The Big Ten

One of the highlights from last year’s road trip was visiting Bellflower, Illinois. What made it special was the Lion's Den, town cafe, and meeting people who knew our dear friends Tyke and Jane. Unfortunately this year the cafe was closed. Hopefully someone commits to reopening this town’s gathering spot. 
Bellflower is located in the heart of Big Ten country. Growing up in Iowa, we have visited Iowa, Minnesota and Wisconsin campuses. Last year we visited the campus and golfed at Michigan State University. 
Since Tyke played in the state high school basketball tournament in Champaign-Urbana, we decided to check out the University of Illinois. The campus was bustling with students, which makes driving easy. Must drive slow to maneuver through students. As an alumni friend commented, the basketball arena kinda looks like a spaceship. 
Our route took us through Lafayette, Indiana. Indeed another Big Ten school, Purdue University. As we were waiting in traffic due to emergency vehicles passing, the Boilermaker engine came by in the opposite direction loaded with people on a tour. Wish I was fast enough to get a video of the sounds that engine made. Quite fun. 
The campus was uniquely set up with what seemed like a central walkway connecting many classroom buildings. We also had a wonderful dinner at the East End Grill not far from campus. 
The following day we visited Michigan University in Ann Arbor. This campus is very spread out. Definitely one of the country’s larger schools both in land mass and student population. We drove almost five minutes away from the central campus to the sports area. The basketball arena and football stadium are close to each other. 
It is fun to see the similarities and differences in the schools physical appearances and layout. Each has their unique specialties academically, of course. And watching students is always an experience.  We didn’t plan on visiting campuses but it has been intriguing. I wonder how many Big Ten schools we can visit?