When The Host Is Wrong…
…He is very wrong. Yesterday when Michael Duncan was on the show (a regular as one of the guys from the Ruthless podcast) the host tried to make fun of Duncan’s Hoosier heritage, in light of Indiana’s overwhelming football National Championship victory, by asking Duncan to list the top tourist attractions in the Hoosier State. The host asked specifically about theme parks, as if King’s Island and Cedar Point make Ohio so much more interesting than neighboring Indiana – mostly out of desperation as Duncan started to run down the list of great events that happen in Indiana. The host used his typical trick to win an argument of this type – he filibustered, talking over Duncan at every opportunity. So I suppose it is up to me, who grew up a Hoosier, to point out that Indiana really is a wonderful place to visit.
Duncan made the point that tourism in Indiana is largely event driven – The Indianapolis 500 being the largest single-day sporting event in the world. The host, quite wrongly, retorted that was but a single day out of the year. The Indianapolis Motor Speedway hosts several racing events each year, including one of the largest purses in NASCAR and houses a year-round museum that is a wonder-to-behold for any racing fan. The NHRA also brings one of the biggest drag racing events of the season to nearby Indiana Raceway Park every summer.
Duncan also pointed out that sports are a huge draw in Indiana even if he neglected to point out that the mecca of basketball is in the heart of Indianapolis – Hinkle Fieldhouse. Indianapolis is home to both the Big Ten football championship game and the Big Ten basketball tournament. The NCAA basketball tournament typically, but not always, sites a weekend there. On the professional level the Colts and the Pacers – and Indianapolis played host to the Super Bowl in 2012.
Festivals are a huge deal in Indiana. My personal favorite is the Parke County Covered Bridge Festival every fall.
Like everyplace, there are countless smaller attractions, some quirky and some surprising, that can keep a visitor occupied for days.
Stepping away from events, Indiana remains a lovely place to visit. It contains any number of natural wonders. Top of the lists to my mind – Indiana Dunes State Park on the shores of Lake Michigan has drawn people to its beaches for decades. Turkey Creek State Park with its beautiful lodge and heavily forested, but spectacular, rock formations is a day-hike paradise. Brown County State Park, is remarkable and reminds me much of my current home in the approaches to the Smoky Mountains, though smaller in scale. Each fall the Brown County region is over run with people there to see the fall color and it plays host to an amazing bluegrass music festival.
And while we’re talking about it. How many movies have been made about Ohio? There are many spectacular films based on and in Indiana – “Hoosiers,” of course – “Breaking Away”- a plethora of racing movies – and “Rudy.” What’s on that Ohio list?…Anybody?…Anybody?…Buehler?…Buehler? Just sayin’.
The post When The Host Is Wrong… appeared first on The Hugh Hewitt Show.
Leave a Reply
You must be logged in to post a comment.