A Maryland Terrapins Road Trip To Big Ten Country – Towards Illinois

A view of Champaign, IL (User photo)

The same Alberta Clipper that hit Baltimore on Tuesday blew threw Columbus, Ohio as we slept. Luckily since it went through at an earlier time it did little to delay my trip to Illinois. On my trip to see the Maryland Terrapins play against a couple of opponents in their new conference, the Big Ten, this was the day I had been waiting for. We would travel to the twin cities of Champaign-Urbana, Illinois.

Why am I excited? Well this is my hometown. And even though I love the area and region I now live, this place still holds a special place in my heart. Not only is it the home of the University of Illinois, but this growing city has become a destination spot in its own right.

The Champaign–Urbana metropolitan area has a population of over 230,000 with 83,424 in Champaign (my actual home town) and 41,250 in Urbana.  The two cities are interconnected and you seldom realize when you move from one municipality to the other.

The area has had many famous people in its midst, whether as a local or a student of the impressive state university. Local residents have included Roger Ebert, George Will, Ludacris, Miss America 2003 Erika Harold and Jimmy John’s founder Jimmy John Liautaud, while students by the name of Marc Andreessen, Hugh Hefner, Red Grange, Dick Butkus and Ang Lee went to school here. And did I mention that the inventions of the LED, integrated circuit, transistor, MRI, and the plasma screen owe their discoveries here at the University of Illinois? Well…..I guess I just did.

There was also some fun to have on the relatively short ride across Ohio and Indiana towards C-U. Indianapolis may have stolen the Colts, but one would be hard pressed to not be impressed by the massive Lucas Oil Stadium. Nearby Speedway, Indiana has the impressive Indianapolis Motor Speedway, as well as a necessary stop at the Mug N’ Bun Drive-In for pork tenderloin sandwiches and homemade root beer. If that is not enough, the Tamale Place sells the unique dish in a variety of flavors, both sweet and savory.

Wednesday is game day. I will explore around and reminisce about my old hometown, even though the temperatures will be a bit nippy. And at night I will cheer loudly for the Ilini AND Terps.

Oh this will be weird.