Tuesday, December 13, 2011

#ThinkKit11 Day 12: Charm City

Monday, Dec 12: Travel
Did you take a big trip this year? Or maybe even just a little one? Where did you go?

First, for the record, I've always been a road-trip type of person. Yes, it's convenient, and for the most part, safer to fly to destinations rather than travel by car. But, getting there is half the fun in a vacation. You get to see sights you wouldn't normally get to see. That's why I'm thanking myself for the trip this summer to Charm City, Baltimore, Maryland.

I decided to go to Baltimore for the inaugural IndyCar Grand Prix of Baltimore. It was a new track for the series to run at, all four series under the INDYCAR sanctioning body were going to be racing, as well as the American Le Mans Series (ALMS) series. It was, in essence, a lot of racing crammed into 72 hours.

First off, the car I was given by Enterprise had no cruise control. You would think that would almost be standard in all vehicles now-a-days. All aboard the failboat! And I'm the captain.

From Illinois, to & through Indiana, to & through Kentucky, and on into West Virginia and the start of Appalachia, where the hills will get a little steeper.  Up-hill, down-dale for the next 4 hours into Maryland. Finally, after 14.5 hours of driving w/o cruise, I had arrived into downtown Baltimore. Thankfully, the hotel had my room ready (complete w/ SleepNumber Bed), and I was ... OUT COLD!

The atmosphere I felt in Baltimore was very different than other races I had been to in the past. Except for Indianapolis and perhaps Richmond, most tracks I've been to are out in the middle of nowhere, where you park in grass fields, walk forever to get to the gate, and still feel your out in the middle of nowhere. Not so in Baltimore. I had a 2-block walk to the track, which was on Baltimore's Inner Harbor. The track surrounded Oriole Park at Camden Yards and the Baltimore Convention Center (which is where the garage area was staged). It was a party atmosphere, almost Carnival-esque.

Now - I won't bore you with gory details about the race weekend itself. Perhaps that's where an IndyCar blog will begin one day. I'll summize up the weekend in Baltimore this way:
  • Track was a great layout, although the temporary chicane on the main straight wasn't needed.
  • The crowd at the events (practice, qualifications, race) were nothing short of outstanding. They were enthusiastic. They were spending money on a Labor Day weekend. They were having fun, and they were getting their money's worth.
  • Race action was good for a street course - if you know what to look for in a street course race. If you don't, you might have thought it was rather boring to watch, especially the way Will Power (Team Penske) won in dominating fashion.
So, now that the race was over, I had already checked out of the hotel, and it was time to return to Illinois. As a point of reference, I-70 ends at Baltimore. I felt I had grown up on I-70 all my life. I have taken I-70 from Indianapolis to Utah, so it was time to complete the trek. I-70 at Baltimore, to Pennsylvania and the Penn Turnpike, through a 6 mile stretch of West Virginia at Wheeling, on into Ohio, hitting Columbus at about 12:30am, and getting to Indianapolis.

But I wasn't done tonight - no sir.

Through Indianapolis (*sigh*), and onto to Terre Haute. Catch US-41 South to Vincennes, US-50 West to Lawrenceville. It's now 4:45am Central time, my ankle is about to fall off after 1650 miles of no cruise control, and I have another 2.5 hours to go.

After about 5 hrs. of solid sleep, I picked up my nephew, visiting his other grandparents just south of L'ville, and we were off to Carbondale. He talked about his new hobby, baseball cards, and was really keen about the race itself. He said he saw me on TV (good luck, but he did a great job trying to explain). He was excited about spending a little time with Uncle D.

Since I've already referenced my favorite meal of 2011 was in Baltimore earlier this month (see #ThinkKit11 Day 4) and tossed a few pictures of P.S.A. House, I'll toss my best 3 track pictures from the Baltimore race - just to prove I was really really there:

Ryan Briscoe - Turn 1. Always look where you're going.

Green flag waves for practice.


U.S.S. Constellation, which was literally right
behind the Turn 1 Grandstands on Baltimore's Inner Harbor

As I type this up at 12:30am here on Tuesday, I keep thinking about that drive back. That last stint of miles between L'ville and C'dale flew by with my nephew. He's now 9 years old. He's growing up fast, perhaps too fast. It was probably the best segment of driving I had during my trip. Next time, I might have to bring him along for the trip, too.

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