A trip to the Hoosier State via I-90 begins rather inauspiciously. The Chicago Skyway separates the city from northwest Indiana, and as motorists glide over the toll road, they’re greeted by monotonous blocks of homogenous houses, spindly smokestacks, and the Horseshoe Hammond Casino’s gaudy orange and pink sign, which juts out of the grey landscape like a puffed-up, preening peacock. In neighboring Gary, the highway runs past decrepit icons like the once mighty, now moldering Grand Central Station, a place that draws only ruin pornographers these days.
From West Lafayette, Route 231 delivers me directly into Bloomington. Despite having lost an hour along the way due to the shift in time zone, I arrive at the Persimmon Inn, an immaculate small lodging that happens to be a five-minute walk from the Comedy Attic, early enough to take a disco nap before the show.
The historic downtown of South Bend has seen better days. But the city center, which is quiet on this Saturday night, is ringed by a handful of modern-looking municipal buildings, including a police station, a library, and the St. Joseph County Jail, the facade of which is disarmingly pleasant. Across the street sits the Dew Drop Inn Restaurant & Lounge.
