The first time I went to Indianapolis was during my spring break. My brother’s baseball teammate’s dad, Brock Sellards, invited us to watch a Motocross event. One of their stops was Indianapolis and was only a 4.5 hour drive for us.
I was excited because this was a city and boy have I turned into a city gal. I loved the idea that in one place there was so much opportunity and so many things to see and do.
Once we got to the city I couldn’t help but look out all the windows of the car to catch every glimpse of the Railroad City (I didn’t see many railroads though, lol).
We went to the restaurant ‘The Eagle’ and after talking to my friend Jackie we found out this restaurant was an Indianapolis staple!
It’s located on Massachusetts Avenue (AKA Mass Ave–more on that later) which is where, at least to me, the hustle and bustle was at. While we were waiting, my sister was entranced by the dancing street sign lady: Dancing Anne.
The Eagle
As I said, this restaurant is an Indy staple and is always packed. We waited 30 minutes before we got a table. As unanimously decided-we would try as much as we could since we were city livin’. For appetizers we got the shrimp and grits as well as the spoonbread. Hands down, best food I’ve ever tasted. The spoonbread was maple syrup infused corn bread. Bread was moist with the maple flavor not overpowering at all.
For the main, I had the Carolina Braised Pork. It consisted of braised pork, cole slaw, pickle, and carolina gold bbq sauce. It was oh so good. My parents, on the other hand, got the fried chicken sandwich. They said theirs was dry. We also got the homemade biscuits. They were fluffy and the blackberry jam went perfectly with it.
Motocross
A few hours later we headed into the Lucas Oil Stadium to watch the Motocross event. The stadium was absolutely humongous filled with flashing lights and the roaring thunder of the bikes. The event was fun and my sister was cheering for Sexton the entire time.
Before we left to head home, I had to get the cliche insta photo to prove I was there.
Indianapolis Part 2!
Annually, there’s a conference for honor’s students. The Mid-East Honors Association is a conference that allows those students to give a presentation on a topic they’ve researched. At Mount, you an sign up and go on the 2 day trip with everything being paid for in exchange for giving a 10 minute speech. Uh, deal!
I went with 4 other students and we made the trek to Indy. It wasn’t a bad drive at all. Our hotel was Hilton right across from the Soldier’s and Sailor’s Monument. As you can see, I was somewhat familiar with the area.
We immediately went to dinner with our professor/advisor. P.F. Chang’s. It was average-I’ve had it before and knew that their pricing didn’t match the quality of the food. We wanted to choose something we were already familiar with as our first meal.
After dinner, we all went on our own to explore. So I went to the Soldiers and Sailors Monument. It is extremely tall and beautiful. The monument is in the middle with stores surrounding it. I figured it would be a good area to get my first real taste of Indianapolis. The monument lit up in blue with two skateboarders on its platform. I walked to the various places with water and just stood-taking in the environment. Indianapolis is a clean city and to me, very safe.
I went around the circle trying to find things that were open. One store I didn’t make it to but hope to go to next time is Rocket Fizz-an epic candy store. I did go into one store that night: the South Bend Chocolate Company. The front part of the store was full of chocolate bars, chocolate covered nuts and different chocolate confections. It also had a small cafe in the back. As I was looking, a drunk father and son came in with the sober girlfriend. It was hilarious as the son wanted to basically buy every chocolate in the store.
I ended up getting a bar of dark chocolate
The Second Day
Literally from the moment I opened my eyes until 11 a.m. I was preparing my speech so I didn’t do anything that morning. However, after my speech I walked on down to 22 Juice Bar-a smoothie place that I heard was the best in Indiana.
It was somewhat busy that morning but not as much as I expected. Even as I was walking I felt safe and the city never looked dirty to me.
I got the Joe Mama. Firstly, the juicery was in a market which was cool. That market was packed, let me tell you, but in no time I was where I needed to be. The Joe Mama consisted of cold brew coffee, coconut, banana, date, almond butter, coffee beans, and unsweetened almond milk. Overall, it was the best damn smoothie I’ve ever had and I’ve had loads from Robek’s, Smoothie King, etc. The texture was creamy, could taste the coffee as I was chewing some tiny pieces of coffee bean, but the banana I could taste the most. Chef’s kiss.
I caught up with my group as they were walking to WEI Ramen. I got a traditional ramen bowl. Lot’s of people from our conference were there. The place was small, but then again, we are in a city and city spaces are small lol.
We had to eat it with chopsticks and yes, we were struggling. I found it fun…watching everyone else struggle (as I was struggling haha). We also got edamame. I’d never had it before. It was delicious, unexpectedly. I didn’t think I’d like it. But it’s like green beans with salt that you have to suck through its casing. Their steamed pork buns weren’t that great. Too much bun.
Us girls then went to get Koko Tea (Bubble Tea). I got mango green tea. Delicious…I still have the cup.
After this, we went to the Sugar Factory. A very popular chain that’s big in Las Vegas. When we arrived it was everyone and their mom’s birthday. I genuinely think we were the only one’s who weren’t celebrating a birthday. I got the mochaccino: melted dark chocolate, double shot of espresso (yessir!), whipped cream, crushed malt balls, and dark chocolate shavings. Diabetes in a mug! Another girl got their fishbowl peach gummy worm drink (non-alcoholic, of course lol). It was dry ice so as the drink was poured smoke like wisps rose and the drink bubbled.
We went back to the hotel with intention of taking a nap but with the crap-load of sugar…how could we?
Hours later I was on my way to BRU Burgers in Mass Ave. Mass was bustling but it’s even more fun at night when you have bar peddle car’s (proper name…no idea) filled with drunk people. I was laughing my whole way there. One group asked me to pick a number…I said 10…next thing I hear is “10 shots it is!” T’was funny.
I saw good ol’ Dancing Anne
BRU was packed and we had to wait 45 minutes. But honestly, that’ll be the average wait time if you wanted to go anywhere on Mass Ave. For apps we got the soft pretzels (just your average pretzels), BBQ nachos (those were decent), and I got chips and guac.
For main, I got the Viking Farms Lamb: lamb burger, whipped goat cheese, spinach, onion jam (I didn’t get that), curry mayo all on an oat bun. Holy crap-best burger. Now, I know you might be saying “Bella, you’re stating everything’s good” and yes, because everything was. Trust, if something sucks I’ll tell you.
We went in for the night. Since the state capitol building was the opposite way of the hotel we thought about touring. But they were closed on Sunday.
The Third Day
We slept in a little. Today was poster board presentations and those weren’t for a little while. 3/5 of us went out. We first headed to a coffee shop. Java House. I just got an iced latte. Tasted like the same anywhere else.
Afterward, we walked to the Indiana War Memorial. It was impactful and somber with some interactive displays. Near the end with walking through the 9/11 section to ‘Only Time’ by Enya and the memorial itself that was when it hit hard. You cannot understand what any soldier went through during these highlighted times. In the memorial lay a tomb. The huge American flag raised above it as the blue light shines down on the floor from the stained glass. Portraits of prominent military members hung across each wall. We stayed silent while walking through as we heard the sniffling of an Iraq veteran with his wife standing near the tomb.
We headed back to support the individuals in our group doing the board presentations. Right after, we headed home, leaving the city behind and carrying our new memories with us.
