A few weeks ago I received an alert that the Indianapolis Hard Rock Cafe would be closing soon. I've been meaning to travel there for a while and for the sake of getting my pin, but now I was on notice. Last year I received similar notices about the Lake Tahoe cafe (the hotel replaced the cafe) and the St. Louis cafe last year, so I'm somewhat familiar with planning these trips with some haste. Checking my unused Southwest travel funds and my schedule, I decided to create a day trip which involved hitting not only the Indianapolis location, but also possibly grabbing a pin from the Tampa Bay airport's Cafe as well. So, here was my Saturday:
Flight 1: DCA-MDW (DC to Chicago, departing at 6:15 AM)
Flight 2: MDW-IND (Chicago to Indianapolis, departing at 8:30 AM)
Flight 3: IND-TPA (Indianapolis to Tampa, departing at 4:40 PM)
Flight 4: TPA-DCA (Tampa to Washington, departing at 7:50 PM) I was concerned beforehand that this was silly and become too stressful. But I'm so glad I did this - for better or for worse, it went better than anticipated and has inspired me to try similar challenges in the US. Maybe it was a crazy plan, but maybe I'm the right type of crazy to try it. Some background: I collect Hard Rock Cafe guitar pins from locations around the world. Pins are great souvenirs - they are easy to pack, typically cost $10-15 (unless a Cafe is closing, then it's cheaper), and take up far less space in my home compared to a shirt collection or the like. I've been doing this for a bit over 20 years, collecting roughly pins from roughly 50 properties. I have a few rules:
- I have to collect the pins at the locations in person. No eBay, no favors from friends during their travels (though a number of people have wanted me to bend this rule);
- The pin has to be as unique and indicative of the pin's city as possible.
- Just one guitar pin per location. Don't try to clean out the inventory - choose the best one.
The night before My flight would be leaving early out of DCA, so I decided to have a quiet evening at home and to shower before going to bed. While I typically shower first thing in the morning, I learned to shower at night through stressful weeks at work: Showering relaxes me, and helps me fall asleep far faster. Typically I don't have an issue falling asleep on a normal night, but this wasn't a normal night. The shower did its job, and I fell asleep around 8:30 PM.
I packed my day bag: Wallet, extra external battery for my devices, iPad mini with games/books/crosswords/music loaded, plug-in charger, Clif bars (bought before my trip so I wasn't paying airport prices for snacks), headphones.
Flight 1: DCA-MDW I was questioning my sanity before this leg. My body decided to wake up around 3:15, well ahead of the 4:00 alarm. GREAT. I had slept *enough* to not be a complete mess, so I got ready and eventually called a Lyft to take me to the airport (I had debated driving, but parking for the day would have been more expensive than rides to and from the airport). My Lyft driver arrived just after 5:00 AM, and boy was he a pro - he had a full, backlit snack bar selection in the car along with an iPad set up for trivia games. He immediately noticed my lack of luggage and asked "So...do you....work at the airport....or....?" I laughed, realizing I was going to explain this crazy trip to someone. So I began explaining my collection and how my day would play out, and he laughed. "Boy, you're one of a kind." He's never heard of
solotravel now HAS he?
We arrived at Terminal A, which is the original terminal at Reagan National Airport. I arrived roughly 30 minutes before boarding, and I was surprised at how many people (high school students in particular) were already at the airport. WHO ARE YOU PEOPLE AND WHY DON'T YOU SLEEP. Thankfully I have TSA pre-check, so it took me maybe five minutes to get through security.
So many teenagers. I'm not Clint Eastwood "get off my lawn" old, but I'm getting closer to 40 and farther from my high school years. I'm a morning person, but not perfectly awake at 5:00 AM among the general population. Perhaps the kids were enjoying the cheaper airfare - just like I was! - but goddamn how are they SO excited that early? Thankfully I didn't have to endure this for terribly long, and my flight to Chicago was basically a giant adult nursery. Sweet dreams....
Flight 2: MDW-IND We arrived to Midway about 15 minutes early, which gave me some extra time to grab breakfast at the airport and find my next gate. For as tight as the connections felt today, I appreciated any extra padding in my schedule. Because I'm a Pokemon Go player, I fired up the app and began searching for Mons while I walked. What luck! I managed to complete the weekly research quest, and for the first time I had Regirock appear for the Research Breakthrough. I love collecting Pokemon during my travels so they reflect the locations in their profiles, so my Regirock is from Chicago. I also managed to win a Mawile raid with an anonymous partner (thank you, whoever you are), so I have that guy as well.
I keep forgetting Midway isn't O'Hare in terms of food options. I appreciate any opportunity I can get to have Tortas Frontera at O'Hare, but I'm not sure why my brain tortured itself by not remembering YOU'RE GOING TO MIDWAY. That said, the cup of coffee I got from True Burger Co. was better than I expected and exactly what I needed. It was time to board my flight once I was finished with my breakfast, and basically I blinked and I was in Indy. We had to take a moment to de-ice the plane before departing, but the flight was maybe 30 minutes long.
Indianapolis Because I prefer to take the cheapest options possible AND I had time, I wanted to take the IndyGo public bus from the airport to downtown. Here were my options:
- Public bus: $1.75
- Private downtown shuttle: $12
- UbeLyft: $15
- Taxi: ~$20
- Limo service (yes this was available): No. We're not even considering this.
My problem was there was no machine or kiosk where I could buy bus fare, and the bus would require exact change. I asked someone in Ground Transportation if there was anything available where I could purchase a ticket, and I was pointed to....the $12 private downtown shuttle. No. I want the bus. I walked back into the main terminal and found a general information desk, and I asked them if there might be some way to get on the bus. What angels - they were able to make change for me (I had $2) so I could run down to the bus stop and hop on board. No $12 shuttle for me!
The bus took about 40 minutes, stopping along the way and letting me see more of Indiana than I would have seen from the highway. We stopped roughly one block away from the Hard Rock Cafe, so I jumped off the bus and made my way to the restaurant. Since the property is closing in a few weeks, all of their merch was 75% off. Sales like this tempt me into purchasing more, but no, I don't have time for that. I'd have a million shirts and mugs. Unfortunately, and somewhat expected, the pin selection was just okay. I managed to find a pin with an Indy 500 checked flag on it, so I selected that pin. I somewhat broke my rule by purchasing a second pin (not a guitar pin, but reflected the checkered flags in a cool way), but together the pins were just over six bucks. Still cheaper than one pin at a "normal" cafe that isn't closing.
One strange thing about my collection: For as much as I adore collecting pins from these properties around the world, I've had a meal at a Hard Rock Cafe....once? It was in the Caribbean almost a decade ago. I don't go for the food, and usually I'm trying to find a place in a city for my meals that is special. Knowing nothing about Indianapolis, I reached out to my friends for some advice. One friend recommended (fairly emphatically) to try Milktooth in Fountain Square. It was less than a mile from the Cafe, didn't seem to have horrific wait times, and not horribly priced. Off I went...
...and GODDAMN, am I glad I went. This place is hipster-tastic and slightly more luxurious/pricey than I allow myself while traveling, but I would fly back just for the sake of having this meal ago. My wait was maybe five minutes and I sat at the bar. After going over the menu with the server, I went with some items he recommended:
- Drink: Caffe Rozata (espresso, orgeat, burnt cinnamon, steamed milk) ($5)
- Entree: Sourdough Pearl Sugar Waffle (burnt honeycomb candy, parmesan, whipped citrus honey butter, raw honey) ($12)
This dish was both salty and sweet, and I was wondering initially "Do I love this or HATE IT?" Mostly, I hated it because it wasn't my typical bland waffle with bland syrup and bland butter. But this breakfast challenged my apparent blandness, and slapped the back of my head. It was fantastic. Probably favorite waffle...ever? Getting my pin made yesterday a "win," but this brunch was such an unexpected surprise. Lesson reaffirmed: Trust your friends and their recommendations.
I finished my meal around 1:30 and figured I should make my way back to the airport. I was no longer near the airport bus route and I decided to take a Lyft. My driver arrived, and I had a great time chatting with him about his experiences with customers. Note: Don't eat in his car, and if you do, clean up after yourself you animals.
Back at the airport I settled in at a charging station (Pokemon really sucks my battery dry) and figured I'd get comfortable while I waited for my for Tampa. Just as I got everything set up....
GASP - SURPRISE! A friend of mine from school, someone who I had not seen in over a decade, had commented on a post I made on Facebook when I arrived in Indianapolis.
He was ten gates away! I posted where I was seated, and almost immediately he replied that he was coming to find me. WHAT! He happened to be passing through the Indy airport, making his way home after attending a conference. What incredible luck. So I gave him a huge hug and we talked for about 20 minutes before he had to run back to his gate for his flight. This was unreal. As much as I love getting my pins and taking on these mini adventures, THIS moment really made my day.
Flight 3: IND-TPA As I told my friend, I was waiting for my flight to Tampa where I had a chance to get a second pin at the airport. The cafe didn't exist the last time I visited Tampa, though I had visited the Hard Rock casino just outside the city. If my flight arrived on schedule, I had a faint possibility of getting the second pin during the 30 minute layover. I was in the C Terminal and the cafe is located in the main terminal. Luck was on my side, and my flight arrived 20 minutes early. Thankfully the Tampa airport isn't enormous and seemed particularly sleepy when I arrived, and the cafe happened to be located beside the doorway between the airport shuttle station and the main terminal. In and out in five minutes. This pin was about $11, which felt so expensive compared to the bargain from the Indy location, but whatever.
Pokemon collection was extremely underwhelming at the Tampa airport. Very few gyms and stops available. Not that I had tons of time, but give me a regional Mon right?
Flight 4: TPA-DCA I experienced some turbulence during my flight back to DC, which was the only turbulence I really had on any of the flights that day. My energy levels were getting really low at this point - can't imagine why - and I was ready to find my bed back home. The flight was just under two hours. As opposed to the high school I seemingly entered earlier that morning to board my flight to Chicago, Terminal A was a ghost town when we arrived in DC. Aside from those on our flight or attending to our gate, I didn't see any other passengers at the gates in the terminal. It was a strange, peaceful way to reenter my neighborhood after such a fun day. Again, I indulged myself and got a Lyft (hey, I got a discount recently on some rides, don't hate). This driver also noticed my lack of luggage, which prompted him to ask why I was getting a ride from the airport, so I explained my whole day to him. He got a huge kick out of it, accusing me of being a special agent traveling to four cities in a day on a secret mission.
That's right, sir
(and here we go, TLDR folks) - my mission was to collect one, maybe two enamel pins from a novelty restaurant chain, and I accomplished the hell of that mission. I managed to run into an old friend along the way, tried some insanely delicious food, and got some great Mons during my trip. I saw four states in one day in two timezones. I wasn't able to fall asleep immediately when I got home, mostly because I was still feeling the adrenaline of running from city to city to accomplish my goal. My pins have found their way to my pin collection case, sitting among the pins from Reykjavik and Sydney and Hong Kong and Rome. All of my pins have stories, but I love that I can now talk about my trip to Indianapolis and Tampa in the same day.
(Holy shit, this post was longer than I anticipated. I hope you enjoyed it. I thoroughly enjoyed experiencing it.)
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