Indianapolis Favorites

Favorite thing: Summer is the season for concerts in Indianapolis with 2 large outdoor concert venues, Verizon Wireless Music Center and the WhiteLies.tv Lawn at White River State Park, plus year round concerts at places like Conseco Fieldhouse and the Murat Theater. Verizon is located at the extreme edge of the suburbs in Noblesville, some 20 miles from downtown. The area surrounding the venue is building up quickly with a new mall just opening and a 16 screen theater plus IMAX. In fact, the Music Center was put up for sale last year as the land has become extremely valuable, but after no offers, the owners said "just kidding"! Not really, but they did come out and say they never intended to sell the place. Not really sure why it was for sale then.

WhiteLies.tv Lawn at White River State Park is located downtown at the White River State Park along the river and in front of the Indiana State Museum and NCAA Hall of Champions. The Lawn has featured performers such as Bob Dylan, Incubus, Bryan Adams, and many others. The 2008 season schedule is slowly being released.

For more information on these venues and a list of upcoming concerts, visit my individual pages for them in the Nightlife Section. (Coming Soon!)

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Favorite thing: Built to replace the first Union Station in the United States, meaning that the tracks and facilities were usable by all railroad companies. This immense Romanesque Revival structure helped Indianapolis become second only to Chicago as a hub of railroad traffic in the Midwestern United States.
- It was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1974.
- Closed for use as a railroad station in 1979 and subsequently redeveloped (Woollen Molzan & Partners) as a retail, dining, entertainment, and meeting facility. The facility closed again in 1997. Beginning in 2002, some of the building's space was used to house a charter school.
- The train shed to the west currently operates as a hotel and includes 13 hotel suites in restored Pullman Train Cars.

National Park Service Union Station National Register Site

Fondest memory: When I first visited Union Station it was a revitalized center of Indianapolis. New life was being drawn into down town. Since then, Circle Center Mall has open, just to the north and all of the shops and business' have moved over there. Today, the station continues as a hotel, but you no longer have the chance to walk the hallways and visit the tracks and platforms. Even in their renovated shape to house shops, you could still feel the bustle of business about you from it's hay days.

Favorite thing: Irvington is an area of antique shops, old neighborhoods, stylish old churches and Dufours Restaurant. It's a wonderful sandwich shop that my daughter liked to visit. Right on Washington Street (old US 40, Historic National Road). Here, you can do a little shopping and walk through the older neighborhoods. The area changes from block to block, so I would recommend this as a lunchtime place or early afternoon.

Irvington Historic District is the largest National Register District on the Historic National Road. This historic district was once the site of Butler University. Today the area is a historic residential district of homes built in the 1920s.

Irvington Historical Society Inc.
5350 University Ave
Indianapolis, IN 46219
(317) 353-2662

Fondest memory: Walking through these old neighborhoods with my daughter after lunch at a wonderful sandwich shop Dufour'son the corner of Washington and Audubon.

National Park Service Irvington Historic District National Register District

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Favorite thing: Fountain Square is a community just south of Downtown. It's not as well known as Broadripple and the other northside communities, but it has a unique flavor all it's own. Like a bowling alley on the 'roof'.

Fondest memory: Lunch in the old diner on the square. These old diners have all but disappeared from the country. Gone with the increase in cars and shiny new places with exotic sounding menu's and big parking lots. The diners were the staple of every business community. A local place for a quick bit. The food was good, not outstanding, and the help friendly. Each diner had it's crowd and were alot like the bar in Boston (at least on TV), where 'everybody knows your name.'

Favorite thing: Jill and I managed to "pack in" lots of touring in a short amount of time; however, we do regret not seeing the following and suggest that you try to see them:

USS Indianapolis CA35 National Monument at Walnut Avenue on the Canal Water Walk.
Note: the photo is a post card I purchased because we could not see it It is a21-ton granite memorial to commemorate the brave crew of the USS Indiana that was torpedoed by a Japanese submarine in 1945; the ship sank, killing many of its company of 1,198 instantly. 400 survived.

Indianapolis Motor Speedway The Speedway has a two-and-a-half mile oval track that encircles a large plot of land that includes a golf course and the Hall of Fame Museum (which contains many Indianapolis 500 winning cars as well as a collection of antique and classic passenger cars.) We heard that you could take a tour via bus around the track.

Fondest memory: The Indiana State Police Memorial honors Indiana State Police Heroes. This memorial was dedicted on July 2, 2002 and consists of 3 black granite tablets and an eternal flame. A "Walk of Remembrance" leads visitors to the memorial with the names of the 41 Indiana State Police personnel killed in the line of duty are inscribed on the outer tablets, while the center tablet is etched with the images of three troopers. The sound of Taps echoes on the hour from 6am-8pm

The Congressional Medal of Honor Memorial is the nation's only memorial honoring all recipients of the Medal of Honor, the United States' highest award for military valor. It was dedicated May 28, 1999, the last Memorial Day weekend of the 20th Century. It's a group of 27 curved glass walls, each between 7 and 10 feet tall. The walls represent the 15 conflicts, dating back to the Civil War. Located on the north bank of the Central Canal in White River State Park in Downtown Indianapolis, adjacent to Military Park.Note: two nights before we arrived, one of the glass partitions were SMASHED and the others were spray painted with unkind words. Needless to say, the city is furious

Favorite thing: Sorry, the convention was a one time deal, but the capitol building and grounds were lovely!

Fondest memory: My favorite memory would have to be watching the Star Wars movies with my kids and about 5,000 crazy obsessed people. What a blast!

Favorite thing: Sorry, the convention was a one time deal, but the capitol building and grounds were lovely!

Fondest memory: My favorite memory would have to be watching the Star Wars movies with my kids and about 5,000 crazy obsessed people. What a blast!

Favorite thing: You cannot miss seeing this English Gothic style church that sits on Monument Circle in the heart of downtown Indianapolis. It is the last of five churches that were on Monument Circle; the other four churches sold their very valuable real estate to builders. The builders put up modern high-rise buildings. It's mighty refreshing to see the oldest church in the city still thriving.

This church is called The Christ Church Cathedral. No, it is not Catholic; instead, it is Episcopal. An Irishman named William Tinsley designed it. The original church was established in 1837, but this present building on Cathedral Monument Circle was built between 1857-1860, depending on whom you read.

The church remained unchanged until 1900, and then a major redecorating and rebuilding happened. In 1927 and 1953 more remodeling occurred.

In 1954, Christ Church became the Pro-Cathedral of the Diocese of Indianapolis. The church was renovated in the lower level and then a major underground addition was done that remarkably extended under the lawn and the brick sidewalk of Monument Circle and Meridian Street...talk about using every inch of space! They also put on a new slate roof that was just like the patterns and designs of the original.

The church got two new organs and so more accomodations had to be made.The interior has wooden trusses and stained glass windows by Tiffany. The exterior uses three limestones, all quarried in Indiana.

Fondest memory: The Christ Church Cathedral is not a large church; rather, it denotes a warm, cozy charm. Being right in the heart of the city, it is passed by literally thousands each week. What a wonderful place to stop for reflection.

The phone number is: (317)636-4577