The Midwestern Treasure Hunt

If you've never driven through MidAmerica, then you've likely never had the chance to get trapped in the maze of highways and county roads sandwiched between the major interstates out here. As a semi-full-time traveler I have had such an experience. More than once. And let me tell you, more than once is way too much. Here is the moral to this little intro: driving through Indiana can be hard. A big part of what makes the drive so tricky is the terrible navigational advice from my Garmin. Now I know that sentence may be a little confusing for some of you out there, but the Garmin is not always right, and sometimes it is very very wrong. In my wildest dreams, I have never imagined a world where tractor-paths-turned-winding-cornfield-roads were the BEST way to get from one interstate to another. Clearly I never dreamed in Garmin. Ugh, what a joke. All we wanted to do was find a casino to lose a little money at on a Friday night. Instead we ended up spending almost two hours driving through pitch black, deer infested woods and up a mountain. How a mountain got into Indiana I don't know, but I am sure that this was it. So we drive up this dark, dark mountain, dodge a few deer and then what to we come to find out? I'll tell you. Apparently, Garmin decided to forgoe the closest escape from the torture road to get us just a little farther west on the interstate. Uhh what? Did I hit the civilization avoidance in the settings? I think not. Thanks Garmin, thanks a whole bunch. Thank goodness my navigator finally figure out what was going on and got us pointed in the right direction, otherwise we probably would have ended up sleeping in the van and trying again at daybreak. Side note: how anyone lives out there, I don't know. It's a corn maze everyday and really those things are only fun for like, 20 minutes tops, so I am totally stumped on this one. Ok, back to the action. So we finally find the interstate, and we finally find a hotel (the only one for miles--no joke) and we finally think we're going to get to sleep when yours truly misses the turn and gets back on the interstate...in the wrong direction. The only thing worse than missing your bed for the night is missing it by 6 miles to the next exit and then another 6 to turn around and get back. Yeah, not good. However we did finally make it to the Comfort Inn and got a room and then proceeded to collapse into a deep, deep slumber. While enjoying our free breakfast the next morning, we notice a nice little rain storm going on outside but does it really matter? Nope! Why doesn't it matter you ask? Because there is no rain in the casino!!! Yep, after all those mountains and deer and missed interstates, we were finally ready for the casino. This isn't just any casino trip either. Our destination was well researched and put through a vigorous interview process before being chosen as the destination of choice that night. When it came down to it though, Indiana Live! really had everything we needed: penny slots, a bar, a fancy restaruarnt with creme brulee, coctail waitresses and a bar. I'd go back to Indiana Live! anytime I'm driving down Interstate 74 through Shelbyville, IN because they had the most generous penny slots I've ever had the priviledge of pulling the handle on. I'm not saying I walked away a milloinaire, but I did only leave $30 behind and that was after getting risky with my machine winnings and losing it all for a few high priced spins of the wheel. Sometimes it's just so hard to stop though. The best part about the night?? Creme brulee and dessert wine with the lovely Sam. You know you're in a fancy part of town when an $8.50 glass of wine is approximately 2 shots of liquid in a port sized glass. That dear sirs and ma'ams, is what I like to call swanky. Wine like that is not for chugging. It is meant to be slowly sipped and enjoyed while it enhances the flavors of our $8 dessert, and let me assure you, it did all that and more. That creme brulee was literally the best food we ate all week. Panera did come pretty close to the Maker's Mark Steakhouse dessert, but that delicious concoction absolutly takes the cake. It made our midnight drive SOOOO worth it, and although I never want to drive THOSE roads again, I'd gladly go back for seconds of the creme brulee.