Indinapolis to Detroit

INDIANAPOLIS…NAPTOWN

JULY 3

Off day. There was a big Mall that was connected to the hotel by an overhead walkway. So after some coffee and our usual wake-up time, we made our way over there. There was a food court with a PF Chang there, and we decided to do that for lunch. Then walked all around the Mall...but not doing any “damage”. There was a Lucky Brand store that had, at least temporarily, had all Rolling Stones clothes in it. Actually some nice looking stuff...different from the “official” Stones merch. Mostly sort of “distressed” looking tee shirts and the like. We killed a bit of time walking in the Mall and eventually came to a Nail Spa where Rose Lane decided to get a “Manni-Petti”. So I left her there and walked around a while, eventually making my way back to the room and fooling around on the computer for a while.

That evening we met up with our friend Ronnie Finestone, who had brought a client of his that is the top buyer of merchandise for Macy’s Dept. Store...a nice guy named Kevin and his friend David that accompanied him. We had a couple of drinks with them in the Capitol Grille bar, enjoying the conversation. Then as it was our “Digital Queen”, Elizabeth Curan’s birthday, there was a group of ours in the hotel bar across the lobby from the Capitol bar and we went there to help celebrate for a bit.

Earlier in the day we had a call from Matt Clifford who told us we were invited to dinner with he, Mick, Ronnie and Sally and a couple of others. We accepted, and wound up having a really nice time in the courtyard of an Italian restaurant called Iozzos Garden Of Italy . Good to have some social time like this...great conversation, lots of laughter, good food. We dispersed around 11 or so and went back to the Conrad to end the night.

JULY 4

What a groove to play The Brickyard on Independence Day...we had some 60,000 or so people there, and the weather cooperated for a nice night.  The big deal of the night was the fireworks at the end. Our guy, “Pyro Pete” worked with the city of Indianapolis to partner up and do a spectacular display at the end of the set. It seemed to go on forever...and as we were rushed out of the Speedway back to our hotel, it went on as long as we could see and a long time after. I was told it was about 20-30 minutes. Even during the set, we could see fireworks going of in various other parts of the town...almost the whole time. We had some musical fireworks of our own...a hot set.

JULY 5

Gotta keep moving’....today to Detroit. All packed up and ready to go at the usual dedicated time...I had time to hit the gym for a bit before, which always helps to shake off the “bugs” and wake up the ‘ol body. A relatively short flight from Indy to MoTown...less than an hour. That put us at the MGM Grand hotel fairly early...around 5:30. Staying at a casino is not my favorite thing...and we were somewhat isolated as there wasn’t much around us. I have to say it was a bit sad to see all the abandoned homes and buildings. Detroit has gone through some really rough times over the past 10 years...and the city is still going through bankruptcy. But the spirit of the people is strong, and you can see some signs of recovery. Rose Lane and I took a walk around the casino to orient ourselves. The usual layout of slot machines and gambling tables in the main center of the complex and a few restaurants and bars scattered mostly on the periphery. Wolfgang Puck had two restaurants...an Italian Cuchina and a Steak House. We opted for the Steak House, having a cocktail in the bar first. A good meal...his restaurants have a great reputation and this was no exception. I just wish it wasn’t in a casino! Rose Lane and I have no gambling desires and with people smoking and the constant  buzz, dings and other sounds of the place, it just is not pleasant for us. But we enjoyed the meal and went back toour room to veg....