Indianapolis, Indiana – 4/22/2017

April 22, 2017 (Saturday)

Woke up and had breakfast at the hotel, then left. The first part of the drive today was to Indianapolis, Indiana – about 180 miles. The weather was cloudy and grey but not raining so we were grateful. The roads were all highway and not nearly as bad as Michigan’s potholes and bumps.

Kind of a grey start.
Beautiful blooms along the way.
Nice fair thee well from Ohio. There was a very tiny welcome to Indiana sign that I missed.
Goodyear blimp.
We find this sculpture interesting.
Our first glimpse.

We got into Indianapolis and found parking on the street near the Capitol. We were in a hurry because the last tour started at 1:00 PM, and it was real close to 1:00 PM when we got inside. The parking, however, said it was “easy as 1-2-3.” Yea, right – NOT. We fought with it, cussed at it, and finally started the whole process over in order to get more than 15 minutes of parking. By the time we rushed through security and to the tour desk at the 2nd floor, the tour had started – but just barely thank goodness.

We found street parking a block and a half away. We cut through this parking lot and you never know where the entrance is except it is never the front doors.
Interesting grounds and art.
Minor remembrance.

The tour guide, Jim, was WONDERFUL! Loved him.

Jim telling some wonderful stories.

Excellent job and we learned so much about Indiana – like the state bird (cardinal), state tree (tulip tree), state flower (peony), state pie (sugar cream), state song (“On the Banks of the Wabash, Far Away” – and we sang it with Jim), why there are 19 stars on the Indiana flag (number of states plus them when they joined the Union), etc. Loved it. We also learned that the people of Indiana have no idea how the word “hoosier” came to be. There was lots of speculation but no real record of how it came to be. Love learning the little things like that – and never heard of a sugar cream pie before. Now we’re going to have to find a piece to try out.

Also met some folks on the tour from Florida, Tracy and Jim. Tracy is the great, great, great (not sure how many greats) granddaughter of one of the Governor’s of Indiana and wanted to come see his portrait while she was in town.

Tracy and Jim with grumpy. He is the marathoner and she is the former Governor’s great granddaughter. Jim married well, Tracy is very picturesque.

(Sorry, couldn’t remember the name of the Governor she was related to. Hopefully she’ll let us know and I’ll update later.) Jim, the husband, is running a marathon in each state. He’s up to something like 16 states. Really enjoyed our short time visiting and wished it could have been longer but they had to rush off to do a tour at the Indianapolis Speedway.

The State Capitol of Indiana is lovely. Lots of character and lots of pride displayed. They have tons (literally) of Indiana limestone, which is beautiful; lovely statues; a wonderful mural in the House of Representatives that is full of symbolism about Indiana; and just a gorgeous dome and interior. We’re putting it up there as one of our top five favorites (so far).

What was interesting to me about the Capitol, while we were walking around we saw where they were getting ready to have two separate weddings in two parts of the Capitol. How fun would it be to get married in the State Capitol? We had to be out of the building by 2:00 PM because of the weddings, so Jim rushed us a little in order to get everything in.

Set up for one of two weddings in the Capitol today.
Second wedding setup.

We got to see the House of Representatives, the Senate, the Supreme Court, the rotunda, etc. Just beautiful.

Several statues around the rotunda, representing the pillars of the community.

Between the wood, stone, art and lighting, very lovely.

Dome skylight.
The dome is a skylight and open space higher than from the floor to the glass goes beyond the glass.
Pleasing and tasteful views.
Symmetrical as well.
Lots of columns.
It is a grand Capitol with a grand scale.
A row of columns supporting a roof is called a colonnade. This is a lovely colonnade.
Elevator. The wood trim on and around the doors is way over the top.
Fossils in the marble.
Looks like wood but is painted iron with a cherry wood rail on top.
Huge skylight over the central corridor of the two wings.
This door opens to the inside and I think they are just showing off their carpenter skills. On the surface of the door they have installed a facade of a building front.
Over the top trim work.
Nice historical art throughout.

Must have interpreted him from his youth. I don’t think Washington actually sat for this one.
The art work is professional and beautiful.
Delicate and beautiful paint on the ceilings.
Really delicate ceiling painting in several places.
State flag just outside the Governor’s reception area..
Jim told some very nice stories about Mike Pence and his interactions with kids.
Peeking through the glass door front into the Governor’s reception area.
Ahead of schedule and below budget. Jim pointed out that they left the price tag on the building they were so proud. The architect was told any cost overruns would come out of his pocket. I think he did a great job for under 2 million.
Senate floor from the gallery. Pattern is star clusters featuring 19 stars marking their entry into the Union.
Majority Leader seat.
Love the art deco eagles above the scoreboard.
State flag art, 19 stars.
A glass wall in the hallway exposing the House. I like the openness!
Custom floor mat.
Wonderful mural and great chandelier. 110 bulbs, one for each representative. They are not individually assigned bulbs so as not to suffer jokes or snipes about a bulb being out.
Tablets for each Representative, certainly one of the most modern we have seen.
State seal.
Jim explaining the history of the court.
Hard to capture the light and colors on the stained glass in the Supreme Court.

Five judges and still the functioning courtroom.
Ceiling, duh.
State seal on the door knobs throughout.
Wedding getting close.

After walking outside and around the grounds, which were as lovely and thoughtful as the interior of the Capitol, we saw a HUGE water fountain a few blocks away.

Capitol selfie.
This motto is prominent in several places.
152 years ago today the train had left Washington DC and was en route to Indianapolis.
A lot of excellent detail on the outside that matches the beauty on the inside.
Governor Morton is well remembered from his Civil War actions.

We just had to go explore and found out it was a memorial to all the fallen Indiana soldiers in the civil war. It was beautiful. We also got to see another couple getting their wedding pictures taken near the fountain.

Wonderful monument and fountain a few blocks away from the Capitol building.
We may have to go back, we didn’t make it inside here. It is on a side street from the Capitol. It is the Indianapolis arts garden. Looks great.
Looking back at the Capitol from the fountain.
Saturday weddings!
OMG, she is patting his butt cheek.
Buffalo and bears.
Cast bronze on Indiana limestone.
Civil war memorial with add on.

Lovely and loud fountain.

There was a Starbucks near the fountain and we went in and got some coffee to take with us on the road, as we still had a long drive ahead of us. While we were walking outside, Michael tripped (darn drop foot of his) and fell. He said he didn’t hurt anything but he sure scraped his leg and hand up. Hoping he’s not sore tomorrow and hasn’t damaged anything. He, of course, blamed it on me. (Mike here – She is so bad about walking out into the street without looking around very far. She was 4 feet into a crosswalk with a cop car aggressively barreling down on her. She finally saw it and backed out of the crosswalk and the patrol car gunned it past her. I was intensely watching all this, ready to shout, and my left foot got hooked on a lousy one inch curb. Well, down I went, skinned my left knee and hand, blew a huge hole in my personal pride and lord, I have had to politely listen to my beloved chastise me like an errant child running with scissors!)

The back door of the Starbucks leads to this lobby and I just love the polished brass and dark marble.
Art Deco…faux Egyptian….I don’t know.

Wonderful heater grates.
Wonderful entrance.

As we were leaving we went under a tunnel and saw where a very large piece of equipment went into the tunnel but was too big to continue without damaging the tunnel and equipment.

Directly ahead was a big rig with problems in the tunnel. Miss Mario swerved into the next lane and we were not delayed a second.

We didn’t want to wait around to find out how they got out of there. I don’t think they crashed into anything but they were sure looking around to see how and what to do. The rest of the drive was on freeways and was about 250 more miles to Collinsville, Illinois.

Another border.

(We were trying to split the distance between Columbus, Ohio and Branson, Missouri.) Long day in the car and we were tired by the time we got to our hotel (Days Inn – Wyndham “go fast” points discount plus about $50,00).

My work station for the night.
Comfortable bed.
Usual stuff.
Standard bathroom.
Vanity by the door.

That was our day. Hope yours was great!