Welcome back, friends and readers!
I completed another trip on this Crapitols quest way back in April and once again I’m guilty of having dragged my feet for waaaaaaayyyyy too long on posting this update. It was a pretty busy summer, but that's no excuse, merely an explanation. My apologies.
I’ve been very fortunate to have friends and family join me on some of these Crapitols trips, and this time I was joined by my big sister, Katie. She had been wanting to join me on one of my trips for a while, so I threw out some possible dates and possible destinations. When I suggested Indianapolis she replied in true Midwest fashion – “Why that’s only a six hour drive!” So it was decided that by plane and by car we would meet in Indianapolis in April.
I had been to Indiana twice previously - once in high school when on a concert trip to Tinley Park, IL, a wrong turn took my friends and me into downtown Gary, and once in the summer of 2000 on another concert road trip to see Pearl Jam at the Deer Creek Music Center in Noblesville. This would be my first time in Indianapolis proper.
Katie still had about an hour of driving left when I landed at IND, so I hopped on the Indygo bus and after a 45 minute ride found myself in the heart of downtown. I strolled right past the capitol building to our hotel, which was a few short blocks away, and arrived at the entrance just in time to see Katie drive past and miss the turn for the parking lot.
After getting settled into our room we set off in search of food. Like every American city these days, Indianapolis has seen the rise of the “former warehouse/industrial space converted into a food hall” phenomenon. We ended up at the Garage Food Hall for a late lunch/pre-dinner snack. There were about 20 different places to choose from, which meant we could each get whatever we wanted. Gone now are the days of Katie wielding her all-powerful Firstborn Child's Right of Restaurant Veto. I had an excellent Brazilian steak sandwich and she had some tacos.
We explored some of the nearby shops afterwards - grabbed a few macaroons at a cute confectionery, browsed a bookstore, that sort of thing. Then we made our way back downtown.
The plan was to hit the capitol as soon as it opened the following morning, so we had some time to kill the rest of the day. There’s a delightful canal walk just west of the capitol where locals go for all their senior picture and engagement photoshoots. The downtown area is also home to several huge monuments, most notably the Indiana War Memorial and Museum and Sailors and Soldiers Monument, the giant tower in the center of downtown. Completed in 1902, it commemorates all the Hoosiers who served in the Revolutionary War, the War of 1812, the Mexican War, the Civil War, the Frontier Wars and the Spanish-American War.
We had one more stop to make that first day– a journey to the suburbs to pay homage to the His Royal Majesty, the Pizza King.
I did some voice over work for the King a few years back, so I knew I would have to “Ring the King” if I ever found myself in Indiana. Now, I thought “Ring the King” just meant calling to order a pizza, but it’s more than that. At Pizza King restaurants there’s a little red phone at your booth and you pick it up to place your order! We laughed every time we dialed in and could hear the waitress back in the kitchen as we talked over the phone.
Indiana’s take on pizza is thin crust, with toppings all the way out to the edge, a sliced into squares. We finished with a cookie pizza for dessert. We went back to the hotel and watched a documentary about octopuses before crashing for the night.
The next morning I made myself a cup of complimentary hotel room coffee and we were on our way to the capitol. After passing through security we checked in at the tour desk. Turns out we had some time on our hands before the first tour of the day began, so we set off to scout the bathroom situation.
I found a secluded spot on the third floor near the Supreme Court chambers and completed the deed. Mission accomplished right off the bat. Not the most up-to-date facilities, nor were they resplendent with 19th century luxury, but they were adequate nonetheless.
We returned to the main floor to meet our tour guide, who never actually introduced himself and bore no nametag. Nevertheless we proceeded to learn all about the Indiana State House.
Indiana was admitted to the Union in 1816. The first state capital was Corydon, but much like neighboring Ohio, a brand new capital city was established in the geographic center of the state to better serve the administrative needs of the 19th state. The seat of government officially moved to Indianapolis in 1825. A Parthenon-inspired Greek revival building served as capitol from 1835 until 1877 when it was demolished in favor of the much larger current building.
The building was constructed between 1878 and 1888, and major renovations were completed a century later in 1988. Indianapolis architect Edwin May designed the building, though he died before seeing it completed. The interior is fashioned after the Italian Renaissance style. The rotunda features a dazzling stained-glass dome.
The tour stopped by the House of Representatives chamber, which prominently features the large 1964 mural Spirit of Indiana by artist Eugene Savage, along with a delicate-looking but ginormous 18-foot brass chandelier.
The Senate gallery gives off much more of a “renovated in 1988” vibe. Its most notable feature is the Indiana State seal carpet I suppose.
We made a brief stop in the state treasury office to see the ornate vaults from back in the olden days. Vaults are quite common points of interest on capitol tours as we’ve learned, but there was no pile of cash anywhere to be found here in Indianapolis.
The building also has a non-denominational chapel/meditation room, the first of its kind I’ve seen on my journey.
The tour concluded in the Supreme Court chamber, which is still in use today. The original 1888 chandelier still hangs in the center of the room.
We thanked our anonymous tour guide, bought some souvenir pins, and exited the building to get some exterior shots. We ended up watching a pair of raptors soaring to and fro on the south side of the building for a little while. A certified gentleman bird nerd approached us to let us know they were Red-shouldered hawks. He had binoculars so we took his word for it.
Another awesome feature of the Indiana State House is that, as far as I know, it’s the only US capitol building within sight of a TJ Maxx. We popped in to pick out Indianapolis prizes.
Both of us being book nerds, we also had to stop at the Indiana State Library, a stunning piece of Art Deco architecture. They have a large collection of Indiana authors, including a nod to favorite son Jim Davis, creator of Garfield.
After completing the mission and relaxing for a bit back at the hotel, we found ourselves with the rest of the day to enjoy as we pleased. So we took a trip to the Indianapolis Zoo.
This is a top-notch zoo. There’s a butterfly habitat. There's a brand new chimpanzee exhibit. There's the Simon Skjodt International Orangutan Center. There's a huge indoor arena with a full dolphin show (though we sadly missed out on the dolphin meet-and-greet experience). They've got rollercoasters, and souvenir penny machines galore!
And we got to pet the stingrays and sharks!
We stayed at the zoo till close and then returned to the Garage Food Hall for our final dinner of the trip. In the morning we checked out of our hotel and Katie dropped me off at Indianapolis International Airport on her way back to Iowa. Crapitol number 27 crossed off the list thanks to an assist from my big sis.
That's likely all he wrote for 2024. Stay tuned to see where the journey takes us in 2025!
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