A circle from above : Indianapolis 2021
Good evening LJ readers,
how are things? Hopefully well. I : am back! from a fun getaway I had a chance to take with my friends John and Brian, to Indianapolis. I seem to remember having travelled to this state before when very young, with my parents to the famed Children's Museum there, but it was a long time ago and offhand I cannot remember a lot about it other than it was fun.
* Sunday (part 1 of 2)
After a brief stop in a random west Ohio Big Lots for some light shopping, we continued west into Indiana. Occasional summer storms doted the horizon, but we were fortunate during the trip and were always either inside or in the car when it was raining. We drove past lush, wide green fields of corn and other crops for about 3 hours. We arrived and checked in to suite 1210 (top floor!) of Candlewood Suites, just west of the city itself along the river, then headed out for dinner at a nearby Subway (for me) and Cici's (for John and Brian). Then, it was on to the Virginia B. Fairbanks Park.
* Sunday (part 2 of 2)
The VBF park is in fact part of a larger generalized area called Newfields, which also includes a cemetery and small university. Newfields itself is a museum. We arrived at the park literally just after it rained, so it was warm but not very crowded. The sun quickly dried much of the moisture.
The front of the park had large metal half circles in the earth, painted red or blue, with random basketball courts on either side. The "back" part of the park had a large lake, of which we walked to the far side and back, with a (closed) wooden pavilion / bird look-out in the woods there. The 'left' side of the park held large plastic 'rocks' in one section which were, in fact, painted to look like parts of a skeleton, heh. Another part near the lake had a large tree trunk converted into a swing set, which was clever.
In the evening we swung by a Krogers in the city proper and picked up some dinner, as our suite had a fully-functioning kitchen, even including (if needed) a can opener, dinnerware and a pasta strainer.
* Park arches
* Monday (part 1 of 2)
Today was an "explore the city" day. An original plan was for me to ask J & B to drop me off, whilst they perhaps did their own things, but indeed they actually came with me! Our first stop (, where we parked) was the Indiana World War Memorial, a tall building with outside steps leading to large, ornately-decorated oversized metal doors and which overlooked the city and grassy area below. From here it was south to the Indianapolis "farmer's market" equivalent, City Market, slightly tricky to navigate in to due to road construction. One story of vendors and an upstairs area in which to sit. I bought a chilled black tea and relaxed for a bit.
From here it was west to the Soldiers and Sailors Monument, a lovely European-style fountain and grand statue display in a circular courtyard part of downtown. Naturally, we briefly stopped @ the Starbucks here, heh. We walked further west to explore the large, ornate four-story capitol building, with its grand columns, 100+ chandeliers (4 floors x about 25 per floor), even a life-sized buffalo statue and one of the nation's first official "meditation rooms" - established in 1962.
* Monday (part 2 of 2)
We returned to the car and drove west to IUPUI's university campus, where I swung into the Eitelborg Museum briefly to use their fun Art-o-mat machine (purchasing literally 2 of the last 3 pieces of art in it), then drove onward to poke around at the Herron School of Art & Design, the university's art building. The galleries in it were closed, but numerous pieces of art were hanging on the corridor walls. Brian and John even played ping pong in the upstairs lounge area, lol.
After a brief drive around the (of course, closed) Indy 500 track area, we swung by Ikea #45 in the US - the one built literally after the one I work at! It's distinct architecture included everything being on one floor and arranged like a circle - the entrance was at "6 o'clock", with the cafeteria being at "12 o'clock" and furniture in the middle.
Heading back to Ohio, we randomly stopped at a Big Boys for a late dinner.
It was great to explore a 'new' city! For a gallery of 11 pictures, one may click here.
Okay. Have a good night!
Take care,
* Geoff
how are things? Hopefully well. I : am back! from a fun getaway I had a chance to take with my friends John and Brian, to Indianapolis. I seem to remember having travelled to this state before when very young, with my parents to the famed Children's Museum there, but it was a long time ago and offhand I cannot remember a lot about it other than it was fun.
* Sunday (part 1 of 2)
After a brief stop in a random west Ohio Big Lots for some light shopping, we continued west into Indiana. Occasional summer storms doted the horizon, but we were fortunate during the trip and were always either inside or in the car when it was raining. We drove past lush, wide green fields of corn and other crops for about 3 hours. We arrived and checked in to suite 1210 (top floor!) of Candlewood Suites, just west of the city itself along the river, then headed out for dinner at a nearby Subway (for me) and Cici's (for John and Brian). Then, it was on to the Virginia B. Fairbanks Park.
* Sunday (part 2 of 2)
The VBF park is in fact part of a larger generalized area called Newfields, which also includes a cemetery and small university. Newfields itself is a museum. We arrived at the park literally just after it rained, so it was warm but not very crowded. The sun quickly dried much of the moisture.
The front of the park had large metal half circles in the earth, painted red or blue, with random basketball courts on either side. The "back" part of the park had a large lake, of which we walked to the far side and back, with a (closed) wooden pavilion / bird look-out in the woods there. The 'left' side of the park held large plastic 'rocks' in one section which were, in fact, painted to look like parts of a skeleton, heh. Another part near the lake had a large tree trunk converted into a swing set, which was clever.
In the evening we swung by a Krogers in the city proper and picked up some dinner, as our suite had a fully-functioning kitchen, even including (if needed) a can opener, dinnerware and a pasta strainer.
* Park arches
* Monday (part 1 of 2)
Today was an "explore the city" day. An original plan was for me to ask J & B to drop me off, whilst they perhaps did their own things, but indeed they actually came with me! Our first stop (, where we parked) was the Indiana World War Memorial, a tall building with outside steps leading to large, ornately-decorated oversized metal doors and which overlooked the city and grassy area below. From here it was south to the Indianapolis "farmer's market" equivalent, City Market, slightly tricky to navigate in to due to road construction. One story of vendors and an upstairs area in which to sit. I bought a chilled black tea and relaxed for a bit.
From here it was west to the Soldiers and Sailors Monument, a lovely European-style fountain and grand statue display in a circular courtyard part of downtown. Naturally, we briefly stopped @ the Starbucks here, heh. We walked further west to explore the large, ornate four-story capitol building, with its grand columns, 100+ chandeliers (4 floors x about 25 per floor), even a life-sized buffalo statue and one of the nation's first official "meditation rooms" - established in 1962.
* Monday (part 2 of 2)
We returned to the car and drove west to IUPUI's university campus, where I swung into the Eitelborg Museum briefly to use their fun Art-o-mat machine (purchasing literally 2 of the last 3 pieces of art in it), then drove onward to poke around at the Herron School of Art & Design, the university's art building. The galleries in it were closed, but numerous pieces of art were hanging on the corridor walls. Brian and John even played ping pong in the upstairs lounge area, lol.
After a brief drive around the (of course, closed) Indy 500 track area, we swung by Ikea #45 in the US - the one built literally after the one I work at! It's distinct architecture included everything being on one floor and arranged like a circle - the entrance was at "6 o'clock", with the cafeteria being at "12 o'clock" and furniture in the middle.
Heading back to Ohio, we randomly stopped at a Big Boys for a late dinner.
It was great to explore a 'new' city! For a gallery of 11 pictures, one may click here.
Okay. Have a good night!
Take care,
* Geoff