34/50 Ladies and Gentlemen start your unrelenting positivity, Hoosier edition.
Posted by CupBeEmpty@reddit | AskAnAmerican | View on Reddit | 219 comments
This is our newest unrelenting positivity post.
The state in question is the great state of Indiana.
Apologies everyone I’m breaking character today.
There is one state in this whole country that I love more than any other. You goobers had best give it your all.
I will permanently ban anyone that has anything to say that isn’t peak unrelenting positivity. Like a Reddit ban and a personal ban from the love in my heart.
This isn’t really 34/50. It is 1/1.
Break out your popcorn, smell of gasoline, and love for fucking limestone.
Know that God himself loves you and created heaven on the Wabash just to show off his goodness and glory. My Hoosier friends, may you die knowing that you have seen the promised land. My non Hoosier friends know that our doors are always open.
Stay tuned for 35/50 but know the rest of the states will be a pale shadow in comparison.
🏁🏁🏁🏁🏁🏁🏁🏁🏁🏁🏁🏎️🏎️🏎️🏎️🏎️🏎️🏎️🏎️🌽🌽🌽🌽🌽🌽🌽
Equivalent_Ad8133@reddit
Ivenhoes! Need I say more?
segascream@reddit
Kokomo (an hour north of Indy) played an incredible (but now mostly ignored) part in the history of the blues. (Before Robert Johnson adapted it as "Sweet Home Chicago", Scrapper Blackwell recorded that songform as "Old Original Kokomo Blues". Those lyrics even refer to the" eleven light city", an indication of how many traffic lights were already installed throughout the town that would eventually become known as "Stoplight City" for the sheer volume of intersections that crossed US31 prior to 2013's bypassing of the bypass.)
stormy2587@reddit
Any state that has a museum dedicated to Kurt Vonnegut with a banned book library is ok in my book.
GhostOfJamesStrang@reddit
Unrelated, but I am so tired of people using "banned book" so frequently.
They aren't banned. At all. As proof of a giant library of them. Or, heck, I saw an entire fricken display at Barnes and Noble.
"Look at these banned books....yours for $5.95!"
dough_eating_squid@reddit
It means that someone banned it, somewhere. Not that it's unavailable anywhere. A school in Louisiana pulled it from the library. A library system in Tampa discarded it after a customer complained.
GhostOfJamesStrang@reddit
Which hardly feels like a "ban."
dough_eating_squid@reddit
Sorry you don't agree with how the terminology is used.
ColumbiaWahoo@reddit
Indy Monumental Marathon
segascream@reddit
I the early 2000s, Warsaw had the fucking most amazing hardcore punk/metal scene I'd ever come across.
CupBeEmpty@reddit (OP)
How the hell did I not know this? I was plugged into the Indiana music scene then. This is completely new to me. Any recommendations?
segascream@reddit
Not really. I was playing with a band that later became in_the_face_of_war. We played several shows in Warsaw, and I don't remember anyone we played with, but the kids fucking came out in droves for those shows. We even had kids from Fort Wayne driving to Warsaw for shows.
CupBeEmpty@reddit (OP)
Heheheh midwestern boredom will cause you to drive unreasonable distances for cool shit.
I the face of war if I have the right band just searching is great! Not exactly my punk style but I’m cracking up with the happy dad energy of their pic on Spotify and hard yelling punk.
Maybe every punk rocker is secretly a well adjusted dad. Well, maybe not all of them but some of them.
segascream@reddit
I feel like it's more a case of "punk rockers tend to know what it's like to have shitty dads, and some of them actively try to do the opposite."
CupBeEmpty@reddit (OP)
That is probably the right answer.
I had a conversation with a black woman about punk. The shorter of end argument was “do you want a bunch of angry fatherless white boys to not have an outlet?”
segascream@reddit
I mean, not for nothing is the early days of hip-hop so intertwined with the early days of east coast punk: it's ultimately just struggling kids using the tools at their disposal to make art out of their lives.
CupBeEmpty@reddit (OP)
Yes. Can we be musical friends?
I’m down for appropriating black teen angst and white teen angst.
I’m outsider honkey white boy looking in but I appreciate what those kids did.
QuercusSambucus@reddit
I had some real nice times fishing in Monroe Lake when we stayed in Bloomington as a kid
CupBeEmpty@reddit (OP)
Well Monroe is stupidly beautiful and full of fish.
Congrats to your kid self and parents. Someone has taste.
Elegant_Amount8526@reddit
Well, I don’t know much about Indiana, but my so. Will be attending Purdue in the fall, so that’s enough for me to be positive about it!
CupBeEmpty@reddit (OP)
Oh my friend. You specifically chose to inflict this on yourself?!
Please contact my family help line. About half went to PU and the other half IU. Spicy banter as the day is long.
tila1993@reddit
Indiana Beach is at the best place it's ever been at since the Spackman family owned it. Going to the Indianapolis 500 is a necessary experience for anyone alive at least once. Check out the Monon Railroad and learn some cool history.
CupBeEmpty@reddit (OP)
Check out the Monon Trail the spiritual legacy of the train.
tila1993@reddit
I live in Monon so I get plenty of railroad legacy lol.
CupBeEmpty@reddit (OP)
My Hoosier brother. I miss the homeland.
TCFNationalBank@reddit
I lived in Broad Ripple and worked in Carmel for a couple years, I routinely dream about stopping at Yatz for a full plate of maque choux, extra bread, and a can of coke.
CupBeEmpty@reddit (OP)
My man the only order at Yatz is chili cheese etoufee with extra bread.
Now when you say you “lived in Broadripple” how deep are we talking? Did you wade through the white river? Did you ever get arrested for swimming in the canal? Did you spend half your summer at the snow cone shack on Winthrop and Westfield? Are the big bars on the main drag both a source of loathing and disgust and nostalgia. Do you know how to ride your bike across the white river to meet up with your high school crush who was working at subway?
snarkwithfae@reddit
My husband is from NW Indiana. He’s pretty rad.
CupBeEmpty@reddit (OP)
My mom is from up north and family in the northwest and northeast.
They seem to make really excellent wives and husbands.
I am going to assume your husband is an abandoned orphan from a dilapidated steel mill in east Chicago unless you tell me otherwise.
If he’s from Valpo then I’ll give a mild side eye and say “oh you’re from the Chicago suburbs” just to make him hate me with the power of a thousand suns.
ReferredByJorge@reddit
With the Memorial Day weekend upon us, I’m reminded of spending many years as a kid watching the Indy 500 broadcast with my family as an annual tradition.
BloomiePsst@reddit
As a Hoosier, I have childhood memories of listening to the Indy 500 on the radio, since it was always blacked out on TV. When you went to stores, or the lake, it'd be on the radio everywhere.
JoeyKino@reddit
Fellow Hoosier - my dad is a huge racing fan, and we lived on a "lake" that was essentially a section of river with dams at either end, with a few sandbars where lots of boats would go "park" and hang out with other families. Some were big enough the locals had installed volleyball nets in the middle of the lake, and people would take small charcoal grills to put out onto the sandbar after they parked and grill out...
As a kid, the Sunday of Memorial Day was always an early start, to make sure we were at the sandbar by 10, where everyone would tune into the Indy 500 on their boat radios, turn them up, and we'd have 20 or so people all listening together, eating burgers and playing volleyball in the middle of a lake.
BloomiePsst@reddit
Ha! Not Lake Freeman or Lake Shafer, by any chance?
JoeyKino@reddit
Indeed - Freeman (I would say the "better" of the two, but we'll go with the "cleaner" of the 2). Spent a fair amount of time on Shafer, too - I always thought it felt like the Akroyd/Candy movie The Great Outdoors, and while being the dirtier of the two, was more fun once I was a teenager.
Thames_James@reddit
This is the true “Hoosier” 500 memory for me. We couldn’t afford going down to the race, but the radio broadcast was something magical in itself. When I was living in OH I could watch it on TV and it just didn’t quite hit exactly the same. Even years the blackout is lifted I will mute the TV and have the radio broadcast turned on. I’m gettin excited just writing this! C’mon Mother Nature, push those rain clouds south!
CupBeEmpty@reddit (OP)
Saint John Green https://youtu.be/FSGHBVgPqew
The Cathedral of Speed
DCStoolie@reddit
In 49 states, it’s just basketball
CupBeEmpty@reddit (OP)
I have had to carefully explain to my New England daughter that her love for basketball is genetic and she should die on that hill if need be.
lightgreenspirits@reddit
Mods rly tryna make themselves the main character
GhostOfJamesStrang@reddit
How you figure?
It's not the first time there has been a states series on this sub and in this case he's stoked about his home state.
That's hardly main character syndrome.
lightgreenspirits@reddit
I mean mods creating/running any kind of “events” especially when they pin it to the top of the sub.
yamo25000@reddit
That's a little main character syndrome-y
I'm not necessarily agreeing with the person you replied to, just saying you kinda missed the obvious there.
GhostOfJamesStrang@reddit
That's not how I view "main character-y." Personally.
That is when you force yourself to be the center of attention in am entirely unwelcome way and in an out-of-place location. Like doing a Tik Tok dance in a Home Depot or making a scene about your personal business in a McDonalds.
But I guess I get what you are saying.
yamo25000@reddit
Ya, that's why I said "a little"
Like that is something with main character syndrome would do, but it also doesn't mean that that's what's happening here.
THE_BONK_@reddit
Apparently northern Indiana is one of the few places on earth that offers nacho cheese as a common dipping sauce for pizza
Disastrous-Special30@reddit
Was really disappointed when I left Indy and realized that was a Hoosier thing. Don’t need garlic butter, ranch, marinara. Just give me that nacho cheese preferably a little spicy with some breadsticks.
mickeltee@reddit
Where else on earth can you get a sandwich the size of a small child and a luxury land yacht? Indiana is pretty cool.
CupBeEmpty@reddit (OP)
The unfortunately named yet unapologetic Tom Raper RV.
papercranium@reddit
Driving in from Ohio is like:
Blue arch > fireworks > cracker barrel > TOM RAPER > tasteful sign for Earlham > SOMEHOW MORE TOM RAPER
CupBeEmpty@reddit (OP)
I love that arch. The jet based underpass friezes in Dayton too.
papercranium@reddit
It's always a highlight of that drive!
CupBeEmpty@reddit (OP)
When I lived in Providence I drove home to Indy once or twice a year. That arch was the “almost home” marker.
The new Englander in me thinks of this
BaconContestXBL@reddit
I am disappointed to report that Raper Way is now Williamsburg Pike. Just drove through Richmond yesterday.
CupBeEmpty@reddit (OP)
Oh bullshit. It’s like how they renamed Harry Baals street in Fort Wayne.
Streamjumper@reddit
This Harry Baals erasure is nuts. I nair thought it'd happen in my lifetime.
CupBeEmpty@reddit (OP)
Nuts indeed
beenoc@reddit
Last names are often based on the profession of an ancestor (e.g. John Cooper probably had an ancestor who made barrels.) So, uh, Mr. Raper?
Imaginary_Ladder_917@reddit
Let’s hope a distant ancestor had a rapeseed farm. Rapeseed oil is canola oil.
CupBeEmpty@reddit (OP)
I ate at a Swiss restaurant that prominently described on their menu how their oil came from a local “rape farm.”
They should have run that one by the marketing team.
froggysassy@reddit
Blueberry festival in Plymouth. Indiana's biggest 4 day festival, which draws over 500,000 people over the weekend.
CupBeEmpty@reddit (OP)
Which is wild… Maine is in shambles.
ScatterTheReeds@reddit
Birth place of Michael Jackson
CupBeEmpty@reddit (OP)
Truth. He’s not widely remembered as a Hoosier but we have him.
doublebogey182@reddit
We have a national park. Most states cant say that. It includes a great beach.
CupBeEmpty@reddit (OP)
I worked as an intern for Indy conservation mostly focused on the Monon but a lot of other conserved lands. Folks were absolutely floored when the NOD took over the dunes.
liebemeinenKuchen@reddit
If you like pork products, look no further. Pork loin, pulled pork, pork burgers, pork fritters, and leaving the best for last: the giant pork tenderloin. All happen to pair very nicely with any of our various sweet corn dishes.
CupBeEmpty@reddit (OP)
Family friend was a large scale hog farmer. You learn a lot about industrial farming real quick when you visit a guy like that.
liebemeinenKuchen@reddit
Yep. My dad was a hog buyer for 35 years and worked in a plant for a few months making …. hot dogs 🥲
CupBeEmpty@reddit (OP)
Yeah he certainly knows how the sausage is made so to speak.
ukkswolf@reddit
Congrats to IU football on their championship season! As much has I hated them through the regular season and most of the playoffs and I don’t like Cignetti, there’s no way can root against a program that had such a turnaround, especially going against Miami. After watching that game, I’ve got some respect for IU and what they’ve accomplished and I look forward to seeing what they can do in the future
CupBeEmpty@reddit (OP)
This is an unrelenting positivity post so I’ll quietly dismiss your dislike of Saint Ciggy.
But yeah it was a hell of a turnaround especially since like half my family went to IU.
PacSan300@reddit
I lived in Indiana as a kid when my mom briefly taught at Indiana University. Many of the people there really lived up to the “Midwestern nice” image I came to learn about much later, and we felt welcomed in a lot of places.
Found both Bloomington and Indianapolis to be pretty good cities, and the Children’s Museum in Indy was definitely incredible; still remember it years later. Revisited Indy on a work trip as an adult, and found it pretty nice then as well.
Also remember Turkey Run State Park being lush and scenic.
CupBeEmpty@reddit (OP)
The children’s museum has been amazing for decades and it only gets better year after year.
gmwdim@reddit
Shipshewana is a great Amish community.
CupBeEmpty@reddit (OP)
My dad and his whole side of from Terre Haute. Trust me I have seen more covered bridges than any man has a right to.
CupBeEmpty@reddit (OP)
https://poets.org/poem/little-orphant-annie
I read this to my kids to scare them a little bit.
I have been to his grave and it is beautiful.
_oscar_goldman_@reddit
Highest point in the city. Crown Hill is an excellent cemetery, as cemeteries go. It has three vice presidents!
CupBeEmpty@reddit (OP)
It is officially the highest point but it may not be. The spring mill heights may actually be taller but very close and crown hill is for sure the tallest prominence.
kitchengardengal@reddit
Michigan City Indiana has a beautiful WPA Zoo and beach at Washington Park. You can see Chicago past the lighthouse, along the horizon, and it's glorious at sunset. The beach itself is miles long, and has the lovely Singing Sands that make a tuneful song when you drag your feet across the sand.
Ready-Ant-4649@reddit
I loooove Michigan City! It’s so underrated.
CupBeEmpty@reddit (OP)
Went to singing sands as a kid. It is wild.
Hordes_Of_Nebulah@reddit
I got some solid ramen noodles in Indianapolis a few months ago. Thats a win in my book. It was also 8°F outside which is technically a positive.
CupBeEmpty@reddit (OP)
Now I need to know the ramen place.
Hordes_Of_Nebulah@reddit
Kyuramen in the northeastern part of downtown.
CupBeEmpty@reddit (OP)
I’ll have to run it by my family. I don’t know the place but recommendations are always good.
Miserable_Cloud_6876@reddit
Indianapolis’ road grid is really nice
CupBeEmpty@reddit (OP)
And a fun fact is that the street signs include the grid coordinates.
GhostOfJamesStrang@reddit
As in the number blocks?
CupBeEmpty@reddit (OP)
Yup the east west streets are numbered and the north south streets are named but the street signs all have grid coordinates by block from the city center.
GhostOfJamesStrang@reddit
That's not super uncommon.
Or something like: Streets go east/west. Avenues north/south with the blocks on the sign. I've seen that in a few cities.
CupBeEmpty@reddit (OP)
Having the numbers for each block on the street signs is rare the general setup isn’t.
amazingtaters@reddit
The guy who designed it was an apprentice of Pierre L'Enfant, who designed the grid for DC. He definitely took inspiration from DC's grid for Indy.
CupBeEmpty@reddit (OP)
The entire story of the capital is hilarious “yeah we’re just going to invent a city in the center of the state and here’s how the grid will go.”
I grew up on a numbered street so I know exactly how many blocks I was from Circle Center.
odubbin@reddit
Gotta love the breadsticks and cheese sauce
AccidentalChef@reddit
I miss that so much.
will0w1sp@reddit
Do people not do that outside Indiana? Huh. The more you know.
dweaver987@reddit
I’m going to Indiana for a week this July. I’ve been to Indianapolis a few times on business trips in the late ‘90s but this will be my first trip for fun.
CupBeEmpty@reddit (OP)
Eiteljorg, State Museum, Newfields. Those are just visits.
tasteofflames@reddit
The Indianapolis Children's Museum is dope. I loved that place so much when I was little.
JoeyKino@reddit
I skipped school a couple times in High School to go the Children's Museum with friends... my mom found out, but when I told her where we were going, she offered to call me in sick.
We started going to other museums on school days - we went to the Indy MoA, Eiteljorg, and even up to Chicago at one point to go the Contemporary Museum of Art.
Eventually she was posing as a friend's parents to call her out sick, too - probably not the best move on her part, but I think an educational field trip now and then is better than some rote memorization all day, every day.
BecauseImBatmanFilms@reddit
I've been waiting for this. Indiana is my home and native land. My ancestors came here in the early 1800s. We've been building our lives here for generations. I might complain from time to time about how no cares about Indiana, but that's only because I love it here so much and want more people to love it. Indiana is the best state in the union and we need to start acting like it
JoeyKino@reddit
Hell yeah - we get a bad rap on Reddit, and I constantly hear people I grew up with in the town where I went to high school complaining about how the town they haven't been back to in 20 years "never changes," and I'm like, maybe you should come see how much it has changed.
I'm damned proud of my town - so much so, I work for a regional planning organization that does improvement projects over 6 counties in north central Indiana. Mostly it's boring infrastructure work - helping towns figure out to update their drinking water systems, or sewage, or improve roads - but some of it is a little more interesting. I just got $750,000 to help save a 100-year-old community center that's built off of a 140-year-old house. Unfortunately, now I'm working on getting funding to get a different building torn down safely, but that's because it's WAY beyond repair.
If you don't already, I urge you to go participate in your local government in some way. One of the biggest issues I run into is people thinking they can't do anything on their own to help improve where they live. If you're already going, good for you!
CupBeEmpty@reddit (OP)
You are moving high up my favorite reddituer list.
th7024@reddit
Indiana has some of the best state parks i have ever been to. Brown County, Whitewater, Spring Mill, McCormick's Creek, Turkey Run, Clifton Falls...
They have some truly breathtaking places.
JoeyKino@reddit
Whenever I see people who've never been to Indiana (or briefly passed through) complain about how flat the whole state is, I think of Brown County.
th7024@reddit
I don't know if this is true or just something they tell kids, but apparently the reason it is so flat and then so hilly is because the glaciers stopped before they got there. I just always thought it was interesting.
LowerSlowerOlder@reddit
The best view of Chicago is from Indiana.
Hairy-Ball5246@reddit
I do not have the words to express the state of absolute bliss that fills my heart when I sit and eat lunch on the steps of Monument Circle in Indianapolis. Nor can I explain the sublime feeling of climbing the hills in Brown County, where I proposed to my wife, and upon reaching the top turn and look out over rolling hills of autumn orange. How could I describe the peace that fills my soul when I drive past fields of corn on both sides, and I crest over a hill to see a little white farmhouse, or my joy as I walk through the exhibits at the state fair? None of these experiences are Indiana exclusive, to be sure. There are other state fairs, other fields of corn. Other states have parks as beautiful as ours, and parts of their own cities that they live to sit and watch. Other states are like Indiana, and there are many states that Indiana is like. But none of those other states are MY state.
If I were a judge at a dog show, my dog would win every time. If I were the judge of a beauty contest, my wife would win every time. And if I were to judge which state is best, it will always be Indiana. Not because it is more beautiful or more perfect than others, but because I know the roll of its hills and the gleam of its lights; the sound of its rivers and the touch of it’s autumn wind.
My state isn’t perfect. Nothing is. But when I dream about the moonlight on the Wabash, I will always long for my Indiana home.
_oscar_goldman_@reddit
Columbus, IN is a real gem with a lot of cool architecture. The engine company Cummins is headquartered there, and their CEO commissioned a number of mid-century modern buildings by prominent architects. Worth a detour from Indy or Bloomington for sure.
CoffeeGoblynn@reddit
I've never been to Indiana, but I do happen to love limestone. Plus, you share a spot as a 4-season state with us over in NY. That's the way to do it. :)
Thames_James@reddit
I’ve visited Upstate NY a couple times, the finger lakes specifically, and it very much has Southern IN vibes
CoffeeGoblynn@reddit
It's a beautiful region from what I've heard. I know my grandpa used to go camping and fishing up that way. I don't travel much though, and I'm from Western NY. xD
MyUsername2459@reddit
I go there every summer for Gen Con, and I have a blast there.
I go there, to a place right across the Ohio River, once a month for the D&D game I run.
I have a lot of fun in Indiana. It's usually fun centered around D&D.
Sinrus@reddit
I have no opinions on Indiana itself, but I love that y'all have a fun nickname for yourselves.
Unique_Let_2880@reddit
Indiana is THE state for supporting music. Over half of American-made musical instruments are made in Elkhart. The largest retailer of music equipment in the US is in Fort Wayne. And Indianapolis hosts the country’s top marching band competitions, Drum Corps International and Bands of America. Marching music is so American, and Indiana is the best place for it. Indiana loves youth music performance.
Streamjumper@reddit
Nice, quiet state. Stays where it is, does what it does, and blends in.
As a Nutmegger, I can appreciate that kind of energy.
Cup, you're gonna need to cut me some slack here, you know us Connecticut guys can barely manage neutrality on our best days when discussing our favorite things... you gotta realize this is the best I can manage in the high praise department.
Fair_Inevitable_3166@reddit
They have Caitlin Clark and Tyrese Haliburton. Nuff said
flyingterrordactyl@reddit
Indianapolis hosts Gen Con, a huge gaming convention. One of my favorite events of the year.
Drew707@reddit
While I am not the biggest fan, my entire family loves the St. Elmo's horseradish sauce, and I think my dad travels to Indy just to get it.
BioDriver@reddit
IND is by far the coolest airport in the US
VeckLee1@reddit
Fun memory: I lived in Indiana from 93-95 and in 5th grade we would learn about the state. Only thing i remember is they aren't sure where the name Hoosier came from but one of the guesses is that after a bar fight someone had their ear ripped off and someone would ask "who's ear??".
It literally makes zero sense, but it's stuck with me for 30 years.
CupBeEmpty@reddit (OP)
Yeah none of us know why and there’s like a half dozen suppositions why.
steveofthejungle@reddit
I definitely part of why Hoosier stuck (wherever it came from) is because there’s no good alternative based on the name. Two other groups already can claim Indian, and Indianan just sounds clunky
Ignoreeverthing@reddit
Who's yer daddy is my favorite.
sanka@reddit
I travel a lot and the IND airport is top of the list.
CaptainAwesome06@reddit
I came to say this. IND is my home airport and fly about once per month. I love how every time I go, there is something new to look at. Bonus that it's usually racecars, and that's super cool.
CupBeEmpty@reddit (OP)
I take it you never went through the old terminal.
ITrCool@reddit
- if you’re a motorsports fan, the Indianapolis 500 still takes place even today and is the largest race of the whole indie car circuit in the US (different from F1) 🏎️
- It was home to Abraham Lincoln for much of his life 🎩
- The P-47 Thunderbolt, one of our best WWII fighter planes next to the Mustang, was built in Indiana 🛫
- James Dean was from Indiana
- Indiana is the biggest popcorn producer in the world 🍿
CupBeEmpty@reddit (OP)
I have been to Dean’s grave.
My mom had a bit of a crush on him I think.
Lucky for me she had a bigger crush on my dad.
jade420420@reddit
Their football team proved miracles can happen
CupBeEmpty@reddit (OP)
Sports miracles are kind of our thing.
jade420420@reddit
I thought it right after I wrote it like the football team really is just the latest iteration of Hoosier (as in someone from Indiana, not just the university) sports miracles. It's so accurate you even got a movie named after Hoosiers. Or Rudy, it's actually insane I am like thinking in real time right now. I'll even forgive the Pacers if the Knicks win this year.
DjPersh@reddit
Madison IN is a quaint and beautiful small town on the river. Clifty Falls Park was better than you might expect. And Bloomington has some nice limestone.
Sorry that’s about all I’ve got.
CupBeEmpty@reddit (OP)
Clifty is highly underrated
SaintJimmy1@reddit
Most of Bob Ross’ The Joy of Painting was shot and produced in Muncie, Indiana.
CupBeEmpty@reddit (OP)
We just attract stupidly wholesome people I guess
westernuplands@reddit
I love you Kurt Vonnegut, I love my grandpa, I love Hoosier cabinets, I love how after taking a road trip to New England I crossed the state line into Indiana & felt like I was back home (I'm not from Indiana)
JoeyKino@reddit
Somehow I never heard them called Hoosier cabinets - it's always been a "Sellers Cabinet," maybe because the one my dad has is a Sellers and the one my wife & I have is a Sellers.
My dad still has his OG flour sifter and grocery list-thing in his.
CupBeEmpty@reddit (OP)
Vonnegut is hilarious. He loves Indy but was also willing to trash talk then city. But I’ll leave you with this https://bookmarkindy.com/locations/kurt-vonnegut-mural/
The artist should have given him a ciggy.
papercranium@reddit
Turkey Run is an absolute gem. Having access to actual old growth forest in the Midwest is truly remarkable!
Stormcrowdick1066@reddit
Indiana, Ohio and Kentucky shouldn’t be separate states. There’s no reason to give these states 6 Separate senators and 9 congressional seats. San Diego is bigger than these states combined and has a larger population. It’s ridiculous.
KeyCold7216@reddit
Ohio alone has 12 million. It's the 7th most populated state in the country.
GhostOfJamesStrang@reddit
Yeah...including Ohio in this absolutely stupid.
Their point was dumb, but they also tried to make it in the dumbest way possible.
CupBeEmpty@reddit (OP)
You’re right. They should have way more senatorial and congressional representation. We might actually have a decent government if it was a whole mess of Hoosiers, Kentuckians, and weirdo Buckeyes.
GhostOfJamesStrang@reddit
Ranting about politics and then chasing it with this absolute nonsense really undermines whatever pathetic point you are trying to make.
San Diego only has a few hundred thousand more people than Indianapolis...for starters.
Stormcrowdick1066@reddit
First of all simple google search would have told you That’s San Diego metro San Diego County is 11,734 square miles and a population of 3.4 million people . Sure I was being hyperbolic about three states compared to one county but it’s still true that most of these smaller states shouldn’t be states or have the representation they have for the population they have. Eastern states are way over represented. I could have said San Bernardino and still be right. You just got your fee fees hurt because you’re probably from one of those shit holes.
WhereNextCols@reddit
You sure about that pumpkin?
Stormcrowdick1066@reddit
Yes cabbage
GhostOfJamesStrang@reddit
Then you are stupid.
ClockAndBells@reddit
I don't see how this is unrelenting positivity for Indiana, as per OP's request, but a couple web search could have told you that:
San Diego has a population of 1.3M and covers 325 sq mi. Indiana, Ohio, and Kentucky have a population of 20.9M and cover 117,000 sq mi. I don't see how San Diego is bigger.
San Diego also has way higher cost of living (especially housing) and 4000 people per square mile. These states combined have a way lower cost of living (especially housing) and 178 people per square mile.
San Diego has the Midwest beat for weather and access to the coast. We have San Diego beat for being able to find a parking spot on public streets downtown for 25 cents for 15 minutes and 5000 sq ft houses for a few hundred thousand.
San Diego's county has half as many homeless in its one county as we have in 300 counties combined.
San Diego creates about $47B in manufacturing per year whereas these three states put out about $400B.
So, ya know, pros and cons. You probably have better frozen yogurt, though.
marduk013@reddit
San Diego metro area has half the population of Indiana though?
scothc@reddit
I've been to indy a couple times, for weekend shows at deer creek. Some memories include:
Asking a group of locals how we should spend the day before the concert and being told to stay away from downtown because it was "the black people thing" that day.
Petting a kangaroo at the indy zoo, and seeing trained apes operating a vending machine to get snacks
Marveling at how a state managed to have worse roads than IL (WI roads obviously being superior)
The native American museum was pretty cool
Tippecanoe (and Tyler too!)
A small museum in an old fort turned into a state park
lukeyellow@reddit
Indian stayed loyal to the Union during the War of Rebellion and had some great regiments.
CupBeEmpty@reddit (OP)
My direct ancestors fought for the Union from Indiana and one nearly died being imprisoned in Andersonville.
GreatMoloko@reddit
Shout out to Ash & Elm Cidery in Indy, some of the best cider in the country IMO (mostly cause it's not sickly sweet). I also love me a wind farm, especially because it means we're almost to Chicago.
CupBeEmpty@reddit (OP)
My soon to be BIL worked at Ash and Elm. A fun fact about the wind turbines up north is that they build them on the terminal moraine from the glaciers. Just that small few foot elevation is enough to make them slightly more efficient.
Complex-Squirrel9430@reddit
Every time I go to Indiana I meet the nicest people!
lizlemon921@reddit
Feast of the Hunter’s Moon in Tippecanoe County is AWESOME. Great food that reflects the ingredients and methods they had during the French & Indian war era (forfar bridies from Scotland, and duck leg with wojapi sauce were our favorites). It’s a cool a part of our nation’s history that doesn’t get a lot of attention and the participants are very authentic. It’s well done and a perfect reason to visit Lafayette in the fall.
CupBeEmpty@reddit (OP)
Fuck yes. One of my favorite memories growing up. My dad didn’t canoe race there.
Stormcrowdick1066@reddit
First of all simple google search would have told you That’s San Diego metro San Diego County is 11,734 square miles and a population of 3.4 million people . Sure I was being hyperbolic about three states compared to one county but it’s still true that most of these smaller states shouldn’t be states or have the representation they have for the population they have. Eastern states are way over represented. I could have said San Bernardino and still be right. You just got your fee fees hurt because you’re probably from one of those shit holes.
GhostOfJamesStrang@reddit
I most certainly am not....
And Indianapolis metro population is 2.2 million....so....
Your attempt at making a point here is absurd and you're actually just making yourself look stupid and petty.
If you have to use a terrible attempt at hyperbole to make your point, it's usually a really good sign that your point sucks.
BloomiePsst@reddit
Hoosier National Forest in southern Indiana is gorgeous in the spring, fall, and winter (and summer, is you can stand the humidity). Fireflies abound.
CupBeEmpty@reddit (OP)
Let’s also not forget Broadripple is Burning by Margot and the Nuclear So and Sos.
Just a fun local song about suicide.
SaintJimmy1@reddit
Indianapolis was once home to the world’s tallest woman
MexicanAssLord69@reddit
Indiana has the best roller coaster in the entire world, The Voyage at Holiday World. People travel from across the globe to ride it.
GhostOfJamesStrang@reddit
Wait...what? Tell me more. I love coasters and know nothing of this.
Weedaboos@reddit
Best woodie in the world without a doubt (sorry beast)
MexicanAssLord69@reddit
The Voyage at Holiday World is (in my opinion) the best roller coaster in the whole world. It is a raw, aggressive (in a good way) wooden coaster that was designed by and for coaster enthusiasts. It goes underground 8 times and is one of the longest roller coaster on the planet, at 6,442 feet, plus one of the tallest and fastest wooden coasters. It formerly had the most airtime of any coaster and still holds that record for wooden coasters.
The whole coaster is built on a hill and goes out through the woods, and is built in a way that causes it to go uphill in the first half and downhill in the second half. The result of this is the ride continually speeding up in the second half and you have no idea where the speed is coming from because you’re basically hugging the ground, which is lowering in altitude.
The park puts on an event in late May/early June called Holiwood Nights where they run Voyage in pitch black, turn off the mid-course brake run, and dip the wheels in grease, so it absolutely screams through the layout. It goes so fast that sparks fly off the back of the train. And people travel from other countries to experience this. I’ve attended the event four times. The tickets literally sell out in a matter of SECONDS.
asunderbass@reddit
I stopped in South Bend on a tour once back in 2010 and went to a bar that had a sick open-mic rap night. I think they closed at like 10:00 PM, too so I actually got to bed early that night, too.
Actually, I think like every bar and restaurant was closed super early now that I'm remembering. Coziest college town I've ever stayed in.
SaintJimmy1@reddit
Indiana has great limestone all other states have inferior limestone
PhilTheThrill1808@reddit
As much as I hate their entire athletic program as a Kentucky fan and alum, it is kind of cool seeing the team with the most CFB losses of all time win a title.
GhostOfJamesStrang@reddit
Even my circles of mostly other Big Ten fans were pulling for Indiana against the rest.
grrgrrtigergrr@reddit
As a Purdue graduate … I’m in the boat that was very opposed to IU winning
CupBeEmpty@reddit (OP)
My family is split between almost all Big 10 schools. The family group text gets super spicy any time during sport seasons.
GhostOfJamesStrang@reddit
That makes sense.
Not just the in-state rivals thing, but its a lot easier from other really successful programs to root for Indiana. Less so, with all due respect (and all love for Drew Brees), Purdue ain't it.
CupBeEmpty@reddit (OP)
I read this to my kids just to scare them a bit
https://poets.org/poem/little-orphant-annie
I have been to his grave and it is beautiful
TheViolaRules@reddit
Parts of Indiana are absolutely beautiful. Turkey Run, Shades, the Dunes. Indy has come a long way in its food scene in the past decade. The Wabash is a gorgeous river.
CupBeEmpty@reddit (OP)
Wait until you find out about the Devil’s Backbone.
Also I’m proud to say my soon to be brother in law is a commander in the trenches of the Indy food scene.
TheViolaRules@reddit
Been there many times, also fall creek gorge, Portland arch… so many beautiful things there
CupBeEmpty@reddit (OP)
Hell yes, a Wisconsin cheese monger knowing the best spots
gingerinthetea@reddit
Shades state park is under rated.
kitchengardengal@reddit
We took our boys hiking at Turkey Run when they were in grammar school. It was like being in a primeval forest, thinking down in the riverbed. So beautiful.
And the Dunes... Magical from Michigan City to Miller Beach.
CupBeEmpty@reddit (OP)
One of my absolutely favorite core memories is my dad waking me up at like 4am and shanghaiing me to Turkey Run at dawn.
We hiked the canyons with a thick layer of fog. It was primeval in the best sense of that word.
Limestone and fog go together like peas and carrots.
I have bathed in the waters of sugar creek and o now know that God does play favorites with some places.
TheSnakeQueen38@reddit
I’ve been to Indiana for the National FFA Convention, and they couldn’t have picked a better state to have it in if they tried! Also, the campgrounds there are excellent! My family goes there every other year to camp for a few days by one of the lakes.
FrozenChihuahua@reddit
Indiana has abundant limestone that helped build the nation and its legacy architecture.
The barns and old bridges of the state are beautiful and picturesque.
There’s a surprisingly large amount of forests, woodlands, and rolling hills in the south of the state.
I like the gritty industrial Eastern European / Balkan vibes in the northwest near Chicago. There’s some really good food that way too.
Property taxes are at a way better rate than they are west of the state line.
pinniped90@reddit
Indiana has excellent sandy beaches and I say this totally unironically. I had no idea until a few years ago.
GhostOfJamesStrang@reddit
The entire east side of Lake Michigan has stunning, sandy beaches. It's great. It isn't until you get up closer to Petoskey and Charlevoix they start to get a little rocky.
CupBeEmpty@reddit (OP)
We have to bow to our Michigan cousins for Great Lakes beaches but somehow we got the National Park and not you. Surely there was no political backroom dealings there.
sphoebus@reddit
Hey! We do have 2 national parks technically…
GhostOfJamesStrang@reddit
We only have one.
sphoebus@reddit
Isle Royale is technically our only official National Park, but NPS actually administers 5 parks in Michigan. I just consider Isle Royal and Pictured Rocks the closest in scale to actual NP status, where you can get at least multiple days out backpacking it at least.
GhostOfJamesStrang@reddit
That is a strange way of saying we have one national park.
There are multiple state and national forests where you can do this, but that doesn't make them NPs. Not really a useful metric.
There are also multiple NPs where you can't do that. So kind of arbitrary.
sphoebus@reddit
Yes, kind of arbitrary. I think the real metric for that status is that it needs to be a site of national importance (kind of the original idea of NPS) to be protected. That’s also the goal of designating a national lakeshore too, but lakeshore just has a more specific mandate to protect lake shoreline. All are operated by NPS, so it’s not crazy to consider national lakeshores a specific type of national park.
GhostOfJamesStrang@reddit
....but even then, by that metric, saying we "technically" have two, would also be wrong.
CupBeEmpty@reddit (OP)
The NPS administers a lot of stuff that doesn’t get true NP status.
In the realm of unrelenting positivity I want to give a huge shout out to all our NPS rangers.
May your hats always be large and the ground you walk always be beautiful.
GhostOfJamesStrang@reddit
Eh. Our best spots are pretty much all already either county/city parks, state parks, or National Lakeshore.
I'm good with it. I kinda like that our NP is probably the hardest to get to in the lower 48 and also one of the least visited, full stop.
CupBeEmpty@reddit (OP)
Maine is kind of similar. The best spots were never taken by the Feds.
Ok-Growth4613@reddit
Indiana in the month of may?! The whole state loves the 500.
footballwr82@reddit
Pawnee has some excellent parks. I hear Muncie is a very underrated location for a timeshare
GhostOfJamesStrang@reddit
The train depot for the South Shore Line to Chicago inside Indiana Dunes NP is my favorite train depot.
CupBeEmpty@reddit (OP)
Taking that train I got sat next to my favorite drunk grandma of all time. I have a standing invitation to her house any day the Sox are playing. She assured me her spaghetti is the best in the whole country. She gave me a tall boy for the train ride and I sipped it with her the whole way back to Chicago.
Brother-Patrick@reddit
Taking that train to visit a friend in South Bend (in advance of the drive from SB to Indy for GenCon 2014) had me alternating between looking out the window at the beautiful scenery and reading the Tale of the Industrious Rogue on SupTG. Good memory..
slugo17@reddit
Two words: Larry Bird.
GhostOfJamesStrang@reddit
The hick from French Lick.
atheologist@reddit
I’ve been to Indiana exactly once. For a wedding. But as one of the westernmost states in the eastern time zone, nearly 10 pm sunset in late May was pretty cool. Also, Indianapolis has a wonderful art museum and Newfields is beautiful.
grrgrrtigergrr@reddit
Munster Donut has some of the best donuts in the country.
FishyFry84@reddit
Rise n Roll has a foothold on my donut cravings. We don't call their signature donut "Amish Crack" for nothing
MrMellon@reddit
Pacers home games are one of the best atmospheres in sports. Even when they suck
theegodmother1999@reddit
holiday world is genuinely one of the best amusement parks in the entire country. i've been to so many and she is my fav by far. WE LOVE SANTA CLAUS INDIANA
amazingtaters@reddit
Indiana coming up on Carb Day? I see what you did there CupBeEmpty.
Anyway, it's my first year not living in Indy for The Month of May^TM in over a decade and I'm so glad to be going "back home again."
WhiskyTangoNovember@reddit
Bloomington is a picturesque college town and a lovely place to visit and/or go to school
lizlemon921@reddit
So hilly!!! We met friends at Switchyard Park last year and it was lovely driving through Bloomington and seeing how unique and charming everything was
Meggles_Doodles@reddit
Also Oliver Wine in Bloomington (i think) has just amazing cheap wine for folks who like sweet wine.
yeetskeetleet@reddit
I think it’s very cool, unironically, that there’s a very localized slur outside of St. Louis where Hoosier means something entirely different. And it stems from a bunch of Indiana migrants at one point I guess. I grew up thinking Hoosier meant white trash and thought it was really funny when I found out it’s actually a term for people from Indiana
I’m serious, this is cool to me. I don’t know of any other place that has something like this
Definitely_Not_Fe@reddit
A mundanely beautiful state. Once you leave the highways and the farmland (which has its own beauty), the forests, lakes, and hills of Indiana are like a comfortable hug from a loved one. Not exciting like the stark mountains of the West or the coast out East, but familiar and welcoming to those that know it.
I've been to many states in the Union, and there are few places that I would rather settle down in. It's affordable, the people are nice, and it is a four-season state.
jj_grace@reddit
The Indy 500 is the most exciting event ever. Shades State Park is stunning. Kurt Vonnegut is a Hoosier. And the Indiana Dunes are a stark reminder of the importance of environmental preservation and standing up against corrupt corporations!
G00dSh0tJans0n@reddit
Hoosier National Forest is nice, and Turkey Run State Park is pretty cool. It's like an area that is more similar to UP or northern Minnesota/Wisconsin.
eastw00d86@reddit
Edinburgh Diner tenderloin that's the size of a cafeteria tray
CupBeEmpty@reddit (OP)
My Kentucky brother… yes. One thousand times yes.
I have love in my heart for you backwoods bourbon swilling hill people. May perpetual light shine upon you. May your tenderloins always be comically large.
Enge712@reddit
If it don’t look like somebody deep fried a treasure map I don’t want it.