The weather turned bitter cold, windy and wet overnight. Notice how the flag is blowing. We hid between two buildings to hide from the wind to take this picture.
It was great to get inside and warm up. It was only about a ten minute walk from the parking garage to the capitol, but because of the weather, it seemed much longer. In addition to being warmer, the inside was gorgeous.
The dome was an unusual octagonal shape. Its shape and design gave it a very different feel.
The interior is a good balance of wood, stone, and plaster. It has both an official and homey aura at the same time.
Most states have the Supreme Court housed in a separate building. Not so in Indiana. While the room is relatively small, it is still impressive. The high ceiling adds to the effect, and also provides room for an amazing set of stained glass windows.
The Supreme Court is much brighter than this picture shows. The backlight of the windows creates a darker appearance, but also highlights the stained glass.
We could not get into the Senate chamber, but unlike many senate rooms, there was a good viewing window that let you see the room.
We were able to get into the House. In a change of pace, the House Chamber seems to have more wood and decorations than the Senate Chamber.
In these two photos, you can get a better sense of the architecture and details included in the Indiana Statehouse. It is a very nice capitol building.
Here is an outside photo of the Statehouse that highlights the details include in the design of the exterior.
Not too far from the capitol is the The Indiana State Soldiers and Sailors Monument. It is on Monument Circle, a circular, brick-paved street that intersects Meridian and Market streets in the center of downtown Indianapolis, Indiana. It is almost 300 feet tall.
After touring the capitol, we drove to THE INDIANAPOLIS MOTOR SPEEDWAY.
The track was wet, so it was not a good day for a race, but it was a great day for a tour of the entire facility.
We started with a tour of the track. It was about a half hour from start to finish. We rode a bus around the track while hearing information about the Speedway. It included a stop at the only remaining brick portion of the track.
From there, you could see most of the highlights of the track. Including the Pagoda, the information tower, the front straight, and the huge seating area.
The Pagoda has changed over time, but it has maintained its unique style.
In theory, the track is an oval, so all the turns should be the same. According to the drivers and track history, the four turns are all very different. Turn 1 seen in this picture is considered by many to be the toughest in auto racing. Why? How can that be? For starters, in the first lap 33 tightly packed cars are fighting for position. Second, the track shape has not been modified in 124 years. Winning cars were racing at an average speed of 75 miles per hour back then. Today, cars can enter this turn at over 230 miles per hour.
The museum tour is quite the array of experiences. There are cars from the earliest days up until the last decade. It is fascinating to see how cars were improved over the years. There is also a wall that highlights the winners of each Indy 500 with their names, photos, and average speeds.
You can also get into a virtual car to try the track, or climb into a model of a current car to see what the view is like. (it is a tiny space for a more than two hour race.) Steve did very well on the simulation. We’ll just say that Marlene had fun with it.
The Indianapolis Motor Speedway is a great place to visit.
After we finished our tour of the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, we drove back in time figuratively and almost literally. We drove to Danville, Indiana. It is the small town where Steve lived after Indianapolis. It still looks like Mayberry from the Andy Griffith show. We ate at a restaurant that celebrates the old time feel of the town. It is called the Mayberry Cafe. We watched the Andy Griffith Show during our meal. We shared strawberry shortcake for dessert. The meal and the dessert were delicious.
Our final stop for the day was the old homestead in Danville. It looks much smaller now than it did during early childhood.
After Danville , we drove to Terre Haute, Indiana to get a jump start on our drive to St. Louis, Missouri.