This historic borough of Indy is tucked into the city, just northeast side of Monument Circle and…read moreMass Ave. Old Northside includes many gorgeous homes with historic registries, as well as the Harrison Center, the Indiana Landmarks building, the Indiana Humanities building and more. I love to walk around this neighborhood, as there's always so much to see; from the detailed Victorian-esque houses to fun projects at the Harrison Center. This neighborhood is especially beautiful in the fall when the trees are falling, and comes alive when the neighborhood 'porch parties' start in the summer each year. Such a wonderful tradition!

OLD NORTHSIDE HISTORIC DISTRICT IN INDY IS CHARMING…read more================================================ In August of 2025 my husband and I rented an Airbnb in the Old Northside Historic District to stay close to some family members nearby. You can walk all over the place from there, but it was a bit warm at the beginning of August, so we didn't do too much walking. We stayed near College and 16th. 16th is the border on the north side, Pennsylvania Street on the west, Interstate I-65 on the south, and Bellefontaine Street on the east. The Monon Trail runs along the eastern edge of The Frank and Judy O'Bannon Old Northside Soccer Park. We walked on the Monon Trail by this park and it was beautiful. A lot of the homes in this area reflect the Late Victorian style. This area was added to the National Register of Historic Places on March 24, 1978. This area was a prominent residential area in the late 19th century when some more affluent residents built mansions in the area. Benjamin Harrison, the 23rd President of the United States, called this area home. It was also the original location of Butler University which was later relocated to another town. This neighborhood changed in the early 1910's when families built homes further north in Indianapolis.

This is a very long mural that is the work of The Department of Public Words, a group that spreads…read morepositivity and encouragement through art. The mural runs along the Monon Trail and was completed in 2014 after 8 months of work. The mural had collaboration from the Meridian-Kessler Neighborhood Association, SmallBox, Terra Pro, LLC, Keep Indianapolis Beautiful, the Girl Scouts, CFI, the Indianapolis Art Center's Teen Art Council, and Sherwin-Williams chipped in with paint and supplies. The mural was painted to replace aging and deteriorating ones that were becoming more of an eye sore than anything. The mural is nice. I like the detail put into each train car. Each car has a positive word or phrase like "Smile", "I Heart You", "You are beautiful", "Do great things", and "Eye believe you can". Each car was made from numerous four feet tall by eight feet wide stencils to cover the 5,000 square foot surface. It is very colorful and detailed. I almost mistook it as a real train from a far. Dave Combs of DPWords said that "the purpose of The Love Train is to bring positive messages to people in a beautiful way". I think it definitely accomplishes that. I really like this mural and the work or the Department of Public Words. We can never have too much positivity, especially in the times that we are in now. This is one of the few murals that you could make a special trip to see. If you are not going for the trail, but just going to see the mural. The easiest place to park to see it is the parking lot of the Half Littler House. It is a very short walk from there. Even though I spent more time here than most other murals that I have visited, this is still probably not a very long stop. I was there less than 15 minutes. So, you may want to consider planning out additional stops at many of the other wonderful murals in the area, or making this stop part of a larger itinerary to maximize your time and trip.

If you wanna check out some cool art then this the place. This spot is like 2 miles from the famous…read moreBroad Ripple Village. The Monon Trail Love Train is a long wall with lot of art in different colors and captions but of the same format that looks like coaches. Walk all across the wall and you'll find amazing Angel Wings( see my profile pic)and Pink Cranes. There are 2 different angel wings which are Instagramable. Check out my Insta profile:: Mr.harven

Last year we didn't make it but this year we made it a point to go and IM SO GLAD WE DID!!…read more It was crowded and parking was a pain, but that's to be expected. We didn't mind walking a couple of blocks to the festival. Entry is free. We walked in and there's tons of booths lined up selling lots of stuff from American Girl baby doll clothes, to homemade soaps, blankets, jewelry, clothing, art work. It was very neat to see the variety of crafts and products. You have to purchase tickets at a booth in order to get food. Each ticket is a $1 and at the booth it tells you how many tickets each dish is. My boyfriend and I both bought 20 tickets a piece and decided to share everything. Now to the good part. We started off with the seafood crepes, they were mind blowing and I'm not even kidding!!! I've never in my life tasted something so delicious. 2 crepes stuffed with shrimp and crawfish came on a plate with grapes, a piece of bread and garlic butter. I could've easily ate about 5 of them, terrible, I know. The next stop was stuffed mushrooms. They were stuffed with a cream cheese blend and topped with cheese that was melted to perfection. Super tender and juicy. After mushrooms we went and got the crawfish étouffée, it came with bread and more garlic butter. it was amazing! The rice was perfect and the étouffée had a decent amount of crawfish in it. After the étouffée we had french fries. Now I don't know what they did to these french fries but they were addicting. They were crispy and seasoned with parsley and sea salt I believe? Last but not least, the beignets. I waited in line for 15 mins for these bad boys and they were worth every minute!!! Super hot, fresh, and fluffy and dusted with powdered sugar. They literally melted in my mouth. Alcohol was being served but we did not partake, we did however see that they were selling whole bottles of wine. We were also told by several people that you can bring your wine. Not sure who the band was that was playing, but they had everyone up and on their feet. Super good band and I'd love to hear them again. There were tables but they were pretty much full, we didn't mind standing and eating. We people watched, ate, and enjoyed the band. The lines were long, but moved quickly. There's no parking lot, so you have to find your own parking. Those are the only two "negatives" and I don't really consider them negatives being that it's an outdoor festival in Broad Ripple. It's more so to be expected. We will definitely make it a point to come every year now. We enjoyed every minute of it.

The French Market hosted by ST. Joan of Arc is always a fun place to go. They have lots of vendors…read moreranging from food, art, jewelry and so much more.

It was a nice day in January so, I decided to take advantage of it and go for a stroll. There was…read moreno better place to do it than the Cultural Trail, That is when I stumbled across this gem. This is part of the 12-part series Glick Peace Walk. It was made possible by the generosity of Gene and Marilyn Glick and was installed in 2010. With the exception of two, the walk runs along a section of the Indianapolis Cultural Trail on Walnut Street, between Meridian Street and Capitol Avenue. There is metered street parking of the streets that run perpendicular to the walk and you may be able to find some areas to pull into, if you are not going to be long. The walk celebrates the lives of individuals who made peaceful contributions to humanity. It honors luminaries that made peaceful contributions to humanity. This luminary garden, as it is referred, is dedicated to Samuel Langhorne Clemens, AKA Mark Twain, a writer, humorist, and entrepreneur, best known for the books Tom Sawyer and Huckelberry Fin. The garden was designed by Rundell Ernstberger Associates, RLR Associates and Circle Design Group. The garden also has an informational placard, a small bench to sit on and a curved surfboard shaped piece, made of glass, aluminum, with Anthony's face on it that illuminates at night. It is eye catching, especially with it lined up with the other 10. I really like these luminaries and what they stand for. They are eye catching, ascetically pleasing, and educational. Definitely worth a peek. It looks great for being almost 15 years old and the area is adequately maintained. This is definitely a spot to check out. I would not make a special trip for it, but if you are in the area, traveling on the cultural trail or at the Main library branch, it is definitely worth a peak. It not only gives you the opportunity to stretch your legs and get some fresh air, but you can also learn a little too.

The Glick Peace Walk (Cultural Trail) has a collection of ten islands that are located on Walnut…read moreStreet between Meridian Street and Capitol Avenue including a luminary & information kiosk about Mark Twain. The installation was added in 2010 as one of twelve (total) to celebrate the achievement through peaceful means by contributors to our country. The installation uses glass, aluminum, and lighting along with an informational kiosk about Twain and a timeline embedded in the concrete beneath.  Instead of writing about all the great things Twain has done, I will simply direct you to the kiosk. Review #1800

I know close to nothing about art, but I know what I like and this: I like…read more I think it is a nice addition to an otherwise somewhat drab area (when it's not race time). This reminds me of a dandelion that needs to be blown away. My favorite part is that it lights up at night. It looks spectacular then. The lights even change colors making it even prettier. So take a closer look instead of just ignoring it as you drive by. It deserves some attention.

On the north end of the Main Street strip in Speedway, there is a pocket park that features this…read moreamazing art installation. Seeds of Light was made by artist Arlon Bayliss in 2016. Towering nearly 18', the structure has an organic look resembling a plant known as cow parsnip which is also planted in the park. The park is located on the Speedway Trailhead. The steel structure features LED's that light with various colors at dusk so that the blossoms light the night sky. This art installation has a related piece called "Beacon Bloom" in Carmel at the intersection of Westfield Blvd and 96th that was installed a year later. The installation was done in cooperation with the Arts Council of Indianapolis, Keep Indianapolis Beautiful, and the Town of Speedway. For more information about this and other public art, go to: https://www.indyartsguide.org/public-art/seeds-of-light/ Review #1219

Beautiful place, my granddaughter took her senior photos here. There were lots of options and she…read moregot a beautiful collection of pictures!

This is one of my favorite places for a leisurely stroll, run or identifying plants and animals…read more There are such cool sculptures throughout the park and the pollinator flower gardens are so wonderful to walk through when in bloom. There is plenty of parking and it is free. You should check it out for a nice walk, run, birding or picnic.

Excellent and clever use of the existing elements to create a clever and unique installation!…read more I always appreciate the extra effort it takes to create within established boundaries and make the finished work special! This intervention is a wonderful and artful addition to our city scape!

A collaboration between the Arts Council of Indianapolis and Keep Indianapolis Beautiful was…read moresupported by the Lilly Endowment's funding to produce numerous art projects around Indy as part of the "Indy art & seek" program. One of the installations took advantage of some pre-existing concrete formations at the pull off near the Old GM Plant to look over the Rock Flat at White River. The bare concrete serves as a deterrent for motor vehicles from driving on the nearby trail (meant for pedestrians). When artist CS Stanley saw the raised rounded concrete shapes on the flat concrete surface, it seemed to resemble the shapes of a popular children's toy block/brick. So, the artist took advantage of the existing shapes and used primary colors to bring a lighter and brighter point of interest to the concrete and also help visitors find the observation area for overlooking the man made dam that creates white water on the White River. At the time of my initial review, I didn't understand the constraints of the art challenge which does not allow the modification of the structure. So the minimal artist involvement in creating the piece was not a lack of artistic vision, but restraints of the challenge which was to find existing structures and enhance them to call attention to their form and existing art. While I appreciate the brightness, I am not sure the artist did as much as he could to hold my visual interest . The primary color catches your eye, but for me, didn't hold my interest which was quickly drawn to the nearby view of the white water or the historical kiosks nearby with information. I would have liked the artist to add a bit more originality to the installation. I understand there were rules that the artist successfully followed. My rating is first to let know Yelpers there is a point of interest to check out and to give a sense of how I perceive the overall art when there are other pieces around town to check out if you have limited time. I appreciate when corporate and governments support art programs. Unfortunately, there are sometimes too many restrictions . I guess it is their money, they can do what they want. I get the sense that while appreciative of the funding, the artist might have enjoyed a bit more freedom to make the installation more original than it exists now. Review #3831

Georgia Street was remodeled when Indianapolis hosted the Super Bowl in 2012. The street is used to…read morehost parties and other events during football season at really any time when the city is wants to attract people downtown. The street runs between the convention center and Banker's Life Fieldhouse - six or seven blocks. The here are a handful of restaurants and bars along the route including Harry and Izzy's. There are lots of restaurants and hotels on the side streets along the street as well. To the south one block, the railroad meets Union Station. The median of the street is decorated with metal arch structures and lights. During events, various businesses and food trucks will offer beverages and street foods. The street is a lovely walk after a late night basketball game. I like to go down early on a Sunday morning when no one is around and enjoy the magnificent architecture along the route.

Stand alone heaters, area heaters from above and lots of tents set up for the college football…read morechampionships. Big problem was that all the tents were selling the same thing and local brewed beers were not available. A band was playing songs from the 80's to a crowd of college kids. It seems the only time heaters are active along this street is when our convention space is booked. It would seem like restaurants along this stretch would benefit from a little glamping on weekends just for us Indy folk. It's a great stretch of nothingness most of the time. I wish the city would do more to promote this space on weekends throughout the year.