Truly paradise that I live in.

Last year I moved to Florida on April 1st. This was rather disheartening because I love watching Indy Races and I had just missed the Grand Prix of Saint Petersburg by one week. Even worse, I didn’t get a chance to go to either the Kentucky Speedway or the Indianapolis Motor Speedway like I had in previous years. So when Leslie told me she bought us tickets to the races for my birthday I became super ecstatic.

The Grand Prix actually sets up shop along the coast of the bay through the streets of Saint Petersburg. To describe this as exciting is an understatement. Even more so, the track runs next to building of my employment and even through our parking lot. While this does become a burden, due to the fact that we had to park three blocks away and make a trek every morning, it was definitely worth every second. The best part is the fact that the track actually runs through my parking spot. (Each day when I am one of the last to the leave the lot I like to pretend I am an Indy Car Driver…maybe one day).

The week before the race actually kicks off is insane. Downtown becomes a mess and the cars are running their practice laps and qualifiers. Yachts from all over come to park along the shore for a fun filled weekend and for me that really adds to the beauty of it all. Friday before the races I wasn’t able to get any work done. The cars were roaring right outside my window and I was as excited as ever.

Leslie forgot her earplugs

Come Saturday we realized that this race track wasn’t like most racetracks. Since the Grand Prix was a road course views were limited. Even worse, we found out that our seats were General Admission only and that didn’t provide any actual seating. This didn’t stop us from having a good time though as we were able to find a nice grassy spot to post up at thanks to the recommendation of one of my former roommates.

My Sophomore year of college I had a roommate, Ben, hellbent on making a name for himself in the racing world. Like me he was an engineer but his focus was on mechanical engineering. The gods truly blessed him as he has now succeeded at getting his foot in the door and is an engineer for one of the drivers in the Indy Racing League. My current roommate and I actually went out to eat dinner with Ben a few nights before the race and by chance randomly sat at the table next to his driver, Ed Carpenter, which was pretty freaking cool.

Since my office is literally right next to the track, my company has a Race Day party every year in the conference room. The conference room is super awesome because it basically looks down on the entire track. As such, I took the opportunity to make my non-work related appearance at one point during the day.

Once we got home and I realized my neck was flamingo pink I could officially say the day was an overall success. I am superglad I had a girlfriend amazing enough the bear through the masculine day of motorsports with me.