We spend a lot of time making sure the people we meet know all about what there is to see and do around Indianapolis. And sometimes we decide we should see and do those things, too. Here’s what that looks like:
July 25, 2014 is a Friday and my very first, official IndyHub field trip. The plan starts with Molly and Karissa meeting me in Cottage Home at the Dorman Street Saloon. An excellent plan with less than perfect execution as–at the time, anyway–the Saloon’s “Open” sign hangs sadly unlit in the window. It’ll open soon, but we’re hungry now. Like right now.
Because this is a first-world food emergency, we hop into Molly’s car to travel the easily walkable two minutes to Smoking Goose, another place on our field trip hit list. Not being much of a meat genius, I’m prepared to find myself face-to-face with an employee who’s not particularly pleased with my ignorant wandering.
So, the biggest surprise of the stop is how accessible and beautiful the shop is. And Elliott, the guy working behind the counter, answers all of our questions and asks us some of his own.
He makes us the most delicious sandwiches and tells us all about their meats and selection of carefully curated, edible items including blueberry rhubarb preserves and pickles vegetables and peppadew peppers and banana butter and Ale 8. Yes, those things.
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And then he tells us about these crazy classes we can take there. (The next class is about butchering a whole hog. Eew?) He also tells us about how at the Smoking Goose they occasionally bring on some single-day helpers for odds and ends. And then they pay these helpers with the best meat in Indianapolis. We agree with Elliott that this is not a bad deal.
Then with full bellies and definite plans to come back, we head out. No time to stop at Flat 12, but it’s right across the street. Karissa knows their back patio is beautiful, and I try to find a hole in the privacy fence to get a photo of it but no luck.
We work our way back to Cottage Home to find The Inventorialist on a street so startlingly beautiful that it’s impossible to imagine I-65 being just a few blocks away. Gorgeous old homes—some designed by the Vonnegut family—are surrounded by enormous trees and a neighborhood park and garden.
And The Inventorialist feels just as perfect and loved as the street outside. Kristofer graciously indulges my many, strange questions about the items placed throughout the collection—I can’t help but think that this store is exactly what I’m looking for every time I go to Midland.
Juice glasses and lamps and coffee mugs and mid-century modern chairs. Prints and mounted antlers and potted plants. Chopsticks and tiny dipping bowls and antique boxing gloves. Every piece exudes its own personality, and there’s no way we’re leaving this place empty-handed.
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Molly buys some large spoons made by a friend of Kristofer’s in Minnesota. Karissa buys an incredible print that is also made by artist friends in Minnesota. I buy the best birthday gifts for my brother.
We take our time meandering back, seeing what there is to see, which is mostly a lot of adorable houses. But we also find the park that was part of IndyHub’s very first Day of Impact projects. I receive a brief IndyHub history lesson about our partnership with the Boner Community Center on two eastside revitalization efforts several years back. (Photo evidence from 2010.)
One last quick side trip takes us to the Growing Places u-pick garden outside the Chase Legacy Center.
The field trip, we agree, is a success. Two new friends, two new favorite places, and an ever increasing appreciation for the innovators and entrepreneurs that continue to make Indy worth exploring.
We’re going to take these field trips and report on what we see and do every month. If you have a suggestion about where we should go next, just leave it in the comments below. Who knows where we’ll end up?
