The Other -apolis

When I’m visiting, say, Paris, or Rome, or Milwaukee, and announce that I’m from Minneapolis, silence falls. Then someone hazards a guess: “Oh, the city with the famous car race?” 

Well, no. But that finally spurred me to visit the city that hosts the Indy 500 each May to set the record straight (and see what I’d been missing: which is, a lot!)

Here’s a teaser of what Indianapolis has to offer, starting with my chic hotel, The Bottleworks—a creative repurposing of what started life as a Coca Cola bottling plant. Now its marble and glazed white bricks anchor the city’s main shopping/dining artery, Massachusetts Avenue (just say “Mass Ave” to sound like a local).

Across the street from the hotel, the plant’s former garage has been named (ready?) The Garage—a high-energy food court sporting dining options ranging from burgers to Brazilian, Indian to Italian and a whole atlas more.

After a high-octane bite there, I headed off to a global collection of another sort: Newfields, a 150-acre nature park anchored by the Indiana Museum of Art. Greeting visitors is native son and artist Robert Indiana’s famous LO/VE sculpture. Which I do.

I innocently asked a guard to steer me to the Renaissance paintings. Well, in a shake-up designed to open minds and forge new connections, they’re scattered everywhere. Wander into an exhibit called Power, and you’ll discover an aristocrat painted in the  Renaissance next to one of a Japanese god and another of an Italian saint. 

Don’t miss the gallery devoted to fashions by Indy homeboys Halston, Bill Blass and more. Or the special Monet immersion experience, with montages covering four walls, floor and ceiling—putting you right in the swim with those waterlilies.

The next morning, it’s off to White River State Park, but wait! It calls for an Uber, not a canoe. Aside the urban river rises the Eiteljorg, where more distinctive art awaits, starting with the compelling Depression-era social-realist photos of Dorotha Lange. The museum then shines a light on Western art, starting with those romanticized cowboys of painter Remington in deliberate (I’m convinced) contrast with the Read Deal: the stunning pottery, jewelry, weaving and painting masterpieces by Native artists themselves.

I rested my brain by grabbing lunch there before heading across the street to the Indiana State Museum, which leads off with prehistoric skeletons, then fast-forwards to the Miami Indian tribe headed by a female chief, and the land grab and trail of tears soon to follow. Interactively, you’re invited to pack up a covered wagon—but if you keep the family china, will there still be room for the cornmeal and bacon? Try out a log splitter, aside one actually used by young Abe Lincoln, who spent time in Indiana. By the 20^th century, we can view a “labor-saving” Women’s Friend washing machine and, entering the ’50s, a frilly prom gown and Cabbage Patch doll. 

And now for a museum of a different sort—one showcasing local author/hero Kurt Vonnegut.  Follow his early writing for his high school newspaper, then his days a WW II prisoner of war in Dresden, Germany (documented in Slaughterhouse Five). One room is papered with reams of rejection letters; another reveals his typewriter, his specs, his clarinet (his friends included Miles Davis and Billie Holliday). A final Freedom of Speech room houses shelf after shelf of banned books. 

And yes, there’s a museum dedicated to another local boy who made good—our 23^rd President (I had to look it up, too: Benjamin Harrison). This lawyer, who became a brigadier general in the Civil War (with no experience whatsoever), when elected to national office served (who knew?) as a forward-thinker, creating national parks, the Coast Guard, and pensions for war veterans. He also added six states to the Union, and you’ll hear all this from guides like Gary Smith (plus the President’s own voice on an early gramophone) as you meander through the elegant 16-room residence of 1884.

Visiting the Fountain Square Theatre, in the so-named artsy neighborhood, you’ll discover a grand 1928 silent movie theatre now used for lively swing dancing (crowds of 200 people) each Friday, plus vintage bowling alleys on upper floors, a boutique hotel, and rooftop patio where drinks and music complement the view.

Then, on to the destination that anchors this city on global maps: the legendary Indianapolis Motor Speedway (tours around the 2 ½-mile track available), where the cry “Start your engines!” rings out each Memorial Day weekend as the world watches the famous 500. A museum showcases famous racing cars galore and heralds the evolution of tires, helmets, racewear, gear, and sponsors. 

Now to answer that vital question: Where to eat? Start your day at Gallery Pastry Shop, under the centerpiece snow-white tree trunk that shelters indoor tables, munching on a fluffy croissant or three, then graduate to its soul-warming shrimp & grits or opulent omelets.

For dinner, grab a seat in the quirky, high-energy digs called Bluebeard, where vintage typewriters loom over the bar in homage to writer Vonnegut, where they shake his favorite cocktail, too. Entrees gambol from an imaginative beet tartare to rich salmon rillettes topped with pickled bacon fat; crab cakes dressed in pomegranate chili crisp; and on to pork loin, halibut and more.

The intimate, cosmo setting of Beholden serves as Mecca for clever small plates such as a decadent spinach and artichoke bisque, Korean short ribs, and an inventive beet ‘dirt’ salad also starring goat cheese. They’re followed by steak frites (here the star is tuna, not beef), several actual beefsteaks, duck a l’orange, and my choice, spaghetti with rabbit confit in chili tomato paste. For dessert, burnt banana ice cream with Parmesan and chili honey—which makes you realize you’re not back in Minnesota. 

So many choices, so little time. As the song says, come “Back Home in Indiana.” Find out how at www.VisitIndy.com

Indy Loves Gay Bars

Tini—sleek Martini bar on Mass Ave, where drinks are strong and smart

English Ivy’s—vintage feel; no-frills dinner plates, late-night pizza

Greg’s—fun dive with Saturday night drag

Metro Nightclub and Restaurant—the go-to karaoke spot; fab back patio

Zoni’s Closet—drag scene with a dive-y vibe

Downtown Ollie’s—karaoke and drag reign; late-nights, morning-after brunch