BRB

Day 176, 2/23/15

Rode to work


Day 177

Rode to work.  Afterward to the Conrad for a steam.


Day 178

Rode to work.  After, drove up to Broadripple to have some work done on the car at Tom Nygaard's Service Center.  I highly recommend Tom Nygaard's Service Center.  Tom NyGaard's Service Center treated me fairly and with the friendly customer service I appreciate.

From there I rode to Bent Rail Brewery to check out their newly open set up.  Paul met me and we enjoyed a pretzel and pickled eggs.  Pretzel was good.  Pickles were excellent.

From there Kelley drove us to Sports Zone where we watch a friend play Gaelic football.  This interest sport combines football, soccer, basketball, and volleyball into one fast paced thrill ride.

On the way home we stopped for food at Pawn Shop Pub.  The chili was good.


Day 179

Rode to work and then to the Central Library before stopping by the Scottish Rite Cathedral for a meeting.  After work rode to the bus stop and hitched a ride up to Tom Nygaard's Service Center to pick up the car.  Stopped at Paul's to pick up Bruce and the bus stop to nab Tom.

Rolling in the Deep

Day 174, 2/21/15

Market was a mess of snow all the way to the Circle.  Had to get off and walk it for a bit on the way to yoga at the Bike Hub.

Late rode to Indy Hostel for Up All Night, a round the clock party featuring local art and music.  There were pretty girls, it was fun.

Day 175

Rode home from the party early AM.

Nearly undetectable, Bruce detects a shopping cart.  Monon Trail, AM

Sunday afternoon rounds: Library, O'malia's, Fountain Square Brewery.  Roads are much better than yesterday!

Dropping Temps

Day 169, 2/16/15

Skipped work to head out to Richmond in a snow storm.  Later rode Tom and practices some track stands in the apt.

Day 170

Rode Bruce to work in bitter cold and light snow.  Worked from 8-8 which serves me right for taking Monday off.  After work went to O'malia's to return a bad Redbox.  The new TMNT is NOT worth the watch.

Weather.com

Day 171

Took Bruce to work again today.  After work, traded Bruce for Tom and rode up to MLK Park.  Snow started falling and blowing and I started longing for Bruce.  I traded back before heading back in to work.

Weather.com

Day 172

Bruce took me to work today.  After another 12 hour day I rode up to Ben's new place.  Finding it was scavenger hunt since he doesn't live on the street that is his address (yes, I said that right).

Day 173

Rode Bruce to work.  Walked to SK later.

SNL 40

Day 168, 2/15/15

Watching movies and staying inside.  Hit the rollers and watched Ron Howard's "Rush".  Worth a view.

Ichiro and me in the roller closet.

SNL's 40th Anniversary show was on later that night.  The show was entertaining, but it sounded like the afterparty was the place to be!

Don Pardo, my most missed SNL staple.  Photo from People.com

"Doing Coke before the show."  Taken from Steve Martin's Twitter page

My Funny Valentine

Day 167 Valentines's

Rode to Yoga at City Market.  Bailed on trip home to FW due to weather.

Went to Library for afternoon and sat across from church condo combo.  Built in 1906, the building features Indiana Limestone and French Gothic architecture.  From 1947-2003 Indiana Business College used the space as their downtown campus and administration building adding offices and classrooms.

Meridian Street Episcopal Church, 1925.  Photo from Indiana Historical Society

Current day.  Photo by flockrealty.com

Indianapolis Central Library, 1928.  Church is on far left. Photo by IndyStar

Indianapolis Central Library, 2013.  Condos is on far left.  Photo by IndyStar

Sites and Sounds

Day 162, 2/9/15

Rode to work and home.


Day 163

Rode to work.  The route home was interrupted by forgetting Tupperware.

Smells of warm hops on brewing day.

Day 164

Rode Tom to work where Ben and Loreal schooled be on pulling sugar.  Headed to the Library at lunch.

It tastes as good as it looks.  Cake by Chefs Ben Hardy and Loreal Gavin

Day 165

Rode Bruce to work today as flurries were flurrying.  Went to White Pine Wilderness Academy tonight for the story telling event.  I opted out of the hour one-way ride up there because it was a bit chilly... then listened to a story of 2 weeks spent in the Finnish winter surviving solo in the wild.

Bison hide and wood burning stove inside White Pines yurt.

Day 166

Rode to the Library before work.  Stopped to snap a progress pick of the old Amici's building.  Happy that the demolition was not allowed!
Built in the late 1860's the building on the corner of New York and Washington was originally a residence before becoming the community grocery.  It served several other purposes before eventually becoming Amici's Italian restaurant in 2005.  Ten years later they closed their doors and Cunningham Restaurant Group bought the space to be used as a test kitchen for their many area restaurants.

Past, photo by eventseeker.com

Present

Future. photo from ibj.com

The Mahogany Bar

Day 161, 2/8/15

Woke up, ate breakfast, and started making spaghetti sauce.  While it simmered I got at the day:  biked to O'malia's and then the library before circling the Cultural Trail and heading south to Fountain Square Brewery.  I saw Matt and Kate out on the trail and then again at Dorman Street for Dyke's party.

Anacker’s Tavern, 9th Street Tavern, The Mahogany Bar, and May’s Lounge are all previous monikers of Dorman Street Saloon.  Built in the 1880's, the building was originally a residence before becoming a school, and a grocery store.  It was purchased by Miller Brewing Company in the 1910's which is when they presumably first served alcohol form the location.  During Prohibition, the building continued to house a grocery as well as a restaurant and ice-cream parlor.  Personal accounts recall them serving "near beer" with low alcohol content during this period.   

Anacker beer token.  Photo taken from heritagephotoresearch.com

Further folklore says that John Dillinger frequented the shop.  Some say he even planned the September 6th, 1933 robbery of Mass Ave State Bank in the shop.  The claims are substantiated by the fact that his get-away driver, Hilton Crouch lived two blocks away on Oriental St.

The building continued to be a relatively seedy location for working class German and Irish patrons.  In present day, it holds the same dive status but is more frequently attended by a younger population that lives in the surrounding neighborhoods.  It is known for class-less bathrooms, a funky smell, and the best juke box in Indy.

Aftermath of 1956 fire.  Photo from Indianapolis Fire Department

Original signage was discovered when removing the siding in recent years.  Photo and information taken from theoldreader.com

First Friday, February Fifteen

Day 159, 2/6/15

It's Friday which means a ride to work and SK after.  Later rode to Piccadilly to explore First Friday with Dan, Kayla, and Mary.  We checked out The Harrison Center, Indy Indie, and The Murphy Building.  I just got turned on to Oreo Jone's local-arts-promoting webisodes today and we bumped into him tonight at the latter location.  Jon Brooks of Milktooth is the featured guest below.

At work I also spent some time trying to track down the next Chef's Night Off event.  Claire needed her librarian powers to track down the information I was after: February 22nd 5:30 and 7:30 at The Garden Table, "She Don't Eat Meat but She Sure Like to Bone".  There are two tickets left at the time of publishing.  Check it out for a delicious and inventive collaborative effort from local chefs.  This event includes Peter McGarry, formerly of Rook.


Day 160

Took Tom downtown for some Winter's Market Yoga.  The place was packed, but it felt great to practice again.  Court and I met some friends later at Ft. Ben for a hike.  It was a beautiful day and a great time.  Court was kind enough to haul me and Tom to the park so I could ride back.  It was an excellent sunset ride.

 Futuristic looking bike-pod.  Probably great for keep the little ones warm and out of the wind.

Finally saw Skeleton Twins later.  While I anticipated dark, this was far beyond what I expected from Bill Hader and Kristin Wiig.

Wednesday's Winter Wonderland

Day 156, 2/3/15

Riding Bruce to work this week as the weather has turned cold and wet yet again.

Full moon tonight.  Let's ride!

Day 157

Rode Bruce to work, City Market, and the Conrad.

Tonight it snowed big, beautiful flakes.  I  rode Tom to Dorman Street to meet a friend who has been working with The Excel Center.  Is was fun as hell to ride in the snow because: a) the fluffy white and full moon made things very bright.  b) I was able to skid at will on the slick streets which is rare due to my larger (2.94) gear ratio. c) I was riding a bike.  d) All of the above.


Day 158

Rode Bruce to work then Tom to Chatterbox and 9 Irish.  On the way home I stopped by Omalia's for q-tips.  Never thought I would get through a whole box without dousing it with water or spilling them onto the floor.  It takes a long time to use 500 q-tips is my point!

Buy the ticket, take the ride.

153, 154, 1/31/15

Spent an extended weekend in Louisville.  Took the Megabus down Saturday and enjoyed drinks at Against the Grain and dinner at O'Sheas.  Sunday we enjoyed the 'big game' and found out my late night bus was canceled due to potential weather.  Unfortunately, this meant I had to miss work Monday and didn't get home until 6pm. Fortunately, I got to ride Matt's 62" Trek all weekend!

Day 155

Rode Tom in to work tonight to catch up on what I missed.  Then to O'malias to satisfy this week long craving for jalapeno chips.