Showing posts with label Indianapolis. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Indianapolis. Show all posts
Wednesday, May 16, 2018
At the Zoo
Jackson and Amy were home early today because they had a school visit to a different school that Jackson might go to next year, and so we had some unexpected family time this afternoon on my day off. We headed for the zoo, where we had thought about going on Sunday. Unfortunately, it was packed for Mother's Day. Their parking lot, which is just slightly smaller than Rhode Island, was pretty much full to the brim. Today...not so much. But the animals were surprisingly active, possibly because it was warm, but maybe more likely because there weren't a gajillion kids pestering them. Jackson got face to face with one of the tigers, and I actually had time to get a couple of good shots.
Thursday, October 10, 2013
Tin Comet Coffee Opens
Tin Comet Coffee has opened for business at 2119 East 10th Street, here in Indianapolis. Their first day of business was this past Saturday, and the only reason I knew about it was because of Facebook—which does, yes, make me sad. I’ve been keeping an eye on their real website, as well as driving by the storefront, hoping to catch some information on their opening the old-fashioned way—but it was not to be. I just happened to Google them the other night at the old juke joint, and the first hit was a Facebook page I didn’t even know they had. Therein lay the information, and due to a bit of scheduling good luck, I was able to stop in on opening day, wish them well, and get a hot cuppa to go.
I feel like I’ve been wandering in the desert, vis-à-vis coffee, since Lazy Daze closed. We have lots of fine indie coffee shops in the metro area, but I was doubly lucky to have Lazy Daze because 1) it was close, and 2) it was the best. There are some newbies that I haven’t tried yet, like the pour-over thing happening at Bee Coffee Roasters in Pan Am Plaza, as well as Foundry Provisions, up near where Herron used to be; but I’ve been to most of the veteran coffee shops in the metro, including Monon Coffee Company, Funkyard, Strange Brew, Calvin Fletcher’s, Cups, South Bend Chocolate Company, Hubbard & Cravens, and Yogülatté. I also found myself inside the evil coffee shop at Washington and Audubon after Lazy Daze closed, out of sheer desperation sometimes.
None of those places holds a candle to Lazy Daze, and the evil coffee shop is the only one close enough to walk to (but of course, they burn their beans, which fucks up the way you taste coffee and makes you think that correctly roasted coffee is weak). And while some of those other places have their points of interest—proximity to the village for Monon, the giant fish tanks and Holiday Grogg roast at Strange Brew, the art on the walls and the improbable rack of $2 CDs (and gelato) at Funkyard, the yogurt and proximity to Mass Ave and the rest of downtown at Yogülatté—none of them have the warm quirkiness that Lazy Daze had, which was dirty in a good way (like Lady Gaga or Drew Barrymore) and seemed to have grown straight up out of the roots of Irvington. I imagine that I am a little bit biased because I live in Irvington and have been connected to it, in one way or another, for all of my life; but they were firing on all cylinders at Lazy Daze, and Irvington is that much more drab and empty that they are gone.
Also, their coffee was the best. Strange Brew was second in that department, but that one is way down on Smith Valley Road, damn near out to 37. There’s just no way to justify going that far out of my way for a cup of coffee. They close at noon on Sunday, too, which eliminates them from consideration if we happen to be out and about on the south side on my day off. About the only time I get down there is on my way to or from Bloomington—and even then, I have to consider whether I will want to get coffee at Runcible Spoon, which is nearly as good as Lazy Daze was (including, and perhaps especially, dirty in a good way), but which is, in point of fact, in Bloomington.
Now comes Tin Comet, in St. Clair Place on the near east side. It’s not dirty, in either a good or bad way, but rather clean and bright—which is exactly what 10th Street needs as it inches its beautification ever further east, toward the very rotten stretch between Rural Street and Sherman Drive. It’s not close enough to walk to, but it’s just down the street from Jackson’s school, and is very easy to access on my way downtown. Jackson and I popped in today on our way downtown—my fourth visit in the five days they’ve been open. I’m a little bit biased toward Tin Comet because I am acquainted with the proprietors, one of whom was the finest barista Lazy Daze ever had; but the ambience is wonderfully eclectic, in the very best sense of that word—the music you hear playing when you walk in is coming from a living, breathing turntable, spinning those black circles—and the coffee is awfully good, too. I’ve only had the espresso drinks, but will get around to trying the drip coffee at some point. (And I’m hoping that maybe they’ll tweak that espresso machine to make the shots a bit stronger, too.)
There is life on the East Side! Get out to the Comet, people!
2119 East 10th Street
420-1025
tincomet.com
I feel like I’ve been wandering in the desert, vis-à-vis coffee, since Lazy Daze closed. We have lots of fine indie coffee shops in the metro area, but I was doubly lucky to have Lazy Daze because 1) it was close, and 2) it was the best. There are some newbies that I haven’t tried yet, like the pour-over thing happening at Bee Coffee Roasters in Pan Am Plaza, as well as Foundry Provisions, up near where Herron used to be; but I’ve been to most of the veteran coffee shops in the metro, including Monon Coffee Company, Funkyard, Strange Brew, Calvin Fletcher’s, Cups, South Bend Chocolate Company, Hubbard & Cravens, and Yogülatté. I also found myself inside the evil coffee shop at Washington and Audubon after Lazy Daze closed, out of sheer desperation sometimes.
None of those places holds a candle to Lazy Daze, and the evil coffee shop is the only one close enough to walk to (but of course, they burn their beans, which fucks up the way you taste coffee and makes you think that correctly roasted coffee is weak). And while some of those other places have their points of interest—proximity to the village for Monon, the giant fish tanks and Holiday Grogg roast at Strange Brew, the art on the walls and the improbable rack of $2 CDs (and gelato) at Funkyard, the yogurt and proximity to Mass Ave and the rest of downtown at Yogülatté—none of them have the warm quirkiness that Lazy Daze had, which was dirty in a good way (like Lady Gaga or Drew Barrymore) and seemed to have grown straight up out of the roots of Irvington. I imagine that I am a little bit biased because I live in Irvington and have been connected to it, in one way or another, for all of my life; but they were firing on all cylinders at Lazy Daze, and Irvington is that much more drab and empty that they are gone.
Also, their coffee was the best. Strange Brew was second in that department, but that one is way down on Smith Valley Road, damn near out to 37. There’s just no way to justify going that far out of my way for a cup of coffee. They close at noon on Sunday, too, which eliminates them from consideration if we happen to be out and about on the south side on my day off. About the only time I get down there is on my way to or from Bloomington—and even then, I have to consider whether I will want to get coffee at Runcible Spoon, which is nearly as good as Lazy Daze was (including, and perhaps especially, dirty in a good way), but which is, in point of fact, in Bloomington.
Now comes Tin Comet, in St. Clair Place on the near east side. It’s not dirty, in either a good or bad way, but rather clean and bright—which is exactly what 10th Street needs as it inches its beautification ever further east, toward the very rotten stretch between Rural Street and Sherman Drive. It’s not close enough to walk to, but it’s just down the street from Jackson’s school, and is very easy to access on my way downtown. Jackson and I popped in today on our way downtown—my fourth visit in the five days they’ve been open. I’m a little bit biased toward Tin Comet because I am acquainted with the proprietors, one of whom was the finest barista Lazy Daze ever had; but the ambience is wonderfully eclectic, in the very best sense of that word—the music you hear playing when you walk in is coming from a living, breathing turntable, spinning those black circles—and the coffee is awfully good, too. I’ve only had the espresso drinks, but will get around to trying the drip coffee at some point. (And I’m hoping that maybe they’ll tweak that espresso machine to make the shots a bit stronger, too.)
There is life on the East Side! Get out to the Comet, people!
2119 East 10th Street
420-1025
tincomet.com
Wednesday, August 14, 2013
Lazy Daze Coffee House is Still Closed
Lazy Daze Coffee House is still closed. I didn’t necessarily expect that the baristas would open it back up again by the end of June, which was one rumor that I had heard. That would have been ideal, but it probably would have been an enormous task, in terms of both money and work, to say nothing of whatever legal hurdles they might have had to clear in order to resume operating a business that had been forcibly closed by the Internal Revenue Service only about six weeks earlier.
Then there was a post by the owner of Lazy Daze on the coffee shop’s Facebook page. (Did you know there were public Facebook pages, where you can sometimes get the wayward bit of information without actually having to join the collective?) That came one month ago to the day, oddly enough, and indicated that a planned liquidation sale had been cancelled because someone had approached the owner about buying all of the assets and re-opening Lazy Daze, though perhaps not in its original location. (What there was not was any mention of why Lazy Daze closed in the first place. I would have thought that someone who would take such obvious pride and credit for the renaissance of the Irvington business district would also have the courage to explain why such a beloved and vital part of said Irvington business district would be so suddenly taken from us; but I would have been wrong.)
(Of course, there may be all kinds of things floating around on the non-public Facebook pages, but I won’t get to know about those rumors and innuendoes. I’m not joining Facebook just to find out if the best coffee shop ever is going to re-open. And information posted on non-public Facebook pages doesn’t count as real information.)
And speaking of best coffee shop ever, there is supposedly going to be a new contestant for that title opening on 10th Street before long. Tin Comet Coffee is painted on the paper covering the windows at 2119 East 10th Street, and I’m hoping that one of these days when I drive by, the paper will be gone and an OPEN sign will be lit up. Tin Comet will be owned and operated in part by one of the baristas who used to sling the hooch at Lazy Daze; and while their product probably won’t taste exactly like the coffee at Lazy Daze (which I miss terribly), the quality of their espresso drinks will be second to none, because the former Lazy Daze barista in question was also the best of the Lazy Daze baristas.
The only problem with Tin Comet coffee is that I won’t be able to approach it on foot from the east. Actually, the truth is that I won’t be willing to approach it on foot from the east, at least not at first. It’s nearly three miles from my house, and most of that is due west along Michigan Street or 10th Street. I consider myself an intrepid walker, but hoofing it along Michigan Street or 10th Street, between Emerson Avenue and Rural Street, might be a bridge too far. Those are some of the sketchiest stretches in the whole city, and even though part of that stretch, the bit along 10th Street at the very end where, perhaps unsurprisingly, the new coffee shop is eventually going to be, is working on getting better, it isn’t all the way there yet.
Approaching from the west, however, is another matter entirely. Jackson’s school is less than half a mile from the new coffee shop, directly along 10th Street—passing Woodruff Place as you go. Beyond Jackson’s school, just a little bit further west, you connect with the Cultural Trail and curve around down Mass Ave. Just writing this post has gotten me psyched up about making this week’s Wednesday downtown walk a quest to check out the new coffee shop, even if they aren’t open. Yogülatté is open, and I can get a non-chain coffee from there and walk out to Tin Comet and see what’s what.
(I’m also curious to see how many page views I get with this post. My previous post about Lazy Daze closing generated over 100 page views, which I think is the most of any blog I have ever posted. I’m sort of hoping that if someone stumbles across this post and knows something about when or if Lazy Daze might re-open, they might be inclined to comment. And for that reason, I am, for the first time in a long time, opening up the comments to those anonymous posters who are not registered with Blogger. Just please sack up and identify yourself in the body of the comment, if you aren’t a Blogger person.)
Then there was a post by the owner of Lazy Daze on the coffee shop’s Facebook page. (Did you know there were public Facebook pages, where you can sometimes get the wayward bit of information without actually having to join the collective?) That came one month ago to the day, oddly enough, and indicated that a planned liquidation sale had been cancelled because someone had approached the owner about buying all of the assets and re-opening Lazy Daze, though perhaps not in its original location. (What there was not was any mention of why Lazy Daze closed in the first place. I would have thought that someone who would take such obvious pride and credit for the renaissance of the Irvington business district would also have the courage to explain why such a beloved and vital part of said Irvington business district would be so suddenly taken from us; but I would have been wrong.)
(Of course, there may be all kinds of things floating around on the non-public Facebook pages, but I won’t get to know about those rumors and innuendoes. I’m not joining Facebook just to find out if the best coffee shop ever is going to re-open. And information posted on non-public Facebook pages doesn’t count as real information.)
And speaking of best coffee shop ever, there is supposedly going to be a new contestant for that title opening on 10th Street before long. Tin Comet Coffee is painted on the paper covering the windows at 2119 East 10th Street, and I’m hoping that one of these days when I drive by, the paper will be gone and an OPEN sign will be lit up. Tin Comet will be owned and operated in part by one of the baristas who used to sling the hooch at Lazy Daze; and while their product probably won’t taste exactly like the coffee at Lazy Daze (which I miss terribly), the quality of their espresso drinks will be second to none, because the former Lazy Daze barista in question was also the best of the Lazy Daze baristas.
The only problem with Tin Comet coffee is that I won’t be able to approach it on foot from the east. Actually, the truth is that I won’t be willing to approach it on foot from the east, at least not at first. It’s nearly three miles from my house, and most of that is due west along Michigan Street or 10th Street. I consider myself an intrepid walker, but hoofing it along Michigan Street or 10th Street, between Emerson Avenue and Rural Street, might be a bridge too far. Those are some of the sketchiest stretches in the whole city, and even though part of that stretch, the bit along 10th Street at the very end where, perhaps unsurprisingly, the new coffee shop is eventually going to be, is working on getting better, it isn’t all the way there yet.
Approaching from the west, however, is another matter entirely. Jackson’s school is less than half a mile from the new coffee shop, directly along 10th Street—passing Woodruff Place as you go. Beyond Jackson’s school, just a little bit further west, you connect with the Cultural Trail and curve around down Mass Ave. Just writing this post has gotten me psyched up about making this week’s Wednesday downtown walk a quest to check out the new coffee shop, even if they aren’t open. Yogülatté is open, and I can get a non-chain coffee from there and walk out to Tin Comet and see what’s what.
(I’m also curious to see how many page views I get with this post. My previous post about Lazy Daze closing generated over 100 page views, which I think is the most of any blog I have ever posted. I’m sort of hoping that if someone stumbles across this post and knows something about when or if Lazy Daze might re-open, they might be inclined to comment. And for that reason, I am, for the first time in a long time, opening up the comments to those anonymous posters who are not registered with Blogger. Just please sack up and identify yourself in the body of the comment, if you aren’t a Blogger person.)
Monday, July 23, 2012
Why Aren't We Flying? Because Getting There is Half the Fun. You Know That.
This past Saturday, we attended the Middle Eastern festival at St. George Orthodox Christian Church, and as we tucked in to eat, I noticed the following on the back of the menu handout we were given at the admission gate: Watch for the Middle Eastern Festival in 2014 at our new location in Fishers. St. George Orthodox Church will NOT hold a Festival in 2013 because of our relocation. Follow our news at www.MEFestival.org.
Super. Yet another instance of something nice in Indianapolis fleeing to the exurbs. We’ve only been attending the Middle Eastern Festival for a few years now, in part because we had stopped attending the Greek Festival, at Holy Trinity Greek Orthodox Church, when that congregation decamped for newer digs in Carmel. Their church was repurposed, and I hope that something similar happens to the St. George church (though its location at 40th and Sherman is not quite as desirable as the former location of the Greek Orthodox Church, at 40th and Pennsylvania).
I don’t remember, exactly, how we came to start going to the Greek Festival every year—but it was some combination of hearing about it from my mom and a burgeoning interest, for both Amy and myself, in Greek food; and getting there, as they say, was half the fun. The church was at 40th and Pennsylvania, and if you didn’t get there early, you could pretty much count on parking several blocks away and walking. We both love to walk, so that was never an issue; and it was always nice to look at the big, expensive houses along Pennsylvania Street (the church is in the southwest corner of the Meridian-Kessler neighborhood).
The Greek Festival was always packed, and it was often difficult to maneuver in the relatively small space that was set up for the festival behind the church. You would spend most of your time standing in line for food, and then standing in line to get pastries on your way out. There was dancing and music and church tours and an Athenian marketplace, and it was all very lovely and expensive. It was one of the first festivals we attended on a regular basis, and it was a good introduction to the world of summer festivals in Indianapolis. We gave it up when they moved to Carmel. It would not have been much fun to get there, and I’m not big on the pretension of the affluent. Also, their mayor, Jim Brainard, is batshit fucking crazy. There are roundabouts everywhere up there, and they would rather you do something about your vinyl or aluminum siding, instead of just letting it sit there on your house looking, you know...urban.
We had always known about the Middle Eastern Festival, but we had never attended it. There was no particular reason for that, I don’t think—and there are just too many festivals to get to them all, especially with my work schedule. I guess if I’m being honest, the location was part of it—40th and Sherman is within shouting distance of what is known as the Meadows (which isn’t quite the same as the Griswolds taking the wrong exit trying to cross the river in St. Louis, but it might be close). After we lost the Greek Festival, we decided to finally give the Middle Eastern Festival a shot—and wished almost immediately that we had tried it out sooner. It might well have replaced the Greek Festival before those pinheads did their part to contribute to urban sprawl.
The only thing the Greek Festival had that the Middle Eastern Festival didn’t have was that long walk down Pennsylvania Street so you could look at the fancy houses. (At 40th and Sherman, there are no fancy houses.) In its place, the Middle Eastern Festival has this quaint little thing called “parking.” Everything else at the Middle Eastern Festival is better: the food is just as good, and it’s less expensive; there are practically no lines for food (or, at least, there have never been significant lines for food any of the times we have been); and the line for pastries, though there is one, isn’t nearly like standing in line for pastries at the Greek Festival. The Middle Eastern Festival also has dancing and music; and an indoor marketplace (though not an Athenian one, obviously). They also have a silent auction and a small bookstore.
But now it’s going away, too. Like I said, though, there are tons of festivals in and around the city, so it won’t be like we suddenly have nothing to do in the summer. And I’m not really disappointed that a church is moving so that its metastasizing congregation has more room to sit when they do their congregating on Sunday mornings. Most of the time I’m completely indifferent to churches and the things they do—and I’m entirely indifferent, 100% of the time, to what they’re trying to sell; but every now and then they manage to do something of interest to the greater community, and that was the niche occupied by both the Greek Festival and the Middle Eastern Festival. I’ll miss those festivals, but there are plenty of other festivals, right here in the city. There is almost no valid reason ever to enter Hamilton County; patronizing a festival that supports people who decided to skip town just because it got a little crowded certainly does not pass muster.
Super. Yet another instance of something nice in Indianapolis fleeing to the exurbs. We’ve only been attending the Middle Eastern Festival for a few years now, in part because we had stopped attending the Greek Festival, at Holy Trinity Greek Orthodox Church, when that congregation decamped for newer digs in Carmel. Their church was repurposed, and I hope that something similar happens to the St. George church (though its location at 40th and Sherman is not quite as desirable as the former location of the Greek Orthodox Church, at 40th and Pennsylvania).
I don’t remember, exactly, how we came to start going to the Greek Festival every year—but it was some combination of hearing about it from my mom and a burgeoning interest, for both Amy and myself, in Greek food; and getting there, as they say, was half the fun. The church was at 40th and Pennsylvania, and if you didn’t get there early, you could pretty much count on parking several blocks away and walking. We both love to walk, so that was never an issue; and it was always nice to look at the big, expensive houses along Pennsylvania Street (the church is in the southwest corner of the Meridian-Kessler neighborhood).
The Greek Festival was always packed, and it was often difficult to maneuver in the relatively small space that was set up for the festival behind the church. You would spend most of your time standing in line for food, and then standing in line to get pastries on your way out. There was dancing and music and church tours and an Athenian marketplace, and it was all very lovely and expensive. It was one of the first festivals we attended on a regular basis, and it was a good introduction to the world of summer festivals in Indianapolis. We gave it up when they moved to Carmel. It would not have been much fun to get there, and I’m not big on the pretension of the affluent. Also, their mayor, Jim Brainard, is batshit fucking crazy. There are roundabouts everywhere up there, and they would rather you do something about your vinyl or aluminum siding, instead of just letting it sit there on your house looking, you know...urban.
We had always known about the Middle Eastern Festival, but we had never attended it. There was no particular reason for that, I don’t think—and there are just too many festivals to get to them all, especially with my work schedule. I guess if I’m being honest, the location was part of it—40th and Sherman is within shouting distance of what is known as the Meadows (which isn’t quite the same as the Griswolds taking the wrong exit trying to cross the river in St. Louis, but it might be close). After we lost the Greek Festival, we decided to finally give the Middle Eastern Festival a shot—and wished almost immediately that we had tried it out sooner. It might well have replaced the Greek Festival before those pinheads did their part to contribute to urban sprawl.
The only thing the Greek Festival had that the Middle Eastern Festival didn’t have was that long walk down Pennsylvania Street so you could look at the fancy houses. (At 40th and Sherman, there are no fancy houses.) In its place, the Middle Eastern Festival has this quaint little thing called “parking.” Everything else at the Middle Eastern Festival is better: the food is just as good, and it’s less expensive; there are practically no lines for food (or, at least, there have never been significant lines for food any of the times we have been); and the line for pastries, though there is one, isn’t nearly like standing in line for pastries at the Greek Festival. The Middle Eastern Festival also has dancing and music; and an indoor marketplace (though not an Athenian one, obviously). They also have a silent auction and a small bookstore.
But now it’s going away, too. Like I said, though, there are tons of festivals in and around the city, so it won’t be like we suddenly have nothing to do in the summer. And I’m not really disappointed that a church is moving so that its metastasizing congregation has more room to sit when they do their congregating on Sunday mornings. Most of the time I’m completely indifferent to churches and the things they do—and I’m entirely indifferent, 100% of the time, to what they’re trying to sell; but every now and then they manage to do something of interest to the greater community, and that was the niche occupied by both the Greek Festival and the Middle Eastern Festival. I’ll miss those festivals, but there are plenty of other festivals, right here in the city. There is almost no valid reason ever to enter Hamilton County; patronizing a festival that supports people who decided to skip town just because it got a little crowded certainly does not pass muster.
Sunday, January 29, 2012
Super Bowl Village
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| Super Bowl numerals on Monument Circle |
From there, it’s a bit of a hike down to where the Super Bowl Village is set up along Georgia Street between whatever this week’s name is for where the Pacers play on the east end and the Manningdome on the west end; but we were in the mood for a good walk, so it wasn’t a trouble. There are also a number of concert stages, the giant Super Bowl numerals up on Monument Circle, and—of course—the zip line. We bypassed the NFL Experience that is set up inside the convention center, because that would have cost $70 for the three of us to get into.
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| 32 NFL teams, 32 specially-painted IndyCars |
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| Those faint black lines at the top center are the four zip lines over Capitol Avenue. The convention center is on the left. |
In addition to all of the NFL-related activities going on—which mostly involved just walking around and people-watching—there were food trucks lined up for most of the afternoon along one quarter of Monument Circle (and a tiny sliver of Market Street), which is another good reason to come downtown for Super Bowl activities. I’ve mostly just read about all of the food trucks that have started to appear in Indianapolis, and I always have to work on Fridays, which means that I have not yet had a chance to get to one of the food truck frenzies for First Friday (heh) in the parking lot of the Murat. The only food truck fare I had had before today was West Coast Tacos and the NY Slice, and I tried both of those at the Irvington Halloween Festival (though not in the same year).
Today we tried food from the Scratch truck; and lest you think noshing on food purchased from a vehicle powered by a generator is daft, here’s some of what they had on the menu today: The Scratch Burger, with a third pound of ground beef, arugula, gorgonzola, and bacon marmalade; Green Chile Mac and Cheese, with roasted poblano peppers, red bell peppers, red onions, sweet corn, and pepper jack cheese; and Texas-style chili (no beans) topped with cheese and onions. And those were just the things we tried. Check out the magic internets for the rest of the menu that they will be serving all throughout the Super Bowl period.
Amy and Jackson took turns tackling each other on some replica field turf that had been installed over part of Capitol Avenue, below the zip line; and while they were doing that, I watched people sailing down the zip line—including one guy who held onto the harness in such a way that his head was actually pointed toward the ground while he zipped. (The actual turf that they were playing on was surprisingly photogenic.) I would have liked to try the zip line, but I had no interest in waiting in a line that I had heard took up to six hours to get through.
Saturday, December 31, 2011
Accidents & Postcards #3
I had this grand plan of getting up today and getting some stuff done around the house—a little bit of cleaning, take some recycling in—and then going out to take a walk around downtown to take a look at the progress on the last few legs of the Cultural Trail, along Washington Street and down Virginia Avenue toward Fountain Square. I also wanted to take a look at Georgia Street to see how that was progressing toward the pedestrian plaza they are envisioning for the Super Bowl.
But it was raining this afternoon when I got up, and it kept raining for most of the afternoon while I puttered around the house and tried to do a little bit of writing; and then around mid-afternoon it looked like it was going to clear up…sort of…so I started to get ready to go out, and put a bunch of recycling in the car, and then headed for the recycling center, which is just down the street. I dropped all of that stuff off, got paid for the aluminum cans, and then headed down to the Super Target in Southport for a few miscellaneous items. I narrowly avoided getting off of Southport Road onto 65 north when I saw some kind of traffic jam that went as far north as I could see from where I was—and as far south, too. Every bit of 65 that I could see from the Southport Road bridge was bumper to bumper, and stopped. I wound up taking back roads up to downtown and got started on my walk around five o’clock.
I parked on Park Avenue between Michigan Street and Mass Ave, one of the few places left downtown where you can still park for free at any time, and then headed for the library to take back a CD that had been with a book that Amy took back the other day. We had listened to the CD one night and forgotten to put it back in the book, so Amy asked me to take it back for her while she and Jackson were in Florida; but the library was closed by the time I got there, so that will have to wait for another day. Then I headed for the South Bend Chocolate Company on Monument Circle for a cup of coffee, and then I got the walk started properly.
There was a Pacers game tonight, so there were people out and about in the Wholesale District, having dinner and making their way toward whatever the arena the Pacers play in is called this week, and it was nice to walk around downtown at night when there were lots of other people milling about. It’s been a long time since I’ve done that, and I had almost forgotten how vibrant our downtown can be when there are events taking place. I can only imagine what it’s going to be like at the end of January, when everyone and their mother is downtown for the Super Bowl. The new plaza on Georgia Street, however, is pretty much just a walkway right now. I guess there will be more going on during the Super Bowl, but for now it’s just another place to walk. I went from there toward Virginia Avenue to check out the progress on the Cultural Trail, but then I changed my mind once I got to the sort-of three way intersection of Washington, Pennsylvania, and Virginia. With the sun down, it was getting colder in a hurry, and it’s a long way down Virginia Avenue to Fountain Square—and then back again. Amy and I had seen part of the Virginia Avenue leg of the Cultural Trail in its nearly-completed state when we ate at Siam Square for her birthday, earlier this month. Driving home, I observed that much of that leg of the trail was complete in Fountain Square itself, and in the downtown section—but that whatever they were going to do with it where it passed over the interstate still had much work to be done.
So instead of embarking on that long walk, I went up Pennsylvania Street and headed back toward the car; and it turned out to be fortuitous that things turned out that way, because as I was walking up Pennsylvania Street, I saw one of the 46 for XLVI murals on the south wall of the Summit Realty building at 241 North Pennsylvania (across the street from the courthouse). It was dark, and my blood was pumping from the walk, and I was feeling good—and then I saw the painting, of one guy in a hat playing the piano, and another guy sitting nearby with what looked like a cup of coffee.
Though the plaque on the building describing the mural proved my first thought incorrect, the painting made me think of what it might have been like in one of those old speakeasies, in the Jazz Age. I got a very Midnight in Paris kind of vibe, like a car was going to pull up next to me and Scott Fitzgerald would lean out and invite me to come have a drink with him and Zelda. Obviously, that did not happen; but I was headed toward Mass Ave, and I knew of a few places up that way where I could keep the feeling of that vibe going.
Though the plaque on the building describing the mural proved my first thought incorrect, the painting made me think of what it might have been like in one of those old speakeasies, in the Jazz Age. I got a very Midnight in Paris kind of vibe, like a car was going to pull up next to me and Scott Fitzgerald would lean out and invite me to come have a drink with him and Zelda. Obviously, that did not happen; but I was headed toward Mass Ave, and I knew of a few places up that way where I could keep the feeling of that vibe going.
As I got further away from the Wholesale District, the sounds and footsteps of people out and about with the Pacers game on their minds became fainter, and after awhile it was just me out on the sidewalk, and I turned up Mass Ave and headed toward Agio, which has been closed for awhile now; and even though it has been closed now for some time, it looks almost as though you might be able to unlock the doors and get right to work serving dinner. You’d have to sweep out the leaves that have blown into the outdoor seating section, but all of tables inside are set with plates and folded napkins and silverware, as though the staff had prepped the place for the next day’s service before leaving one night, and then simply failed to come in the next day. It’s vaguely creepy, and reminds me of the way Stephen King describes one of the towns in ‘Salem’s Lot other than the eponymous one—a town that I think was called Momson, where it looked as though the people had just up and left one day, with dinner still on the table.
Then I ducked into the alley behind the Chatham Tap restaurant, an alley that is actually a tiny part of the Cultural Trail. It’s designed for people to walk on, but I would not have been surprised at all if there had been a car back there…the one with Scott and Zelda in it. Alas—again—it was not the case; but I was awfully glad that I had gone ahead and taken the walk that I had almost decided not to. It wasn’t the best day for a walk, but it was still pretty good for the penultimate day in December. Had it been as cold this December as it was last December, the storm that passed through today would have left several inches of snow on the ground, and I would certainly not have been out for a walk in that at night.
You can click here to check out information on those Super Bowl murals at the website of the Arts Council of Indianapolis. They have been painted by both local and national artists, and though they have gone up all around downtown only because of the fact that we are hosting the Super Bowl, they will remain as beautiful and amazing public art in our city for years after the Super Bowl craziness has passed. I have seen only a few of them, and I don’t intend to make a checklist and spend a day tracking down all of them. If I did that, I would miss the beautiful accidents like the one that led me to the “Pennway” mural this evening; and that’s one of the things I like most about walking around, both downtown and here in Irvington. I never know where or when I am going to be inspired by what I see or what happens.
Monday, October 11, 2010
Spirit & Place 2010 and the Indy Winter Farmers Market
In addition to National Novel Writing Month, November is notable because it contains the Spirit & Place Festival, another one of those things we say we are going to get around to every year but never do. This year’s theme is “Food for Thought,” and one of the events takes place at Irvington United Methodist Church on November 7th. The Irvington SkillShare “Feast”ival will “explore the many ways to be more self-reliant from garden to kitchen.” More details from the festival website here and at the event’s blog.
Speaking of food, I ran into my mom and dad today at the final (sigh) Irvington Farmers Market of the season, and my mom mentioned that the Indy Winter Farmers Market will be in a new location this year. I looked that up on the magic Internets and discovered that they also have a blog, and that their new location is in the Maxwell building at 530 East Ohio Street, which is actually in the heart of downtown. They were somewhere up on East Street last year, and way the hell up at 25th and Central prior to that. A location on Ohio Street will make it much easier to hit the farmers market and take in a walk downtown all in one go, especially if Jackson is out of sorts. We only made it to the winter farmers market once last year - which was unfortunate, because they had a lot of great stuff, including a crèpe stand - so I’m hoping we’ll be able to get there a little more often this season, now that it’s more centrally located.
Sunday, July 04, 2010
Walking the New Leg of the Indianapolis Cultural Trail
The newest completed leg of the Indianapolis Cultural Trail runs from the intersection of Park Avenue, Mass Ave, and Walnut Street on the east (in the Chatham Arch section, near Yats) to the intersection of Indiana Avenue, St. Clair Street, and Paca Street on the west (just west of Ransom Place, near IUPUI). It was officially opened on June 18th with a ribbon-cutting ceremony, and a section of it - the Glick Peace Walk along Walnut Street between Meridian and Capitol - was officially opened earlier this week.
Amy, Jackson, and I walked the length of the new section this past Monday evening (June 28th), after I got home from work, and found it to be an excellent little walk. The east end of it, in the Chatham Arch section of downtown, has sort of an old world feel to it - like you might find Lady and the Tramp sharing a plate of pasta in an alley somewhere along the line. From the intersection of Park/Mass/Walnut, you follow Walnut Street west for a couple of blocks, to New Jersey Street. Then the trail drops down a block to North Street, which goes for three blocks to Pennsylvania Street at the southeast corner of the American Legion Mall.
This part isn’t “finished” like the rest of the cultural trail, but the entire section of sidewalk bounding the mall is considered part of the cultural trail - and then the finished section picks up again at Walnut Street west of Meridian. The next two blocks consist of the Glick Peace Walk, which honors various historical Americans with descriptions of their lives and sculptures depicting their faces. Then Walnut Street continues west until it conveys you across a wooden bridge over the Canal Walk and then along a curved path past the Canal Court apartments and around a little bend that puts you out on St. Clair Street.
Facing west on Walnut Street at Capitol Avenue
As I may have mentioned before, I'm not a professional photographer, and I was struggling with the sun while taking most of the pictures during this walk. The shot below was interesting because of the way that the yield sign caught and reflected the light from the camera's flash. The sign itself is not actually illuminated.
Bridge over the canal, seen from Walnut Street
View of the Canal Walk from the Cultural Trail
View of the Canal Walk from the Cultural Trail
Then you cross West Street and follow St. Clair a bit further, along the western edge of the Ransom Place neighborhood, until you come to Indiana Avenue, where the trail does a bit of a switchback southeast along Indiana Avenue and comes to what, for now, is the end of the line. According to the trail map, that western end will eventually follow Blackford Street south through part of the IUPUI campus and White River State Park, almost to Washington Street. The eastern end will eventually work its way up Mass Ave toward 10th Street, where it will hook up with Monon Trail.
Facing southeast along Indiana Avenue
Amy, Jackson, and I walked the length of the new section this past Monday evening (June 28th), after I got home from work, and found it to be an excellent little walk. The east end of it, in the Chatham Arch section of downtown, has sort of an old world feel to it - like you might find Lady and the Tramp sharing a plate of pasta in an alley somewhere along the line. From the intersection of Park/Mass/Walnut, you follow Walnut Street west for a couple of blocks, to New Jersey Street. Then the trail drops down a block to North Street, which goes for three blocks to Pennsylvania Street at the southeast corner of the American Legion Mall.
This part isn’t “finished” like the rest of the cultural trail, but the entire section of sidewalk bounding the mall is considered part of the cultural trail - and then the finished section picks up again at Walnut Street west of Meridian. The next two blocks consist of the Glick Peace Walk, which honors various historical Americans with descriptions of their lives and sculptures depicting their faces. Then Walnut Street continues west until it conveys you across a wooden bridge over the Canal Walk and then along a curved path past the Canal Court apartments and around a little bend that puts you out on St. Clair Street.
Facing west on Walnut Street at Capitol Avenue
As I may have mentioned before, I'm not a professional photographer, and I was struggling with the sun while taking most of the pictures during this walk. The shot below was interesting because of the way that the yield sign caught and reflected the light from the camera's flash. The sign itself is not actually illuminated.
Bridge over the canal, seen from Walnut Street
View of the Canal Walk from the Cultural Trail
View of the Canal Walk from the Cultural Trail
Then you cross West Street and follow St. Clair a bit further, along the western edge of the Ransom Place neighborhood, until you come to Indiana Avenue, where the trail does a bit of a switchback southeast along Indiana Avenue and comes to what, for now, is the end of the line. According to the trail map, that western end will eventually follow Blackford Street south through part of the IUPUI campus and White River State Park, almost to Washington Street. The eastern end will eventually work its way up Mass Ave toward 10th Street, where it will hook up with Monon Trail.
Facing southeast along Indiana Avenue
Sunday, May 09, 2010
Walking the Pennsy Trail
No pictures this time, but today we walked the entire length of the Pennsy Trail, which could one day be to the east side what the Monon Trail is to the north side - although it’s probably more likely that the Pennsy Trail will be more along the lines of the Pleasant Run Trail, with both being thought of as red-headed stepchildren of the Monon. We haven’t done the Pleasant Run Trail in a long time, but the Pennsy Trail is constructed in exactly the same way as the Monon - former rail lines that have been paved over, with the sides landscaped and a red stripe down the middle.
The current leg of the Pennsy Trail runs for a little more than a mile, from Arlington Avenue on the west to Shortridge Road on the east. It took us a little over an hour to do the round trip, with a few stops here and there to ply Jackson with snacks. When it’s completed, it will extend well into Hancock County, passing through much of my old stomping grounds on the far east side. Those stomping grounds are now, sadly, a bit distressed - but a well-populated pedestrian and bicycle trail could be a good first step in turning that around. More information on the Pennsy Trail at Indy Greenways and Indiana Trails.
The current leg of the Pennsy Trail runs for a little more than a mile, from Arlington Avenue on the west to Shortridge Road on the east. It took us a little over an hour to do the round trip, with a few stops here and there to ply Jackson with snacks. When it’s completed, it will extend well into Hancock County, passing through much of my old stomping grounds on the far east side. Those stomping grounds are now, sadly, a bit distressed - but a well-populated pedestrian and bicycle trail could be a good first step in turning that around. More information on the Pennsy Trail at Indy Greenways and Indiana Trails.
Wednesday, April 28, 2010
Walking the Monon Trail
I’ve never been real big on the Monon Trail, mostly because I used to think that it was boring compared to walking around downtown or here in Irvington; and it is boring compared to downtown and Irvington, but it’s not altogether boring, especially if you’re walking with a stroller. I don’t know how many times we have walked the Monon Trail since Jackson was born, but it can’t have been many. Either that, or we’ve taken so many more walks around Irvington with the stroller, since the last time we were on the Monon, that I have managed to forget the advantages of a long, flat, paved stretch of abandoned railroad track.
Irvington has much to recommend it, but its sidewalks are not among those recommendations. There are a lot of trees in Irvington that have been growing for well over one hundred years, and the roots of those trees have shifted many a sidewalk skyward - so that the sidewalks in places vaguely resemble the streets of San Francisco. Yes, there are old houses and winding streets, those beautiful trees and quiet parks, and cute little shops, the library, and (arguably) the best pizza and coffee in town - but very little of that is conducive to taking a walk while pushing a stroller. And those little cup-holders they put at the back of the stroller, for mom and dad? Yeah, those were not designed for off-roading, which is an apt description of running the gauntlet of sidewalks in Irvington.
The Monon may be boring, but you can set your coffee cup down with confidence, and it’s also possible that the smooth, even pavement may well lull your little one off to sleep. Jackson has some kind of pathological aversion to sleeping anywhere but in his crib, but he dozed off for some time while we were walking the Monon a couple of Sundays ago. And the parts of the trail that I thought were going to be sketchy turned out not to be sketchy at all - at least as far as we got. In fact, you could almost think you had become lost in a state park on some of the bits of the trail just south of 38th Street - except for the fact that the trail is paved. And you might still be able to hear the cars whizzing by on 38th Street. I’m just sayin’. It’s that nice. See?
Bridge over Fall Creek, just below 38th Street
"I can see the water!"
It’s also possible that your wee little one might want to get out of the stroller and frolic all about. The Monon Trail can accommodate this in ways that the sidewalks of downtown and Irvington simply (and safely!) cannot. Following are some shots of Jackson in full frolic.
Jackson runs the Monon near the State Fairgrounds
We picked up the trail in Broad Ripple, with no particular destination in mind, and took it south to just below 38th Street, which was a bit farther south on it than we had been before. One of these days we’re going to take it all the way to downtown, but that’s an awfully long round trip when you start in Broad Ripple. Probably would take some advance planning or something. That leg of the Monon comes to an end near the intersection of 10th Street and Mass Ave, which is also where one leg of the Indianapolis Cultural Trail is going to come to an end. It doesn’t look to me like those two places connect naturally, which means they’ll have to build some kind of connection between them - maybe a bridge of some sort? I don’t know.
There’s also something called the Fall Creek Greenway, which was new to me (but which we did not explore - this time). The Indy Parks Greenways Trail User’s Guide (PDF) describes it as a trail that could wind up being a little over nine miles long, connecting downtown to Geist Reservoir. According to the map in the guide, the part that has already been built runs northeast - from where it intersects the Monon just below 38th Street - along Fall Creek to the Skiles Test Nature Park. Bits of the trail that have not been built yet would run it through Fort Ben up toward Geist, and then southwest of the Monon toward downtown, also along Fall Creek.
Fall Creek Greenway
There have been some stories of crime along parts of the Monon Trail between 38th Street and downtown, but I haven’t seen a single stretch of it yet that has given me pause. It’s certainly possible that I’ll see stretches of it that are sketchy, especially as we explore more of the trail between 38th Street and downtown; but if people frequent the trails and keep them heavily populated, crime should remain a minor concern - and you might just be surprised by how much nature still remains in the city.
Irvington has much to recommend it, but its sidewalks are not among those recommendations. There are a lot of trees in Irvington that have been growing for well over one hundred years, and the roots of those trees have shifted many a sidewalk skyward - so that the sidewalks in places vaguely resemble the streets of San Francisco. Yes, there are old houses and winding streets, those beautiful trees and quiet parks, and cute little shops, the library, and (arguably) the best pizza and coffee in town - but very little of that is conducive to taking a walk while pushing a stroller. And those little cup-holders they put at the back of the stroller, for mom and dad? Yeah, those were not designed for off-roading, which is an apt description of running the gauntlet of sidewalks in Irvington.
The Monon may be boring, but you can set your coffee cup down with confidence, and it’s also possible that the smooth, even pavement may well lull your little one off to sleep. Jackson has some kind of pathological aversion to sleeping anywhere but in his crib, but he dozed off for some time while we were walking the Monon a couple of Sundays ago. And the parts of the trail that I thought were going to be sketchy turned out not to be sketchy at all - at least as far as we got. In fact, you could almost think you had become lost in a state park on some of the bits of the trail just south of 38th Street - except for the fact that the trail is paved. And you might still be able to hear the cars whizzing by on 38th Street. I’m just sayin’. It’s that nice. See?
Bridge over Fall Creek, just below 38th Street
"I can see the water!"
It’s also possible that your wee little one might want to get out of the stroller and frolic all about. The Monon Trail can accommodate this in ways that the sidewalks of downtown and Irvington simply (and safely!) cannot. Following are some shots of Jackson in full frolic.
Jackson runs the Monon near the State Fairgrounds
We picked up the trail in Broad Ripple, with no particular destination in mind, and took it south to just below 38th Street, which was a bit farther south on it than we had been before. One of these days we’re going to take it all the way to downtown, but that’s an awfully long round trip when you start in Broad Ripple. Probably would take some advance planning or something. That leg of the Monon comes to an end near the intersection of 10th Street and Mass Ave, which is also where one leg of the Indianapolis Cultural Trail is going to come to an end. It doesn’t look to me like those two places connect naturally, which means they’ll have to build some kind of connection between them - maybe a bridge of some sort? I don’t know.
There’s also something called the Fall Creek Greenway, which was new to me (but which we did not explore - this time). The Indy Parks Greenways Trail User’s Guide (PDF) describes it as a trail that could wind up being a little over nine miles long, connecting downtown to Geist Reservoir. According to the map in the guide, the part that has already been built runs northeast - from where it intersects the Monon just below 38th Street - along Fall Creek to the Skiles Test Nature Park. Bits of the trail that have not been built yet would run it through Fort Ben up toward Geist, and then southwest of the Monon toward downtown, also along Fall Creek.
Fall Creek Greenway
There have been some stories of crime along parts of the Monon Trail between 38th Street and downtown, but I haven’t seen a single stretch of it yet that has given me pause. It’s certainly possible that I’ll see stretches of it that are sketchy, especially as we explore more of the trail between 38th Street and downtown; but if people frequent the trails and keep them heavily populated, crime should remain a minor concern - and you might just be surprised by how much nature still remains in the city.
Friday, February 19, 2010
Indianapolis Cultural Trail Gets Stimulus Funding
Just when it was starting to look like Congress was never going to get anything done again ever, Representative André Carson (D - IN) submits a request for - and receives - just over $20 million in stimulus funds to fill the gap between funds raised and funds needed to complete the Indianapolis Cultural Trail in downtown Indianapolis. Reports on the grant can be found here and here.
And while this is excellent news for the city of Indianapolis, it would appear that most of the city’s dim-bulb residents disagree. A poll on the Indianapolis Star’s website shows (currently) that 55% of respondents think that it’s a bad idea to use tax dollars on the Cultural Trail. (I can’t help but wonder how many of those 55% even know what the Cultural Trail is and how many of them have ever used the parts of it that have already been built.) 1400 applications were submitted for the $1.5 billion in stimulus funds for the Secretary of Transportation to allocate, and of those 1400 applications, 50 were selected to receive funds; and there were criteria, too - the funds couldn’t just go to any old project. The Cultural Trail’s website has a much more in-depth discussion, of the grant and the criteria used to determine which projects would be funded, than does the Star’s web site; and probably most of the 55% opposed don’t know anything about the criteria, either.
But all you have to do - if you’re the conservative Indianapolis Star, that is - is ask a loaded question like “Is it a good use of tax dollars to spend $20.5 million in federal stimulus funds on the Indianapolis Cultural Trail?” That’s sure to get people fired up, even if they have no idea what they’re responding to. If ignorance is bliss, then Indiana is without a doubt the happiest state in this fading republic. (Sigh…I didn’t even mean to get off on that rant. I almost wish I hadn’t seen that little poll next to the Star’s article about the grant.)
Click on the picture to get a larger image that shows how much of the downtown will be covered by the Cultural Trail once it's completed.
The Cultural Trail, once completed, will connect all four corners of downtown Indianapolis, including Monument Circle and parts of the Canal Walk; and it will also connect to the Monon Trail at 10th Street and Mass Ave - from which point you could theoretically walk all the way to Carmel, though why you would want to visit Hamilton County is beyond me - and also extend down Virginia Avenue to Fountain Square. That’s essentially eight miles of rebuilt sidewalks that effectively become deluxe double sidewalks with one side for pedestrians and the other side for bikers/skaters/etcetera, along with lights and landscaping and benches. There’s almost no limit to the potential upside; it’s a project that makes an already inviting downtown even more inviting and will absolutely help to make the city an easier sell for tourists, businesses, and conventioneers.
Every single person who lives in Indianapolis - and even many of those who live near Indianapolis if not quite within it - benefits from a project like this. Downtown is not out of the way for any of those people, and it’s perfectly accessible. (Anyone who says there’s no place to park downtown is lazy. It’s not even all that hard to find parking on Colts game days.) And even if the rest of it doesn’t do anything for you - everyone loves the Canal Walk, right?
(Now having said all that, I don’t necessarily think that the early-2012 timeline for finishing the project is realistic, considering how little is currently complete since work began something like two years ago. Right now, the only complete stretch is Alabama Street from North Street down to Washington Street - and I defy anyone to walk along that stretch of sidewalk and tell me it’s anything but awesome. The projection of something like 11,000 jobs that might one day be created as a direct or indirect result of this project might be just a tad lofty - but to say that the stimulus has not had a positive on Indianapolis is false. Just ask the construction workers who are going to have work for - at least - the next two years building the rest of this thing.)
And while this is excellent news for the city of Indianapolis, it would appear that most of the city’s dim-bulb residents disagree. A poll on the Indianapolis Star’s website shows (currently) that 55% of respondents think that it’s a bad idea to use tax dollars on the Cultural Trail. (I can’t help but wonder how many of those 55% even know what the Cultural Trail is and how many of them have ever used the parts of it that have already been built.) 1400 applications were submitted for the $1.5 billion in stimulus funds for the Secretary of Transportation to allocate, and of those 1400 applications, 50 were selected to receive funds; and there were criteria, too - the funds couldn’t just go to any old project. The Cultural Trail’s website has a much more in-depth discussion, of the grant and the criteria used to determine which projects would be funded, than does the Star’s web site; and probably most of the 55% opposed don’t know anything about the criteria, either.
But all you have to do - if you’re the conservative Indianapolis Star, that is - is ask a loaded question like “Is it a good use of tax dollars to spend $20.5 million in federal stimulus funds on the Indianapolis Cultural Trail?” That’s sure to get people fired up, even if they have no idea what they’re responding to. If ignorance is bliss, then Indiana is without a doubt the happiest state in this fading republic. (Sigh…I didn’t even mean to get off on that rant. I almost wish I hadn’t seen that little poll next to the Star’s article about the grant.)
Click on the picture to get a larger image that shows how much of the downtown will be covered by the Cultural Trail once it's completed.
The Cultural Trail, once completed, will connect all four corners of downtown Indianapolis, including Monument Circle and parts of the Canal Walk; and it will also connect to the Monon Trail at 10th Street and Mass Ave - from which point you could theoretically walk all the way to Carmel, though why you would want to visit Hamilton County is beyond me - and also extend down Virginia Avenue to Fountain Square. That’s essentially eight miles of rebuilt sidewalks that effectively become deluxe double sidewalks with one side for pedestrians and the other side for bikers/skaters/etcetera, along with lights and landscaping and benches. There’s almost no limit to the potential upside; it’s a project that makes an already inviting downtown even more inviting and will absolutely help to make the city an easier sell for tourists, businesses, and conventioneers.
Every single person who lives in Indianapolis - and even many of those who live near Indianapolis if not quite within it - benefits from a project like this. Downtown is not out of the way for any of those people, and it’s perfectly accessible. (Anyone who says there’s no place to park downtown is lazy. It’s not even all that hard to find parking on Colts game days.) And even if the rest of it doesn’t do anything for you - everyone loves the Canal Walk, right?
(Now having said all that, I don’t necessarily think that the early-2012 timeline for finishing the project is realistic, considering how little is currently complete since work began something like two years ago. Right now, the only complete stretch is Alabama Street from North Street down to Washington Street - and I defy anyone to walk along that stretch of sidewalk and tell me it’s anything but awesome. The projection of something like 11,000 jobs that might one day be created as a direct or indirect result of this project might be just a tad lofty - but to say that the stimulus has not had a positive on Indianapolis is false. Just ask the construction workers who are going to have work for - at least - the next two years building the rest of this thing.)
Sunday, May 03, 2009
George Rickey: An Evolution
The latest in the city’s ongoing series of public art projects opens officially on Tuesday. George Rickey: An Evolution features ten large pieces sculpted out of stainless steel, installed at various locations arouns the heart of downtown. I don’t recall the extent of the first public art exhibit, the sculptures by Tom Otterness, but of the most recent three, this George Rickey exhibit is easily the most compact, with seven of the ten sculptures in an area bordered by Ohio, Delaware, Washington and Meridian Streets. #8 is just west of Meridian Street on Washington, and the other two are on Maryland, just west of Capitol.
Installation has been ongoing over the last week or so, and I just noticed yesterday that signs had been put up near some of the pieces that have already been installed. A brochure with a map is available at the Artsgarden (and probably elsewhere, but I don’t know for sure - the Central Library?), and further information can be culled from the exhibit’s web site, part of the larger Public Art Indianapolis web site.
Installation has been ongoing over the last week or so, and I just noticed yesterday that signs had been put up near some of the pieces that have already been installed. A brochure with a map is available at the Artsgarden (and probably elsewhere, but I don’t know for sure - the Central Library?), and further information can be culled from the exhibit’s web site, part of the larger Public Art Indianapolis web site.
Wednesday, December 03, 2008
What's The Score? Nothing-Nothing. Who's Winning? (Pause, Then Sarcastically) The Bears.
2008, obviously, has been a year of Darwin-awful news out of the non-contiguous state of Alaska - but we have a change to report! There is finally a news item (sort of) out of Alaska about which it is acceptable to feel something other than incredible embarrassment.
For awhile now, the Indianapolis Zoo has been almost entirely bear-less, within the last two years having lost one of its polar bears and both of its Kodiak brown bears to that great hibernation station in the sky (or whatever post-death self-created mythology bears believe in so that they can feel better about having been born in the first place).
Today, however, the zoo once again has lions and tigers and bears - you betcha! They got two of those adorable brown bear cubs down there from the big energy state of Alaska, and that’s the kind of change that plain old average regular standard ordinary run-of-the-mill nondescript inconsequential patriotic Americanonians are hungry for out there in all of those great Americanized states that are just so wonderful and united and of course we just really owe all of that great uniting and Americaning to that great President Lincoln who just did such a great job of really unionizing all of these great states together into this amazing America that we have here today, and you know, that’s just really what it’s all aboat here in this great nation of ours in these Americas.
No, seriously, the zoo now has on exhibit two orphaned brown bear cubs from Alaska. They were orphaned when their mother was euthanized after attacking a jogger out there in all of those great wilds in the great state of...anyway, FedEx brought the little cubs down out of the wild, and now our zoo has bears again. Still no gorillas, but hey! Cincinnati’s not all that far, I guess. (Press release here - in PDF.)
For awhile now, the Indianapolis Zoo has been almost entirely bear-less, within the last two years having lost one of its polar bears and both of its Kodiak brown bears to that great hibernation station in the sky (or whatever post-death self-created mythology bears believe in so that they can feel better about having been born in the first place).
Today, however, the zoo once again has lions and tigers and bears - you betcha! They got two of those adorable brown bear cubs down there from the big energy state of Alaska, and that’s the kind of change that plain old average regular standard ordinary run-of-the-mill nondescript inconsequential patriotic Americanonians are hungry for out there in all of those great Americanized states that are just so wonderful and united and of course we just really owe all of that great uniting and Americaning to that great President Lincoln who just did such a great job of really unionizing all of these great states together into this amazing America that we have here today, and you know, that’s just really what it’s all aboat here in this great nation of ours in these Americas.
No, seriously, the zoo now has on exhibit two orphaned brown bear cubs from Alaska. They were orphaned when their mother was euthanized after attacking a jogger out there in all of those great wilds in the great state of...anyway, FedEx brought the little cubs down out of the wild, and now our zoo has bears again. Still no gorillas, but hey! Cincinnati’s not all that far, I guess. (Press release here - in PDF.)
Wednesday, October 22, 2008
Goings On About Town (#2)
• The Irvington Halloween Festival is this Saturday, from nine in the morning until five in the evening, on Washington Street between Audubon and Ritter in the heart of “downtown” Irvington. Music, food, a pumpkin pie eating contest, a reptile show - even a parade - all crammed into a handful of city blocks. Be sure to stop in at Lazy Daze for a cup of coffee or tea, as it’s going to be a chilly fall morning. Click here for the festival’s blog site.
• Barack Obama will hold a rally at the American Legion Mall on Thursday (10.23). Gates open at nine in the morning, with the rallying to begin at eleven. Tickets are not required, though they would like for folks to RSVP online. I haven’t had a chance to go to one of these deals yet, but I’m on vacation this week and Amy’s on fall break starting tomorrow afternoon - so we may get to take little Jackson to his first political rally.
• Waterman’s Farm Market puts on a Fall Harvest Festival from September 27th through Halloween. Amy wanted to take a hayride at some point during her fall break, and I think this is the one we’re going to try to do. For the bargain basement price of five bucks (on weekends) you get to tour the farm on a hayride, which then drops you off in the pumpkin patch. The website also mentions a “straw hill” that little kids can climb. Setting the now-walking though not-exactly-steady-on-his-feet Jackson to climbing a hill made of straw sounds like comedy gold, Jerry! Gold!!
• Barack Obama will hold a rally at the American Legion Mall on Thursday (10.23). Gates open at nine in the morning, with the rallying to begin at eleven. Tickets are not required, though they would like for folks to RSVP online. I haven’t had a chance to go to one of these deals yet, but I’m on vacation this week and Amy’s on fall break starting tomorrow afternoon - so we may get to take little Jackson to his first political rally.
• Waterman’s Farm Market puts on a Fall Harvest Festival from September 27th through Halloween. Amy wanted to take a hayride at some point during her fall break, and I think this is the one we’re going to try to do. For the bargain basement price of five bucks (on weekends) you get to tour the farm on a hayride, which then drops you off in the pumpkin patch. The website also mentions a “straw hill” that little kids can climb. Setting the now-walking though not-exactly-steady-on-his-feet Jackson to climbing a hill made of straw sounds like comedy gold, Jerry! Gold!!
Tuesday, September 23, 2008
Deflating The Hoosier Dome
This Wednesday, at 10:30 in the morning, former Indianapolis mayor Bill Hudnut will throw a switch that will begin the deflation of the fabric top of the Hoosier Dome. It will take 30-45 minutes to deflate completely, and should be visible from just about anywhere downtown. This may be premature. Though it will be nice to have that eighties-era eyesore gone from the downtown skyline, might it not be wise to retain it as a a backup in case the Colts find themselves unable to win at Lucas Oil Stadium?
Next: Red Herring
Next: Red Herring
Wednesday, September 10, 2008
Goings On About Town
I picked up a flyer at Lazy Daze this afternoon, for the grand opening celebration of a new coffee shop-cum-lots of other things called Earth House, at 237 North East Street (southeast corner of New York and East), inside Lockerbie Central United Methodist Church. Grand opening festivites are next weekend (Friday 9.19 and Saturday 9.20), from five on Friday until whenever, and all day Saturday. Music, yoga, free coffee - all kinds of coffee-shop-inside-a-church-related things. Haven't been round to try this one yet, but plan to stop by next Saturday, since we will also be downtown that day for...
Fiesta Indianapolis, a huge, all-day Latino festival that takes place at the American Legion Mall from noon to midnight. Amy and I have been to this festival a couple of times over the years, but it's not one we hit every year (like the Greek Festival and the Indian Market), which is a little bit odd considering what Amy teaches - but it's rare for me to have Saturdays off. The food lines are always really long, but the festival runs the whole length of the mall and is a whole lot easier to get into and out of than either the Indian Market or the Greek Festival (partly because, unlike those others, there is no admission charge for Fiesta). Tons of booths and activities, and plenty of room for kids (and grown-ups, for that matter) to run around - and much more of a pure diversity experience than most of the other festivals that pop up around town this time of year.
Anybody manage to make it to Tavern At The Temple, that new fine dining restaurant inside the restored Buggs Temple at the north end of the Canal Walk? If not, the window of opportunity has closed. We didn't make it, either, though we're not really into that whole fine dining thing anyway. I heard something on the evening news about a downtown restaurant that was closing, but I missed the actual story. Checked the Star's website later and found that it was Tavern At The Temple, and that it closed tonight. The developers of the Buggs Temple, where the restaurant lived, are said to be working on getting a new restaurant into the space, but I'm not holding my breath. Buggs has been in development since 2002, but just got off the ground this year - and only two of the four original tenants made it to the opening. (A Cornerstone Coffee Shop, à la Moe & Johnny's, and a Ritter's Custard never opened in the restored temple.)
Two weeks ago Friday, I heard on the radio on the way to work that Peal, a local pop-rock band, was playing the Biergarten at the Rathskeller, from 8 to 11 that night - with free admission. I didn't have anyone to go with, and couldn't go until about ten because I was at work until then, but I swung by after my shift and drank a beer while they played a few songs. A week from this Friday, on the 19th, local blues-rock artist Jennie DeVoe plays the second set at the Biergarten, 8-11pm.
Fiesta Indianapolis, a huge, all-day Latino festival that takes place at the American Legion Mall from noon to midnight. Amy and I have been to this festival a couple of times over the years, but it's not one we hit every year (like the Greek Festival and the Indian Market), which is a little bit odd considering what Amy teaches - but it's rare for me to have Saturdays off. The food lines are always really long, but the festival runs the whole length of the mall and is a whole lot easier to get into and out of than either the Indian Market or the Greek Festival (partly because, unlike those others, there is no admission charge for Fiesta). Tons of booths and activities, and plenty of room for kids (and grown-ups, for that matter) to run around - and much more of a pure diversity experience than most of the other festivals that pop up around town this time of year.
Anybody manage to make it to Tavern At The Temple, that new fine dining restaurant inside the restored Buggs Temple at the north end of the Canal Walk? If not, the window of opportunity has closed. We didn't make it, either, though we're not really into that whole fine dining thing anyway. I heard something on the evening news about a downtown restaurant that was closing, but I missed the actual story. Checked the Star's website later and found that it was Tavern At The Temple, and that it closed tonight. The developers of the Buggs Temple, where the restaurant lived, are said to be working on getting a new restaurant into the space, but I'm not holding my breath. Buggs has been in development since 2002, but just got off the ground this year - and only two of the four original tenants made it to the opening. (A Cornerstone Coffee Shop, à la Moe & Johnny's, and a Ritter's Custard never opened in the restored temple.)
Two weeks ago Friday, I heard on the radio on the way to work that Peal, a local pop-rock band, was playing the Biergarten at the Rathskeller, from 8 to 11 that night - with free admission. I didn't have anyone to go with, and couldn't go until about ten because I was at work until then, but I swung by after my shift and drank a beer while they played a few songs. A week from this Friday, on the 19th, local blues-rock artist Jennie DeVoe plays the second set at the Biergarten, 8-11pm.
Saturday, July 19, 2008
Chakaia Booker: Mass Transit
I heard something in passing on the news a couple of weeks ago about a new public art exhibition that would soon be on display here in Indianapolis, but when I checked that news channel's (don't recall which one) website I was unable to find the story. Then earlier this week, Amy and I saw some of the pieces being placed for installation while walking from City Market to the State Museum. And, just now, I read Bill Benner's Indy Insights blog and found information on the exhibit, called Chakaia Booker: Mass Transit - as well as a link to a website all about public art here in our fair city. The exhibit - sculptures made of tires that are cut and shaped and folded onto stainless steel frames - is set to open on Tuesday (7/22) and be in place through next March. I imagine I will have pictures to post once Amy and I get around to checking it out.
Monday, June 23, 2008
16th Annual Indian Market And Festival
This weekend was the 16th annual Indian Market put on by the Eiteljorg Museum, and it was the first trip to said event for young Jackson, who was only a couple of weeks old when last year’s event took place - and we thought he was probably a bit too wee to take to an outdoor event where it is almost always hot and humid and the lines for food are typically quite long and feature plentiful sunshine. The Indian Market is also one of our favorite things to do during the summer and fall festival season here in Indianapolis and Amy and I were looking forward to getting back.
But...it was time for Jackson to take a nap when Amy brought him home from church, and I was having trouble getting awake after working for nearly twelve hours on Saturday - my usual 10-8 shift having been extended on the front end because of a Heartland Film Society screening in the morning. I finally dragged myself into the shower and got ready to go and we picked up advance tickets at Marsh on the way to pick up my mom (who introduced us to the Indian Market I don’t even remember how long ago now) and we got there just as that thunderstorm that started in the early afternoon began to let up.
It was rain cooled because of the thunderstorm, and the storm might also have chased some of the folks who had been there in the morning and early afternoon - there was virtually no line for food, which was unusual; but it was nearly three o’clock by the time we got there, and that left only two hours to eat and then check out all the artwork for sale in the four big tents set up on the grounds of Military Park. Past years have featured one big food vendor that served up fry bread, Indian tacos, buffalo burgers, corn soup, and drinks. This year there were a couple of carnival-style food vendor trailers with all of the above items (except corn soup) and some other items not Indian-related. There was also a stand selling Mexican food from a Mexican restaurant in Franklin, Indiana, though I don’t recall the name of the restaurant. Amy tried chicken tamales and a steak taco from that stand, and both were quite tasty.
After we ate, there wasn’t much time left for perusing the art in the four tents, but we got to at least three of them (and maybe all four, but we were moving so quickly that I’m not sure). I tell myself every year at the Indian Market that I will find some way to make way more money the following year so that I can buy some of this art, but it never happens. The paintings and sculptures and jewelry are really nice to look at, but they’re also really expensive. This year, though, I managed to find a ring I liked for only $25 - contrasted with several other nice rings I saw that were between $45 and $180. I meant to take a picture of it and of the pair of earrings that Amy bought, but managed not to. Once I do get that picture, though, I’ll add it to this post.
Time ran out on us while we were in that last tent where I got my ring and Amy got her earrings, so we didn’t get to check out the tent with items from the White River Trader, the gift shop inside the Eiteljorg; and we didn’t get to the museum itself, wihch you can visit for free as part of the purchase price of your ticket to the Indian Market. It was a good time, though, as always. Click here to check out the pictures.
But...it was time for Jackson to take a nap when Amy brought him home from church, and I was having trouble getting awake after working for nearly twelve hours on Saturday - my usual 10-8 shift having been extended on the front end because of a Heartland Film Society screening in the morning. I finally dragged myself into the shower and got ready to go and we picked up advance tickets at Marsh on the way to pick up my mom (who introduced us to the Indian Market I don’t even remember how long ago now) and we got there just as that thunderstorm that started in the early afternoon began to let up.
It was rain cooled because of the thunderstorm, and the storm might also have chased some of the folks who had been there in the morning and early afternoon - there was virtually no line for food, which was unusual; but it was nearly three o’clock by the time we got there, and that left only two hours to eat and then check out all the artwork for sale in the four big tents set up on the grounds of Military Park. Past years have featured one big food vendor that served up fry bread, Indian tacos, buffalo burgers, corn soup, and drinks. This year there were a couple of carnival-style food vendor trailers with all of the above items (except corn soup) and some other items not Indian-related. There was also a stand selling Mexican food from a Mexican restaurant in Franklin, Indiana, though I don’t recall the name of the restaurant. Amy tried chicken tamales and a steak taco from that stand, and both were quite tasty.
After we ate, there wasn’t much time left for perusing the art in the four tents, but we got to at least three of them (and maybe all four, but we were moving so quickly that I’m not sure). I tell myself every year at the Indian Market that I will find some way to make way more money the following year so that I can buy some of this art, but it never happens. The paintings and sculptures and jewelry are really nice to look at, but they’re also really expensive. This year, though, I managed to find a ring I liked for only $25 - contrasted with several other nice rings I saw that were between $45 and $180. I meant to take a picture of it and of the pair of earrings that Amy bought, but managed not to. Once I do get that picture, though, I’ll add it to this post.
Time ran out on us while we were in that last tent where I got my ring and Amy got her earrings, so we didn’t get to check out the tent with items from the White River Trader, the gift shop inside the Eiteljorg; and we didn’t get to the museum itself, wihch you can visit for free as part of the purchase price of your ticket to the Indian Market. It was a good time, though, as always. Click here to check out the pictures.
Wednesday, May 14, 2008
Lucas Oil Stadium - Pictures
Just a couple of shots of the front of Lucas Oil Stadium, taken from the corner of South Street and Capitol Avenue this afternoon. Amy will be finished with school in a couple of weeks, and that will hopefully mean that we can get out and about more frequently - the new cultural trail is starting to take shape, and the first portion of it looks to be almost complete. This will be a very cool addition to downtown when it's all finished - forming a pedestrian and bike path that connects Fountain Square and downtown with the leg of the Monon Trail that leads up to Broad Ripple (the really adventurous can then continue along the Monon from Broad Ripple all the way up into Fishers, although walking the Monon from 10th Street to Broad Rippele will likely be more than enough adventure for even the hardiest of souls). For now, though, have a gander at the new stadium.
Thursday, December 13, 2007
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