The first time I experienced the Polklore Micro-Museum, I was attending a Yelp event at the host…read morespace inside the Polk Stables CO-Hatch. It was a space I instantly fell in love with, a wonderful mix of contemporary amenities, local history, and respect for the people of Martindale-Brightwood. As a graduate of Martin University (RIP) myself, I recognized much of what I experienced at Polklore and I knew that I would return. As a Yelp Elite, I'm respectful of the boundaries around not reviewing a business during an "event" for a variety of reasons that make sense to me. The Polklore Micro-Museum celebrates the story of the Polk Dairy and the Martindale-Brightwood neighborhood. It's a "micro-museum" with purpose, both engaging the senses and encouraging conversations about cultural preservation. Polklore Micro-Museum comes out of the Harrison Center's neighborhood program. The space itself is quite cool, and there's a good amount of parking available. Tours do require advanced planning, and the mixture of artistic mediums is really quite inspired. Mostly, I am grateful that the museum honors a neighborhood that I think gets a bad rap. While there are certainly challenges faced by Martindale-Brightwood, I've long appreciated the area and to this day don't really live that far from it. CO-Hatch always seems to have some very cool spaces, but I don't think there's any question this is my favorite. Some of Indy's iconic artists, Kipp Normand comes to mind, are involved with this project and this is just truly an outstanding effort in every way.

Incredible local Martindale-Brightwood neighborhood history told in various mediums. It is an…read moreinnovative space that serves as a community space and can be rented for meetings and events. The day I visited there was a crochet circle in process. There is plenty of parking next to the building and across the street by the Monon trail. The restrooms are well-maintained. I look forward to seeing new exhibits in this space!

We had a great stay! The hotel feels fresh, clean, and very well cared for after the renovation--it…read morehonestly looks and feels brand new. The staff was attentive, courteous, and welcoming throughout our stay. One of the most fun and unique features is the opportunity to stay in an actual train car. Such a cool experience and definitely something you don't find at most hotels! I also loved the beautiful white statues throughout the property and the thoughtful design details. The breakfast buffet was excellent, with a made-to-order omelet station plus two other egg options, along with plenty of other choices. Our bathroom also felt newly upgraded, and the shower had a great multi-setting showerhead. Overall, a beautiful, unique, and comfortable hotel with wonderful staff. We really enjoyed our stay and would definitely come back!

I love nothing more than a unique venue with endless possibilities (bonus brownie points if it has…read morehistorical charm), so it's no surprise I fell head over heels in love with Grand Hall at Union Station when I attended a Creative Mornings talk. In the good ol' days, this is where travelers waited for their trains. It opened in 1888, and looking around you can sense the history and visualize a black and white photo of Union Station in its glory days. When train travel went by the wayside, Grand Hall was left abandoned and dilapidated until it was transformed into a shopping mall + food court in the 1980s. When Circle Center Mall opened up and stole the thunder, Grand Hall was remodeled to become the gorgeous event space it is today. This is a great example of a historical building that in many ways has remained the same but has changed its purpose to meet the needs of the time. A lovely venue for a large seminar, annual meeting, or wedding. I highly recommend you check out Union Station and also take a peek at the train car hotel rooms at the adjacent Crowne Plaza. Take a step back in time and reimagine Indy as the crossroads of the country - by train, that is!

This is my favorite festival in Carmel. Located in the Arts and Design district, it features…read moreartists from all over the world. Besides paintings, there is photography, jewelry, metal art, fabrics, and many other creative types of art. You can meet and visit with the artists and view their work. There are food vendors too and two different stages. Entertainment is ongoing throughout the weekend. There is plenty of free parking, and the booths are well organized. It is easy to walk through and visit all the booths. Don't miss the high school art displays. You can vote on your favorite and the high school artists with the most votes win scholarships.

Add this event to your fall festival bucket list! One of the best in the central Indiana area. I…read morewent both days to wander around for 2+ hours and explore, as admission is free. The festival features more than 130 juried artists who are each exceptional at their work. This is not a craft fair or flea market; rather, these are high end pieces ranging from paintings to photographs to jewelry and ceramics and beyond. Some of the price tags are high (meaning you could drop $3,000 if you wanted to) but many offer affordable prints of their paintings at a lower cost, for example. I was mesmerized to see the diversity and quality of artwork. Even though there are thousands of attendees, the festival is set up well and flows easily. There are food vendors on-site (would love to see more international cuisine), dance demonstrations and more. My only suggestion is to give it more "international" flair as I'm not really sure why it's called the international arts festival. Perhaps a number of the artists travel from abroad? I'm not entirely sure.

I had no idea this building was in the city until I attended a Candlelight Concert here. Parking…read morewas convenient (and FREE) There is a lot in front of the entrance, which for a larger event, might fill up quickly, but street parking is also available. I have attended a Candlelight Concert in the past at a different location and what a stunning space THIS was. The ambience was everything! The musicians were fabulous! And just when we thought the evening was over, the musicians offered to play one last tribute to Drake. What a wonderful evening it was at this beautiful historic building!

This is an appreciation post for the bel tower that has brought so much joy to our family since it…read morewas repaired and brought back to life towards the end of last year. During the holiday season, we enjoyed hearing the nightly 6pm bells play different festive songs. The 8am bell tells us if we're running late for school and the noon bell is a sweet reminder to soak in the small stuff during the hustle of the work day. I'm so grateful for the cheer these bells bring to the neighborhood. Dare I say that it transports me to Europe every time the bells chime? It's that good. If you're looking to visit the Landmarks Center, they roll out the red carpet every other month for first Friday. Can't wait to take our kiddos next month.

This place is a hidden gym. It is tucked away in the heart of downtown Indy. With being downtown,…read moreit adopts all of the parking woes that comes with a downtown business. There are parking garages and metered parking available, if you can find it . If you have your choice of the 2, you will come out a lot cheaper. The place is located downstairs in the Panera Bread building. If you are not paying attention, you will miss it. Masks are required by all visitors, even kids. But don't worry, if you forgot or don't have one, they have some available for you. The staff here is very friendly and helpful. So after you get there and pay your admission they give you a bag with a couple of pair of drum sticks and mallets to play the instruments in the place. The bag also contains some very valuable items, ear plugs. They are worth the price of admission alone. Just kidding the place really did not get that loud while I was there. The place has many percussion instruments that can be played by visitors including a traditional drum set, an electric drum set, congos, xylophones, chimes, timpanis, tamborines, cow bells, wood blocks, marimba, and a gong. The self guided tour starts with a huge wall mounted bass drum. If you hit it and stand near it you can feel the waves go through your body. In addition to all of the interactive instruments, they have displays, videos and information boards throughout the place. They also have two sound rooms with drum sets and other instruments that you can experiment with sound in different type of venues. This place is really a fun place to learn. This fully interactive place teaches children about percussion instruments and gives them the opportunity to try them out. It also turns a grown up to a kid wanting to jam out. The museum is kind of small and we were able to thoroughly go through the place in about an hour. The tour ends, where most do....in the gift shop. My little had such a good time that we could not leave there empty handed. So I got a kazoo (what was I thinking) and a shape drum ( again, what was I thinking). Anyway, this a great fun and either an introduction to percussion instruments or just plain fun for percussion enthusiasts. It is definitely worth a visit and is a must see.

I took my toddlers here to give them an opportunity to play some music. There were lots of drums…read moreand different musical instruments. We came on a great day because there was hardly anyone there. I like how you can even practice inside your own private room while there. There was lots of signage to keep you informed on what kind of musical instruments you were playing and it was kind of like a museum of musical instruments. It was a great time although my toddlers lasted all of about an hour here smh. Older kids would probably play the instruments for much longer than mine did. I would definitely come back but maybe next time with my niece and nephew who are older.

Oldfields is one of my favorite spots to visit in Indianapolis. I visit a couple times each year,…read morebut my favorite time to visit is during the Christmas season when the mansion is decorated for the holidays. Oldfields was designed by noted architect, Lewis K. Davis, in 1910 for the family of Hugh Landon, an executive of Fletcher Trust. The Landon family lived in the house from 1913-1932, when the house was sold to J. Lilly, Jr. the Lillys donated the property to the Arts Association of Indianapolis in 1966, where it became part of the present day Newfields Art Museum. All this information is summarized in detail on placards in the basement of the home. The home is huge, of course, and has been restored and maintained to its 1913 glory. I like to imagine living in the home during the early days. There is a music room, library (built by Lilly), dining room, pantry, kitchen. The upstairs bedrooms are not opened to the public. Downstairs there is a billiards room and carriage house. Information about each room is described on small boards. Paintings of a young Ruth Lilly, adorn several walls. The back of the house overlooks the White River. Gardens surround the mansion and make a delightful springtime stroll. During Winterlights, the front grounds are filled with Christmas lights that dance to the music of the Indianapolis Symphony. In the basement, there is a small gift shop that sells the "shirt" and seasonal gifts. Admission to the museum (or Winterlights) includes a self guided walking tour of the mansion. The home is definitely worth a visit.

Oldfields - Lilly House & Gardens at Newfields. The gardens, 26-acre grounds, and the mansion are…read morebreathtaking! I recommend watching the history movie in the theater in the basement as it will take you through the history and then tour the house. Definitely a must see when in the area and at the Indianapolis Museum of Art. All the names are kind of confusing. Oldfields is the Lilly House and Gardens that is at Newfields which houses the estate, The Virginia B. Fairbanks Art & Nature Park, the Beer Garden, and the Indianapolis Museum of Art all worth checking out and make for such a wonderful experience.

it's a fun little historical museum about Carmel, Indiana if you have 30 minutes of spare, you'll…read morehave enough time to walk through the entire exhibit. We learned a lot and had a couple of laughs. Which is a win in my book.

For being free this museum has a lot of great history and artifacts that shed a light on the…read morehistory of the Monon Trail in Carmel. Our Museum guide was very informative and helpful.

It's no secret that I'm a fan of CoHatch, a 30+ location network of co-working, community spaces…read morethat has been in existence for just under 10 years since its start by six friends in Columbus, Ohio. CoHatch, which has hosted at least a couple Yelp events that I can remember, currently has five locations in Central Indiana (a sixth, Circle Centre, I believe has closed). The locations include Polk Stables, Zionsville, Carmel, Noblesville, and this location in Broad Ripple. This location is housed in a former church (I know it used to be Common Grounds and I'm pretty certain it was at least one church before that). There's still some of the stained glass windows present. Managed by Jenna, whom I met during a Polk Stables Yelp event, this location seems to be quite busy. While I didn't get a chance to go around it as much as I'd have liked as I was here for an actual meeting, I was impressed with the decor, amenities, the people I met, and the efforts to make it accessible. Let's start there. Not every CoHatch location is truly accessible - they tend to locate in unique and often historic buildings. This can create challenges to true accessibility. This location has accessible parking in the back along with a ramp that goes up to one of the doorways. If you're not a member, you'll have to be let in. I wasn't completely thrilled with the end of the ramp - it's got a bit of a lip to it, however, the effort is obvious and it definitely works. The parking is also truly ADA compliant. I didn't notice all the businesses here, however, I did note that the Sagamore Institute maintains offices here. This location has the usual coworking spaces, a large event space, an outdoor area with a patio and kitchen, a sports simulator, and private offices. They have high-speed Wifi, coffee/tea options, meeting rooms (we used one to record an interview), 24/7 access, phone booths, office supplies, mailbox service, printing/copying, workshops for members, a kitchen, and an onsite manager. The neighborhood feels safe and is a pretty easy jaunt over to Broad Ripple's main strip. I like the decor, though found it a bit more plain than some of the locations. I think Polk Stables remains my favorite of the Central Indiana locations. This location is probably the closest to my home and it's definitely someplace I could see myself working. As someone who does a lot of social outreach/charity work, I definitely saw spaces I could bring to life here. I also did notice the restroom offered nice accessibility and there were some personal supplies in the restrooms - nice touch. I'd wanted to stop into this place and was pleased when I found out a meeting was going to be here. I finally got to check it out and was definitely impressed.

I had a meeting in Broad Ripple and they recommended this location. It was easy to find and had…read moreample parking, and I was surprised and pleased to find it was a church building that was converted into co work office space for small businesses and non-profits. I liked that they had maintained the structure and tried to continue the architectural flairs and quiet spaces yet allowing for new design inside. It is used for various offices and you can either rent out an office space (small cubicle) or just work in one of the many co-work spaces. It was tasteful and expansive but also had several little nooks for a quieter space. There were outside spaces and even a Barbeque space that could be rented for parties or business outings. My meeting was a fun way to be exposed to this location and will definitely be returning to try out some of the other spots for meetings or work.