who hit us lived about a mile and a half away from us. It was a West Chester kind of night.
A fire truck, EMS and police arrived on scene shortly after. Each first responder stopped to make sure we were ok. I was so impressed by the care they showed. We saw the fire fighters check to make sure that the first car wasn’t leaking fuel. It must have been fine because they left first. I saw the EMS take away the driver of the Forester. She appeared to be an older woman who acted confused and hurt (for obvs reasons). My speculation is that she had some sort of medical emergency. Whether she got confused by the signs, lanes, or something more serious, I think that is the most likely scenario.
We sat on the highway for at least an hour when the tow truck showed up. I’ve never seen a car be pulled onto a flat bed. It was fascinating to watch. So, now the car had a way home, but what were we supposed to do? One nice police officer told us that a grumpy police officer would drive us over to the DORA section next to the stadium where they had a small station. We all tried to get in the back of an SUV designed for criminals, and not for women wearing dresses. Mom especially had a hell of time trying to get in the vehicle. Her bad hip was displeased. We quickly discovered that all three of us would NOT fit. Justin stayed behind with the nice police officer and the grumpy one drove us away. I talked to him a little bit and he seemed to warm up to us some. By the time we got out of the police car, he was almost friendly. We went to the little police station to wait for Justin.
Once Justin reached us, we had to call a Lyft. We stood in front of the Yard House to wait. The Lyft showed up and drove us home. I probably would have remembered Miranda’s wedding any way, but now I know it’s a night I’ll never forget.
A few weeks ago, we were invited to a wedding between Miranda & Ben. I was so excited and happy for them both. I bought the perfect dress, with the perfect shawl, shoes, and purse. I had to work nearly all day up to when we left. I was FRAZZLED. I had a shower earlier in the day, and then literally, 20 minutes before we left, I got dressed. Justin drove, thank goodness, and we were early, as usual. We walked over to the venue and I realized quickly that the frazzledness didn’t go away. My social anxiety went through the roof. I was shaking and nervous. But it was a was a wonderful wedding and the bride was beautiful, the groom was pretty handsome too. Unfortunately, my nerves forced us to leave a little early, but I’m so glad we were able to go. I loved being with family, but maybe my favorite moment of the wedding was when Justin tried to repeatedly take a pic of the two of us. “This is horseshit.” LOLOLOL
My Plucky Life 