We stayed in Carmel, a very prosperous looking town located about 10 miles due north of downtown Indianapolis. Carmel has a very artsy, upscale Main Street with plenty of restaurants, public art, cute shops, and it is pedestrian and bicycle friendly. We didn't take a lot of photos, but I did enjoy this pint of pear cider with dinner and visited with this rather statuesque woman on the street.
She was certainly overdressed for the warm summer evening!
We had just a few hours for sight-seeing on Saturday, so decided to head to downtown Indianapolis. Our route took us south on North Meridian Street, which is a major N-S intersection of the city. We were impressed by the beautiful homes and mansions that lined the whole stretch of this road. Indianapolis certainly looks prosperous and if they had any urban blight, they have done a good job of removing it!
Our first stop was the historic City Market, but that was kind of a disappointment. It was in a pretty historic building on Market Street, but half the vendors were absent, and it was really just a food court. We had hoped for fresh produce vendors, crafters, and more activity. Russ was able to buy a scone.
Just a couple blocks west on Market Street is the literal center of town, a huge circle surrounding an enormous monument, landscaped with beautiful flower plantings, cascading water pools, secondary monuments, ornate light fixtures... a really remarkable spot! And surrounding the circle were cafes and hotels and upscale restaurants and plenty of pedestrians, as well as motor cyclists who were collecting there for an afternoon rally. They have a Chocolate Cafe, reminiscent of our Asheville Chocolate Lounge and there were also a couple of pub cycles circulating through the downtown streets, something we also see in Asheville.
So, the monument:
The structure dates back to just after the Civil War and recognizes Indiana's contributions to all the historic events prior to that. It really is a wonderful public space with lots of plaques and details to explore.
But the main attraction was that you could go to the top of the monument to get a 360 degree view of the area. Russ walked up the many stairs, but I opted for the elevator. Even using the elevator there were about three flights of narrow, curving stairs that you still needed to go up and down. Some of you may know that I am rather skittish about heights and don't particularly like "no back" stairs. We won't even mention closed in spaces.
So here are some views we enjoyed.
And then this view faces west and shows the State House. One thing that amazed us was how flat it is here. Yes, I guess we'd miss the mountains!
We had a little time for exploring further. Between the monument circle and the State House is the convention center and many of the buildings are linked together by elevated enclosed walkways. We understand that Indianapolis is really promoting itself as a convention destination. Their downtown area was spotless, there are many restaurants in the vicinity ranging from expensive steak houses to popular chain restaurants to fast food places. I think it would be an interesting place for a convention. In addition to touring the State House there are multiple other museums in the vicinity, including an art museum, the Indiana History Museum and an interactive Children's Museum.
Well, we didn't have enough time to even scratch the surface, but we enjoyed the time we spent downtown.
But our real reason for being in Indiana was the wedding... and it was lovely.
And we had a good time at the reception!
Well, I don't see anything wrong with a one-day trip to Indiana at all! We have driven straight through to get to Chicago, then come and stay near Indianapolis so we can visit Hayden and the museum there - and drive home all in the same day. So that never includes any time in the city, which I am glad you shared. Perhaps Norris and I can delay our arrival in Chicago or spend more time there on the way home next time.
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