Let the Super Bowl fun begin!

So, by the end of this day, we will know which teams will be headed to Indianapolis for Super Bowl 46 in Indianapolis.  I'm not sure whom to root for, I just know that I plan on having as much fun as possible during the next two weeks.  Between volunteering at the NFL Experience and attending some of the free concerts, the Super Bowl Village and some of the other events downtown and around the city, I feel like I'm going to have a good time. 

This past weekend, my girlfriend and I went to a rally for Super Bowl 46 volunteers at Lucas Oil stadium in Indianapolis.  Discounted souvenirs were available for sale, the Mayor made an appearance as did an NFL VP, Frank Supovitz and a local media personality, Jimmy 'Mad Dog' Matis emceed the event.  In addition, the Indianapolis Colts cheerleaders signed autographs and performed a couple of routines before the rally started.

Before attending the rally, we went to lunch at 'Tavern on South', which is located a couple of blocks west of the football stadium on South street. The food was very good as was the service. The cheeseburger and the bison burger get two enthusiastic recommendations from us.   I am looking forward to a return  trip, but only after the Super Bowl is over.  Otherwise, it will be a very crowded place to eat.

It was not the best of days to have to walk several blocks from the parking lot to the stadium.  The sidewalks weren't completely cleared and the lot itself was very muddy and nasty.  We both regretted not wearing boots on Saturday, sneakers were definitely a bad decision.  To top it off, the weather was very windy and very cold.  More than one time that morning I wished I had worn a long sleeve shirt and brought a hat or scarf. Brrr....Later that day I found the temperature was in the single digits and below zero with the wind chill.  After a late start, winter has finally arrived in Indianapolis. 

I did manage to make a few pictures while at the rally and will post a few here.  The field is still being prepared for the Super Bowl and maybe later this week on our tour of the facility, I will be able to get a better picture, hopefully with the team and NFL logos on the field.  I'm also wanting to get a wide angle shot from the above the south end zone looking towards the city skyline.  I have an idea of what I want, I just hope I get the opportunity to shoot it on Wednesday.

How about a few pictures?  Some cheerleaders and interior shots of the stadium:

 
Well, that is all for now.  More posts to come as the festivities get here!

December in review and a look forward

Well, it's been over a month since I last posted here and a lot has happened, especially in the month of December.  Beyond the obvious (Christmas), I went zip lining with my girlfriend at Rawhide Ranch in Brown County, Indiana.  The zip line operator was Team Effect and it was a blast!  It was our first time zip lining and we did 7 hops across the ranch.  Later that night we spent some walking around the small town of Nashville, Indiana where I made this picture:

The above picture was taken along State Road 135 and shows some of the local shops, their Christmas lights and going through the picture was a large pickup with a lot of lights.  A different take on Christmas lights I think.  I almost forgot to mention all of this was my birthday weekend.  We also stayed overnight at the Brown County Inn.  It was a great weekend and I had a lot of fun.  After coming back to Indy, we went to the Pacers Fan Jam where this picture was made:

Ladies and Gentlemen, your 2011 Indiana Pacers Pacemates!  After the fan jam was over, we went to Monument Circle for a meetup of the Indy Flickr meetup group. Unfortunately only two additional members showed up for the meetup.  However, I did get some great shots of the Monument Circle lights and some very different photographs than my previous attempts of the lights.  Here is an example:

So, it was a busy weekend and was by far the best birthday weekend I have had.  No complaints here. In addition to the weekend in Brown County, we saw the Guns n Roses concert at Conseco.  I was a little concerned about how the music would sound with the new lineup ('new' even though most of the 'new' members have been in the lineup for several years), but they delivered in a big way. Close your eyes and all of the classic GNR songs sounded great.  I didn't know much about their Chinese Democracy album and wouldn't have recognized the songs if my girlfriend hadn't told me when they were playing. I may post more about the concert later, but suffice to say, a fantastic 2 hour + show!   Speaking of Rene, how about a great picture of her?:

We ended up the month with a fun NYE party at her friend's house and thankfully we made it home in one piece!

2012 is shaping up to be a very busy year.  Later this month, Rene and I will be volunteering at the NFL Experience for Super Bowl 46 here in Indiana.  We also plan on attending as many of the related events as possible, weather and traffic permitting.  February brings us Valentines Day (our first one together!) and the Van Halen concert and then in March we will be volunteering at the Big 10 basketball tournament and I will working the Div 3 NCAA swimming championships.  Whew, what a way to start the year!

More to come....