This year was Tom's turn to pick. He chose the Air Force Museum in Dayton, Ohio. I did a little research and discovered that the basketball gym they filmed the movie Hoosiers in was actually on the way off of I70. It's in Knightstown and it is still preserved in the way they shot the movie. (If you don't know what I'm talking about, then you need to stop reading this post and go watch Hoosiers right now.) Another new development was I had left Chicago and was now back in Indiana, but I was living south of Indy when everyone else lives north. So we met on the west side and started our journey eastward on I-70.
Our first stop was Knightstown, Indiana to visit the Hoosiers Gym. You gotta kind of know what you're looking for. There's not a lot of signs telling you where it is and we in fact drove past it. It's small and unassuming. We walked into the gym and in the tiny lobby area there is a gift shop/museum of sorts but when you walk onto the floor...bam...it hits you. You are on the home court of the infamous Hickory Huskers. (For a great breakdown of the movie, I highly recommend Bill Simmon's classic article.) We were given a tour by one of the workers there and she led us to the team's locker room. It was so filled with mold I couldn't stay down there for more than ten minutes. Afterwards we got to shoot hoops. I believe I won the state championship three times on a last second shot.
But enough about my childhood fantasies, time was ticking and we still had a whole air museum to see. So we piled back into the car and headed over to Dayton. We got there a little after noon and I have to tell you the museum was massive. Of course when you're housing a bunch of bombers and military cargo planes, you're gonna need a big space. It's a well thought out museum that walks you through the entire history of military aviation in the US. In the early stages you quickly discover there are many firsts: First to fly. First to shoot a gun. First to crash. And first to die. Quite frankly a distinction no one really wants.
We made it through the entire museum from no wars to the cold war to the drone wars. The museum closed and we headed on our way back. When we crossed the border into Indiana we decided to exit into Richmond to have dinner. We got a little turned around and found ourselves in New Paris, Ohio at an amazing rib joint called Baumbach's. For those of you keeping count, that's the second year in a row for ending our day dining on ribs. They had a wide variety of sauces and styles of ribs and it was all good. If you're ever passing through the area on I-70 it's worth the stop.
So we finally got back to pick up point to say our goodbyes for me to hop into my car and head home. Our goodbyes usually take a while and I told my brothers that my goal was to keep it short this year. That was said right as I was locking my keys in my trunk. If you're not a member of AAA, I highly recommend it. I called them and then we waited and waited. They promise to break you in they don't promise to be fast. After an hour, the AAA guy came and helped me get back into my car. All in all it was a good day.
