Royalty goes to Indianapolis to see the Andrew Luck Era at home against the Browns!

Prince at Lucas Oil Stadium

After we saw a MAC college football doubleheader on Saturday, we drove further West. We stopped off in Columbus, Ohio where we spent the night at Super 8. On the way there, we made a pit stop for dinner at Hardee's. We all indulged by having thick burgers as they call them. We all agreed that they were really good. As for me, I had a Memphis BBQ one that was topped with pulled pork and onion strings. It was excellent. Since I was so hungry, it really hit the spot for me.

When we got done we got back on the road and we continued to the Columbus area. Our pal Mike Carroll was dying to go to a Skyline Chili restaurant. I had told him I would get him to one along the way. Skyline Chili is known in the Cincinnati area for it's classic chili. They had some locations in Columbus as well. With that being said, It worked out beautifully as we got within four miles of the exit for our hotel when I noticed a sign for a Skyline Chili. True to my word, I got off and we went to get him some Chili to fulfill his special request. Mike was in heaven. I never tasted Chili before so I decided to get a three way for myself. It was basically spaghetti mixed with chili that was topped off with shredded cheddar cheese. It tasted really good. I'm glad I gave it a try. Mike was so happy that he made my night. He can now cross off another place off his to do list.

After we got done, I went to get gas for the car then we went to Steak N Shake which was conveniently located across the way for dessert. We got shakes to go. What a way to cap off our hearty dinners.
We got back in the car and we drove to the hotel where we spent the night.

In the morning, we got up and we ate breakfast at the hotel before we continued on to Indianapolis, Indiana which was 184 miles away.

We arrived there around 11:30AM. We parked the car on the street and we walked over to Lucas Oil Stadium, the home of the Indianapolis Colts. They were hosting the Cleveland Browns at 1PM.

We didn't have tickets so we had to look for them outside. We didn't think it was going to be a tough ticket. It turned out to be a harder one than we initially thought. We managed to work our magic and we rounded up some single tickets. Mike got the first one on the lower level for $40. We told him to go ahead inside and we'll meet up at some point. The King and I continued to ask people if they had any extra tickets. After a little while, I was able to get an upper level seat for $30. Now we just needed one more between us. Game time was fast approaching, luckily the King was able to talk somebody into taking $30 for another upper level seat. With just enough time to spare, we made our way inside and we got to the upper level just in time for the National Anthem. We did good considering the circumstances. Since it was a rather warm day, the roof was open as was the side panel which allows you to see Bankers Life Fieldhouse which is the home of the Indiana Pacers as well as the Indiana Fever of the WNBA. Ironically the Fever were hosting the championship game against the Minnesota Lynx that night.

As for the game we saw, the Colts took the opening kickoff and they drove 80 yards on 11 plays to score the game's first touchdown to lead 7-0. Their rookie quarterback, Andrew Luck who was the number one pick in the NFL draft, ran in from three yards out. In the process, they used up half of the quarter.

In the second quarter, the Browns responded with an impressive 90 yard 16 play drive that culminated with a 14 yard touchdown pass to wide receiver Greg Little who made an acrobatic catch as he was able to keep his feet in bounds as replay showed from rookie quarterback Brandon Weeden. Unfortunately kicker Phil Dawson missed the point after touchdown due to a bad snap so he didn't get to kick the ball. The Colts lead, 7-6 with 14:01 left in the half.

The Colts went back to work as they drove down the field again. This time they went 76 yards on 14 plays as they extended their lead to 14-6 as Andrew Luck ran in again. This one was from five yards out. The score remained that way as the teams went into the locker room.

In the third quarter, the Browns took the opening kickoff 80 yards on six plays to pull back with in one at 14-13 as wide receiver Josh Gordon caught a 33 yard touchdown pass from Brandon Weeden with 11:53 left. The Colts added to their lead as kicker Adam Vinateri booted a 38 yard field goal with 3:19 left in the quarter to give the Colts a 17-13 advantage.

The score remained the same the rest of the way as the Colts held off the Browns to come away with the win.

After the game, we drove 110 miles to the Queen city of Cincinnati, Ohio for game two of our NFL doubleheader.

Stay tuned for the special post I'm going to do that we'll recap that adventure.

Thank you for reading and following along.

Yours truly,

Gary Herman