My Super Bowl XLVI Recap

Holy cow! Last week was such a blur here in the great state of Indiana!  Super Bowl XLVI came and went with a fury and I have never been so proud to be a Hoosier!

I experienced the Super Bowl frenzy as a complete Joe Schmo (or Joan Schmoan, in my case):

• No fancy-schmancy NFL or VIP parties 
• Hardly any celebrity citings (I saw a contestant from The Biggest Loser and the ESPN guys broadcasting from far away) 
• We tried to hear LMFAO perform but were so far back that we couldn't see or hear anything (just lots of yelling and pushing) 
• D and I (and the doggies) watched The Big Game from the comforts of our couch

But, I don't feel deprived at all.  I walked around the city and took it all in like a tourist or out-of-towner.  I certainly felt that way walking around on Georgia Street/Super Bowl Village.  I barely recognized a stretch of the city that I'm otherwise totally familiar with.  I nom-nom-nom-ed on some delicious food truck grub (see my previous post).  I drank beer, lots and lots of beer!  I soaked in the hypnotizing excitement that the city of Indianapolis had oozing out of its veins.  

The crowd for LMFAO

My 2 best friends and I

The following series of pictures were one of the highlights of my whole Super Bowl experience.  My friends and I stumbled into Howl at the Moon (the dueling piano bar on Meridian St, just a block or 2 from Banker's Life Fieldhouse).  I always have an entertaining time when I go there and Friday was no exception.  The crowd was a lot more intoxicated animated than usual but it made for an insanely great time....

LOL!

Say cheese cute Mr. Piano Man

Someone made a request to play Neil Diamond's Sweet Caroline, an oldie, yet goodie!  But of course, a nay-sayer in the audience just had to rain on that parade and offered $100 for it not to be played.  But just in time, this guy came up on stage and offered $250 for it to played AND asked for the microphone....

Where it began, I can't begin to know when

But then I know it's growing strong

Oh, wasn't the spring, whooo

And spring became the summer

Who'd believe you'd come along

 Hands, touching hands, reaching out

Touching me, touching you...

 Oh, sweet Caroline..BOM BOM BOM!

 Good times never seem so good! So Good! So Good! So Good!

I've been inclined to believe it never would....

He had the entire bar up and dancing! He totally rocked it OUT!!  I don't know if he was local or from out of town but he became a rock star to the whole place that night.

After that crazy night, D and I spent all of Saturday lounging around.  We vowed to not drink on Sunday since we were nursing hangovers from hell.  But when we woke up on Sunday we were refreshed and revitalized and...OUT OF BEER!  I frantically tried to figure out what we were going to do but thankfully, through the magic of Twitter, our beer prayers were answered.  Flat 12 Bierwerks (@Flat12) was selling bullets and growlers until 4pm.  Bless them!  I got in the car and quickly drove over there to get 2 growlers, Flat 12 Amber Ale and the Super Bravo 46 Extra Pale Ale.

They went perfectly with the bacon wrapped jalapenos and from-scratch spicy sausage pizzas we made.

Fresh jalapenos, onion & chive cream cheese, bacon!

Roast garlic infused olive oil brushed all over dough

Pizza sauce made from stewed tomatoes, onions, garlic, oregano, basil, and balsamic vinegar, s/p

Topped with mozzarella and ground spicy sausage (Love my pizza stone) 

Perfect, thin crust pizza!

Luna and B during the game...

But now the party is over.  And so, too, is the freakishly balmy weather that surprised locals and visitors alike.  We're back to being the sleepy, Midwest city that we were before the end of January.  We're back to not pretending we're employees of TMZ chasing celebs around town. We're back to full work weeks.  We're back to $5-$10 parking.  We're back to a slow, comfortable pace and I'm okay with that.