November 2009

November ‘09

Ever since we moved to Illinois 10 years ago, we had wanted to visit Notre Dame, home of the iconic Fighting Irish (though not fighting terribly hard this season!) We flew into South Bend. Because Notre Dame had a home game we were unable to get a ride, so we rented a car. FYI – and there is a $20 ramp fee.

Be forewarned, like Green Bay, this is a town that takes its football seriously.

It was such a fun day to be on campus. The weather was perfect – in the low 70’s – such a departure from Madison where it was sooo cold. Notre Dame was playing Navy, so it seemed like everyone was wearing school colors. Our first stop on campus was the Bookstore. I have never seen such a huge bookstore – it was like being in a department store on black Friday – 2 floors jammed pack with people. I don’t think anyone walked out empty-handed. I must say we do our part to help the economy on these trips!

The visitor’s center has a short film on the history of Notre Dame. We toured the gold-capped Main Hall, the Basilica, the Grotto and the Art Museum.   But, of course, no Notre Dame trip is complete without seeing the stadium, the statue of Knute Rockne (he’s the bronze one) and the “touchdown Jesus” (seriously, I didn’t make that up).

 

 

 

It is such a beautiful campus. Of course the parking lot was filled with tailgaters (we parked on the street a few blocks away). We had lunch at Legends which is on the campus. I think my favorite part was when 2 F-16’s flew over the stadium just before the game was to begin!

While Frank was preparing for the flight back, I enjoyed chatting with some of the Citation Jet pilots who were passing the time away waiting to take their passengers back after the game. Do you know it takes them 16 minutes to go from Midway to South Bend!  (Note from Frank:  “Chatting” is an understatement.  You’d think she was Amelia freakin’ Earhart the way she was regaling these poor guys with tales of her flying adventures.)

November ‘09

We had heard some recommendations for Mi Tierra Mexican Restaurant at Griffith/Merrillville airport. It is located in the FBO, open from Mon-Sat 10:30am to 10:00 pm, and Sunday 8-8. They serve breakfast all day.

Not much in the way of ambiance – rather plain, but boy does it have wonderful food. Frank and I both had the chili del mar which was 2 poblano peppers stuffed with crab, shrimp and haddock with a garlic cheese sauce – yum!   The way we eat on these trips, Frank calculates weight & balance both before and after just to avoid a thrilling ride down the runway with no takeoff.

Flying there makes for a nice flight as you fly by Chicago’s scenic skyline (and then Gary’s yechh!).  So it makes for an ideal trip with guests. Because the airport is only a few miles south of Gary, rather then getting involved with transitioning thru Gary, Frank charted a course that after passing the hotels south of Chicago, homed in on the Lambert VOR which bypassed Gary’s airspace and then turned straight east to Griffith/Merrillville which lines you up with the runway. We were surprised however at the amount of traffic this untowered airport has (at times, a real test of see and avoid).