#Gates50States

Our neighbor to the east, Indiana was the perfect state to visit in 2021. Given our employee situation as it was at the end of 2020 and in early 2021, we couldn’t commit to a big trip as we had in previous years. We were hopeful the USTA would reinstate the Junior Team Tennis competition, and if they did, we could visit Indiana with the kids and overlap the tournament with a bit of a side trip to some Indiana spots Jenn particularly wanted to show them. We weren’t disappointed.

In the grand scheme of our #gates50states plan, we also broke up Indiana a bit as Grandma Laura and Grandpa Dave took the kids to Indiana Dunes National Park a few years ago.

Because of this, we didn’t feel a need to spend time in the northern part of the state on our revisit, and our work schedule wasn’t going to allow it, anyway.

Indianapolis is a major hub of the Midwest and a central location for many sporting events, both amateur and professional. They host Big Ten championship events, NCAA events, olympic qualifiers, and you may have heard of a little car race they hold every year. As it related to our family, the USTA Midwest regional events for many levels of competition meet in Indy. Lincoln’s tennis team qualified first out of northeast Ohio, and Lydia & Henry’s team was invited, as well.

We drove over early to visit The Oliver Winery, where Jenn worked during her college years. It has grown tremendously and become much more of a commercial operation, but it has retained it’s beauty and friendliness.

The construction from Indianapolis to Bloomington was atrocious as they’re upgrading a road to an interstate. Jenn’s memories of her trips back and forth from school were not relived, but once we got to the IU campus, she was back in her element and recalling times from days gone by. Most exciting… we found the tennis courts… and they were unlocked! (We left them just as we found them!)

Wouldn’t it be neat if that was not the last time one or more of the kids played on those courts? 🙂

We met up with many of the families of our kids’ teammates in Indianapolis and spent the better part of two days at the massive tennis facilities on the north end of the city. Our kids played well and represented themselves and their club very well.

The Indianapolis Children’s Museum is about as good as it gets, or at least that’s what we’d heard. So we checked it out, and can affirm it absolutely lives up to its reputation. Their rotating exhibits are so well displayed and truly geared for all ages. We enjoyed displays of Greece, China, Pop Art, Chihuly, and many others.

A neat part about Indiana for us… we’ll certainly drive through other parts as we visit some remaining states to our south and west.