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Every year, more than a quarter million fans descend on the Hoosier state for the world’s largest single-day sporting event, the Indy 500. At the race in May, on the Brickyard’s 2.5-mile track, 33 cars will hit speeds of up to 235 miles per hour for a total of 500 miles. “The race has been around for a century, and what made America really cool back then was the automobile,” says Indianapolis Motor Speedway president Doug Boles. “The Indy 500 celebrates automobiles and the superhuman men and women who drive them beyond limits.” It also rakes in superhuman profits for Indy—more than half a billion dollars a year.
Francesco Muzzi
__SEE | __ Gape at Hoosier mastodon skeletons at the 1. Indiana State Museum—the Ice Age beasts were all unearthed in-state. Opening in May, the 2. International Orangutan Center at the Indianapolis Zoo will feature eight orangs that can roam up to 80 feet in the air on cables and can solve puzzles with zoo-goers.
__DO | __ Drag race at over 140 mph with a trained pro at 3. Lucas Oil Speedway. Catch live blues seven days a week at the state’s oldest bar, the 4. Slippery Noodle Inn, which has operated since 1850 and once doubled as a way station on the Underground Railroad. From May through October, slink through underground tunnels in the 5. City Market Catacombs, a sprawling, musty, brick grotto that used to be a public event hall. 6. Silver in the City, “the gift store for everyone who isn’t everyone,” sells science quiz clocks, Tokyo Bay watches, and IPA soap.
__EAT | __ Old-school and no-frills, 7. Workingman’s Friend has been open since the Great Depression and serves killer $5 burgers. Try the 112-year-old 8. St. Elmo Steak House, a downtown mainstay known for its filets, cocktails, and Colts pregame parties. (Look for its Parks and Rec cameo.)
