I’m not entirely sure that I ever wanted to visit Indianapolis. Even when I lived in the Midwest, I feel like I thought of anywhere in Indiana—other than the Dunes on Lake Michigan—as nowhere. So it was with zero expectations for anything other than flat open spaces and plenty of boredom that I landed at Indianapolis International Airport on a pit stop (no Indy pun intended) en route to Kona, Hawaii.
The airport itself was a surprise. Light & airy and well-appointed with classic race cars on display, the clean wide open spaces of the main terminal were a welcome after feeling a bit cramped in the smallish regional jet used by American Airlines for travel here from Washington, DC. My baggage beat me to carousel—another benefit of visiting a city big enough to attract plenty of special events & visitors from around the world but without serving as a major national hub. I’m suddenly feeling a bit more confident about what needs to be an “on time” departure for my early flight out on Monday—the first of what will be a two-leg flight with a narrow layover in LA to make it to Kona on time. This airport feels well run. I breezed out the door before I had the chance to realize that I really needed coffee. No matter, I hopped in my Uber and started the 20-minute, traffic-free journey to downtown Indianapolis. $24 later, I checked into my modest room at the Courtyard Marriott, conveniently located within walking distance to my home for the next few days—the IUPUI Natatorium.
What struck me the most about the city is the quiet. I’m thinking that its due to the fact that all the faculty and students have left town now that IU and PU (Indiana University and Purdue) have finished classes for the year. But my Uber driver assures me that this isnt particularly quiet. Plus, he added, all the crowds surge in and out of the city for a full calendar of activities starting with the Grand Prix this weekend (the US Masters Swim Spring Nationals didn’t quite make his list of significant events apparently). There is only one other city whose sense of quiet has been so obvious and that was Montreal. Montreal’s lack of noise was a bit more notable due to the volume of people on the streets. Everything here is scarce—people, cars, trucks and—due to a lack of public transportation—smelly, loud buses. The streets are oddly wide for the number of vehicles and most alternate between one-ways making life as a pedestrian pretty easy. I walked everywhere and can’t imagine needing a car. Unless the Indy500 is part of your journey but I imagine then there would be plenty of shuttles available. Buildings are noticeably shorter than in most larger cities and parking lots larger & flat situated on land that would be considered to precious and valuable in DC, NYC or San Francisco. And yeah, its flat. But I feel like I can breathe. It’s the Heartland after all where you can stand in a field and shoot a 360 pano shot and never lose sight of the horizon. But as the sun fell and I set out by foot to dinner, a vaguely familiar sensation from distant summers fell over me. This soft, soothing warmth of a breeze without a hint of humidity blew past and over me. THIS was summer evenings in the Midwest. After baking in the heat of the sun during the day, the reward was always an evening spent in the relative cool of the outdoors at night. I remember taking walks to intentionally far ice cream spots for a cone and long evenings talking on the porch of my friends house past midnight. The air felt too good to go to bed. THIS was that air! Man. I used to love summer. But now on the east coast, I pray for a spring that lasts more than a few days before the heavy, lingering humidity sets in. And as much as I create inviting outdoor spaces for the long summer evenings, the truth is its usually to sticky and muggy to outside for very long.
A pleasant walk up New York Avenue toward the historic Massachusetts Avenue where a handful of trendy restaurants are built around the nation’s oldest shoe store reveals more surprises. Huge monument buildings. Disproportionately large but really pretty with a shape reminiscent to a tall square Masonic temple (my definition, not to be meant as an actual architectural reference). This memorial in University Park with the big bronze door yelling a reminder of “Truth” to me would serve as my own yoga spot perched high above the city during my three mornings in Indianapolis. In the shadow of the Salesforce building, I’m reminded that even the heartland can be an important tech and creative center. On the west end of the park, Meridian Street marks the end of the park and runs north to south, right it another impressive monument to Soldiers & Sailors of multiple conflicts. This one looks more like I’d see in France, characterized by a tall spire with a bronze figure perched atop. The dozens of tall stairs leading up to it are filled with people—here they all are! It’s meant to host a fountain but the surrounding pools are currently only partially filled. Into this monument, three other streets terminate, making it a focal point. Touristy horse-drawn carriages clip clop around the square, lit up like Disney’s parade Cinderella entry. Flash bulbs are popping everywhere as graduates from IU snap celebratory pictures alongside prom goers from some suburban high school. I climb up the stairs and take a glance down Maryland Street toward the State Government Supreme Court Building with the glow of the sun still lighting up the sky and I was reminded of St. Paul’s Cathedral in London. What is this place? It’s a mish mash of design influences but for some reason it all works. Around the corner there’s an circa 1900 theatre with a ballroom on the sixth floor that brags about its ceiling murals and is hosting tonight’s prom. The quiet disappears as a seemingly endless parade of glug-glugging, two-person motorcycles saunter up Meridian from the other direction. You know the kind…the ones so big you think even you could ride them. They’re very nearly cars for heavens sake. A block or two over is St. Elmo’s Steakhouse (surrounded by another and then another steakhouse…remember, this is the Heartland) which has just the right blend of clubby steak-house feel and refreshing humility so its doesn’t feel like it takes itself too seriously. I head back toward New York Avenue and turn west toward my hotel. Within steps, its immediately serene once more. It’s the oddest thing. Had I not wondered, there would have been nothing but those impressive monuments that would have made me walk off my path. And I’m glad I did.
So while the quirky shops and boutiques that can be fun to discover seem to be hiding somewhere (perhaps in the Fountain Square District I never made it to), I’m not much for shopping anyway so its not much missed. I’d return here to Indianapolis for nothing more than greedy dose of these breezy, warm summer nights on its quiet streets when a stroll and a chat on the porch with a glass of wine are actually inviting prospects.
FULL NOTES to come:
Great Coffee and Breakfast
The Garden Table
Decent Pizza & affordable Wine by the Glass
Napolese Pizzeria
Fun Vibe Wine Bar
Louie’s Wine Dive
Coffee to Go
Mo Joe
Wines Tasted
Andrea Felici Verdiccchio dei Castelli di JesiProtea Rosé
Brancott Sauvignon Blanc
Pieropan Soave Classico
Francois Montand Brut
Wine and Roam 