Cultures Clashing

One of the best things about the Mid-West is that it's location allows you to enjoy the arts and culture of the northern big cities while indulging your inner red-neck with the simplicity of the southern style backwoods. Take this weekend for example, Friday night after work we made the 2.5 hour drive from here to Indianapolis. We went out that night in a great area called Broad Ripple. There are great bars and restaurants scattered across multiple city blocks. It has a new, modern feel and is just a cool place to go out. The next day we were hoping to tour the downtown area, but the weather didn't cooperate. It was cold and rainy, so we didn't get to spend as much time outside exploring as we would have liked. We made the best of it and chose to drive around the city instead. The weather did cooperate enough so we could go for a walk along the canal path though. Did you know that there are only 2 concrete bottom canals in the world, and that one of them is in Indy? Well now you do. Anyway, they have a walkway built along the canal that leads into a state park the resides within the city limits. It's a pretty nifty setup that doesn't make Indianapolis feel like an over-developed big city. It's quite refreshing.

The Canal Path on a rainy day

Before we headed back to Olney, We stopped at this great creamery that's just 20 minutes outside of Indianapolis for some fresh, home made ice cream. If nothing else we are getting all the ice cream we can handle out here, and it's all REALLY good.

Traders Point Creamery, best ice cream in Indy

After returning to Olney, we geared up for one of the finest "sporting" events Southern Illinois has to offer: The Demolition Derby. The Olney Spring Crash, as it's called, is an annual event at the Olney fair grounds which brings out the who's who of Richland County. It got delayed at one point because of severe weather (lightning, hale, wind, etc.) but once that cleared out the smashing commenced. For those who are not familiar with a demolition derby, it is a spectacle where old, beat up cars, seemingly held together by duct tape (not unlike our bed) enter an arena and collide with one another until only one of them can still move. Think bumper cars on steroids, lots of steroids. The lone survivor is the victor and of course, winner takes all ($4,500 if I remember correctly). It was fantastic. It's a completely unnecessary and ridiculous competition that is the absolute antithesis of environmentally sound thinking, but I loved every second of it. There's mud flying, tempers boiling, and cars on fire. What's not to like?

So as you can see, we are getting a good taste of what the Mid-West has to offer. Everything from a night out on the town to an evening in hillbilly paradise.