A Weekend in The Bend

About a year ago, Emmy Selden moved to South Bend, Indiana to work at a rad women's liberal arts college called St. Mary's. and although we usually meet in arizona for her birthday in february, this year we could not make the trip so instead, i made my way to one of my favorite parts of the country...the midwest.

when i say i love the midwest, what i really mean is that i love iowa. i really really love iowa. thanks to emmy and the selden family, i have had the great fortune to visit iowa four times, including two visits to the iowa state fair. i'd also been to fort wayne, indiana and even passed through south bend once during a cross country drive, so i was pretty sure i knew what i was in for when i arrived in south bend.

however, the weekend was filled with unexpected quirks and firsts that belong to south bend alone

Quirks:
1. they have an original ms. pacman machine in the airport. you don't believe me? check it out:


2. they do not sell beer and wine on sundays. i think in a restaurant you might be able to order booze, but if you want to buy some you are s.o.l. don't believe me? check it out:

and if that oddly capitalized sign doesn't stop you, try getting past these barricades!


3. in lieu of beer and wine, on sundays you can quench your thirst with something called 'faygo'. if they sold 'faygo' in west hollywood it would fly off the shelves. don't believe me? check it out:


4. the ultimate end-all quirk was not in south bend, but outside of goshen, indiana. the local walmart has horse-and-buggy parking. this is due to the large amish population in the area. if you don't drive a car, how are you allowed to shop at walmart? seems contradictory but there it is. don't believe me? check it out:



you can see the parking barn in the far right of this photo

this photo is so you can see that it really is walmart


And now for the firsts. Over the course of the weekend I did these things for the first time:
1. Drove a Boat


2. Learned to play a drinking game called 'Flipcup' and proceeded to score the win for my team!



3. Visit the Olympia Candy Kitchen, founded by Ally Paflas' grandfather and still run by the Paflas Family


4. Checked out at one of 32 checkouts in a Target Superstore.


5. Watched 'Groomer Has It' and then used my newfound knowledge of topknots to give Bruiser this fabulous hairdo.



Thanks to Emmy and Bruiser for hosting me for three fun-filled nights!! Here's a pic of us at the D.Q.



Just do the cones... make sundaes, make Blizzards, 'n... put stuff on 'em, 'n... see a lot of people come in, a lot of people come to the D.Q... burgers... ice cream... anything, you know? Cokes... just drive in and get a Coke, if you're thirsty.