So the Michigan Wolverines are the champions, and we are EXHAUSTED! That does not mean that we cannot get a few more shots up on the way out.
07:45 - All are up. It is still freakin' cold - 36 degrees Fahrenheit!!! Isn't this April?
09:53 - AirBnB cleaned, and we are showered, packed and leaving for breakfast.
10:05 - Reacting to Trump's tweet today about destroying a civilization today, Sinickal notes that "We might actually be the terrorists."
10:08 - We enter Lincoln Square Pancake House. As we sit down at our table we notice that Caribbean Queen by Billy Ocean is playing. Oh yeah, we picked the right place!
10:15 - After coffee, and while perusing the menu, we notice that they have Boston Creme pancakes - AS A SIDE to their egg entrees (skillets and omelets)!!! Yes please (at least for Sinickal and Pepster)!
11:00 - I think it is important to note that this place is AMAZING!!! Traditional diner with mostly traditional breakfasts, but some slight twists. To quote our waitress Michelle, "Everything here is good. Even the butter. We make it in house!"
11:03 - Leave Lincoln Square Pancake House. It has not warmed up one degree. In fact, it feels colder!
11:21 - Drop off Pepster at IND.
11:42 - After Pepster clears security and is walking to his gate, he sees a police officer walking through the concourse with a sealed and clearly labeled evidence box.
11:47 - As Pepster enters his concourse, he sees a police handler with a dog that is going ABSOLUTELY NUTS!!! Nobody is around and neither is anything. This can't be good.
12:17 - Pepster is posted up at the bar nearest his gate, several people who are not together but only started talking because the bartender admonished them for looking at their phones begin talking about Fernando Mendoza, the Heisman-winning, soon-to-be 1st overall draft pick from Indiana via California via Miami. The bartender chimes in that he was just in the airport the other say sitting at her bar. One of the guys - wearing Indiana gear - says that people look at him like Jesus around these parts. Pepster reminds them his name is Mendoza, so they probably look at him like Hay-Zues. Laughter ensues, but only after a two-second delay.
12:20 - On the drive to CVG, Sinickal remarks that "you know you are in the middle of nowhere when you see 4G on your phone." Tony replies that he knows because he is looking out the window.
12:59 - Sinickal, Kev-O and Tony arrive at the CVG rental car return center, then head to the Delta Sky Club. Unfortunately, we have arrived more than 3 hours before our flight. Agent takes pity on us and lets us through.
13:10 - Sinickal and Kev-O realize that the long weekend requires a soft landing. To the bar for bourbon!
14:02 - While finishing the final work on the tournament squares, Sinickal reminds Tony how close he was to winning the final square (he needed Michigan to miss two free throws at the end of the game). He then is told how much the square was worth and says that "if I had known how much the square was worth last night, I would have shot the guy myself."
14:00 - 14:20 - A guy sitting two stools down at the bar is asked by another two people if he could move down one seat so they can sit together. He obliges. She starts talking to him and at first he is cordial answering her questions: He is a famous criminal lawyer in DC, Maryland; he went to Morehouse; is an Alpha Phi Alpha, Incorporated (his words); he defends white-collar criminals - like drug dealers; and they know someone in common. She starts to ask him incessantly how he knows this guy Tony, she says they should call him, and then just starts to cross-examine him about everything. Finally the guy tells her that he used to bust Tony's ass, that is how he knows Tony. Not taking the hint, she then starts to talk about everything else, including that Michigan won the championship (she is an alumna), and that Morehouse hasn't won anything. He tells her he has won a lot of trials, then she tells him if she was a lawyer she would beat his ass. Finally guy next to me looks to the other guy in the couple in a way that says, "Come get your girl." Other guy, getting the hint just says, "She ain't my girl. I mean, we traveled to the game together because we both went to Michigan, but she ain't my girl. I don't control her like that." And this was only part of the conversation for that 20 minute time period. Pepster almost wishes he didn't have to leave to go board my flight.
14:41 - Pepster boards his flight behind a kid in his 20s wearing a Duke hoodie. Fifty or 60-something guy in the aisle seat on the last row of first class asks Duke kid to lean down and tells him, "You guys played hard." He said this, but sarcastically. Duke kid keeps walking. Women, who does not look like she is with UConn man but is sitting next to him says, "He thinks you're being an asshole." He retorts, "So what if I am?"
14:59 - Pepster wheels up to CLT.
15:05 - Mike and Larissa Hanpeter enter the CVG Delta Sky Club and join us. They know Sinickal and Kev-O from their golf club in Washington DC and are on their way home from Oakland. We are all on the same flight back to DCA
16:24 - Pepster wheels down in CLT.
16:30 - Tony found our Uber driver with too much cologne's girlfriend on his flight. Ladies, what is the ladies' perfume equivalent of Drakkar Noir? Seriously, we need to add it to our repertoire of disses.
16:32 - Sinickal and Kev-O board flight. Mary Washington basketball team - the team that just won the Division III national championship, is on the flight. One dude is still wearing a part of the net he cut down around his neck! THAT is a flex! They walked past us in first class to their coach seats as we all said congratulations.
16:50 - Sinickal and Kev-O wheels up to DCA.
17:55 - Tony wheels up to LGA.
18:31 - Sinickal and Kev-O land in DCA.
18:53 - Pepster wheels up to PBI. After his Indianapolis bar experience he is happy for quiet in Charlotte.
19:30 - Tony lands in LGA!
20:43 - Pepster lands at PBI, maybe his last flight before it changes to DJT.
It has been another great tournament weekend, even if the basketball wasn't. See everyone in a revamped and renewed, and apparently vibrant Detroit!!! Might even bring the passports for a sojourn into Windsor!!!
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