Shake n' Bake!

Memorial Day weekend calls for American activities. To that end, I filled my weekend with family, racing and overeating. While you may not agree that every American embraces these ideals, I decided to partake in these this past weekend.

Starting on Friday, I went to Dixieland Speedway, a dirt track in the sprawling metropolis of Elizabeth City, NC. Each Friday, the 300 residents of Elizabeth City gather to watch their friends race modified cars around a dirt track. Different heats involve different cars, each heat bringing something special to the table. The race was fun, but the activity in the stands was even better. Not only did I see mullets and a tuxedo T-Shirt, but there were even 2 fights to be observed. Let me set the stage. Fight #1: Some guy (Let's call him "Mr. Jorts") was mad about something and there was a large scrum. During the scrum, another guy (Let's call him "Mr. Wife Beater" due to his attire) decided he wanted to jump in and hit Mr. Jorts. After things settled down, I was enjoying the races when I felt some thumping on my bleacher seat. I noticed Mr. Jorts was running behind me with an angry look on his face. He ran down the bleachers and sucker punched Mr. Wife Beater. Mr. Wife Beater was none-too-pleased and the two engaged in another healthy scrum which attracted the attention of the local law enforcement. Keep in mind all of this happened about 8 feet in front of me, close enough I was able to take in all the dialogue. As Mr. Jorts was pulled off of Mr. Wife Beater, Mr. Police Officer pulled out his tazer and suddenly a red beam of light appeared on Mr. Jorts' chest. Mr. Police Officer said, "I'll taze your butt". (That quote was edited in order to keep this blog PG.) I had never heard those words uttered and since Mr. Jorts was inebriated and angry enough to require a good taze, I became excited to witness my first tazing. Unfortunately, Mr. Jorts finally came to his senses and realized that handcuffs were a better deal than handcuffs plus tazing. All in all a great week at the Dixieland Speedway.

After about 3 hours of sleep, a trip to Indianapolis was in order. So I hopped abord a plane and went there. I got my first taste of the swine flu experience as a woman at the airport donned a protective mask. I laughed to myself. Once in Indy, I soaked up some good family time as Dad, stepmom Marj, and new stepbrother/sister drove up from Blacksburg. I also got to hang out wiht my uncle, aunt and cousins which is always a blessing. My family is crazy fun and I love spending time with them. I also had the privelege of enjoying a 6 man golf game. As for the race, the first lap was as exciting as always. It is such a rush to see the cars come around turn one and hit full throttle. My dad was smart enough to capture my adrenaline rush on video and once I have that video, it will appear here. Unfortunately, during all the excitement my favorite driver, Marco Andretti (Mario's Grandson), crashed on the first lap. Boo. It was a fun race with many spectacular but safe crashes. Helio Castroneves won the race for the 3rd time and performed his traditional "climb the fence" routine. Many in Indy are skeptical of Helio due to his recent accquital on tax evasion charges. I confess I don't know the situation and Helio is always so happy and loves the fans so I'm ok with him winning. After the race, I hung out with my cousin and her friends. I got to bed around 1230, just in time to get 3.5 hours of sleep before my plane was destined to take off at 545. Now since I only got 3.5 hours of sleep, it was a shock to have a news camera shoved in my face at the airport by a local reporter looking to interview a tired traveler on his way home. I obliged and hopefully my dirty, confused face and bumbling speech made it onto the local news. I made it home at 10 am, early enough to spend the day relaxing at the beach.

Speaking of airports, I have a beef with moving walkways. They might be a huge waste of energy. I admit that I use them on occasion, but still. If normal walking speed is too slow for you, perhaps you should open up your schedule. I know you may be thinking a bunch of race cars going in circles may be a waste of energy too. Maybe you're right. If nothing else, the Indy 500 allows me to hang out with my midwestern kinfolk.