Tapas: Wednesday dinner

BARcelona Tapas       201 N Delaware St       317-638-8272

There's a location in St. Louis, so this isn't strictly local, but the menu was a happy find to please a beer snob, foodie, and vegetarian. It is possible to please vegans with the spiced cauliflower, fried artichoke, and even vegan paella. They claim vegan friendly and delivered. Plus, the special was lamb chops, and so the eatery can satisfy a variety of needs. Highly recommended; good beer list and drinks menu. Small plates were generous portions and eminently shareable. The Spanish Tortilla (a spiced potato omelet) and the cheese plate were both excellent.

Happy to see a diverse staff and clientele. Happy hour, wine, sangria, and cocktail menus available. We will return on our own if not during Cs.

Directions:

.9 miles from the JW Marriott: 

Head north on S West St toward S Washington St

Turn right onto S Washington St

Turn left onto Indianapolis Cultural Trail

Slight right to stay on Indianapolis Cultural Trail

Turn left onto N Delaware St Destination will be on the right

Directions through Google: check local conditions and yadda yadda yadda.

Museums and Attractions

Indianapolis has several nice museums, a few within walking distance of the conference hotel.  The Indiana State Museum (where one publisher will host a party on Thursday night) is a nice space on the canal.  As its name implies, the museum focuses on all things Indiana--displays about natural history, history, commerce, and famous Hoosiers.  Not all exhibits are Indiana-related:  we geeked out over a Star Wars exhibit last spring.  The architecture is quite nice, featuring Indiana limestone, and sections of the exterior showcase each of Indiana's 92 counties.

The museum has an IMAX theatre and several decent and reasonably priced restaurants.  The old L.S. Ayers Tea Room is an historical replica of the tea room in the original flagship department store (like Macy's or Marshall Fields).  Many people can't stop raving about the chicken velvet soup, which is a little rich for us.  The Market Cafe features locally grown, casual dining options.

Indiana State Museum with the Canal Walk in foreground

Next door is the Eiteljorg Museum of western art.  We've never actually been there (not sure why), but we hear it's a decent museum with exhibits focusing on the West and Native American art.

Nearby is the White River State Park, connected to the canals and featuring lots of green space and an outdoor concert space.  The Indianapolis Zoo and White River Gardens (indoor botanical gardens) are open year round.

Baseball fans will appreciate Victory Field, home of the Indianapolis Indians, a AAA affiliate of the Pittsburgh Pirates.  While tours are not available until April, when the season starts, a nice view of the ballpark is visible from the JW Marriott.

IMA Sutphin fountain

The Indianapolis Museum of Art (IMA) is within driving--not walking--distance.  The IMA is worth the trip, and rumor has it another publisher is hosting a party there on Friday evening.  The IMA is free unless you'd like to see one of the special exhibits, and it recently opened a design wing featuring modern and contemporary furniture, housewares, and so forth.  We really enjoyed a special exhibit featuring Ai Weiwei (one of the best exhibits we've seen anywhere), and we often stop by to look at the Asian art, Georgial O'Keefe paintings, Japanese prints, and a Calder mobile.  The grounds of the IMA are quite nice, especially during spring and summer months when everything is in bloom.  Visit the Lilly House and gardens, the greenhouse, the nature park featuring trails.

View of the IMA glass atrium entryway

The Children's Museum is also a drivable destination.  It features the usual science, cultural, and nature-related exhibits, and it's great if you've brought your children with you or if you want to bring out the child in you.  The gift shop has a large selection of educational toys.

Curious Dino peeks into the Children's Museum

Last Minute Downtown Indy Hotels

You waited until now to book your room? Oh, that roommate thing didn't work out? Well, check this out:

Hotels

Tripadvisor has current reviews of the 17 major downtown hotels and 3 B&Bs. If downtown Indianapolis were a clockface, the Convention Center would sit at its center. Nine to 11 is the Museum Campus.  At 11 is Marriott Place. It consists of four hotel brands: The new JW Marriott was built for the Superbowl, and glows Colts Blue. It has a large lobby bar for meeting up as well as a sports bar. Connected to the JW by a second floor bridge is a Courtyard, Fairfield, and Springhill Suites.

The Marriott and Westin are at high noon. Embassy Suites, Hyatt Regency, and the Conrad Hotel are at one o'clock. The Conrad is on Memorial Circle, the center of the city, and there are only 4 Conrad Hotels in the US (26 worldwide). At three o'clock is the Hampton Inn, Homewood Suites, and Omni Severin. The Omni is in the old train station, and you can sleep in an old train! At four Crowne Plaza at Union Station Hotel.

At six, directly south of the convention center, is Lucas Oil Stadium. Southwest of the Stadium at 7 is Holiday Inn Express, Comfort Suites, and Staybridge Suites. 

I have no idea if there are rooms available in an of these. Really. I'm not a travel agent. But ...

While these are all walking distance to the conference venue. On the rare occasions when we stay overnight in Indy, we have enjoyed the Indianapolis Marriott North, which has limited availability as I write this. The Marriott site recommends numerous properties to the northwest, north, and northeast of downtown, requiring a bus ride or drive downtown, in Carmel, Fishers, Castleton, or near the Airport. The bonus for staying near the airport? Take a free hotel airport shuttle to the terminal, then board public transportation headed downtown, the #8 buss, for $1.75. 

Bookstores of Indianapolis

I'm spoiled: I grew up in a book city chock-a-block with good bookstores. I've bored too many friends and students with stories of working at The Strand in New York when I was in college, and even today enjoy access to Von's in West Lafayette. If you ever have reason to be in West Lafayette, Von's is worth an afternoon. That said, I rarely go to Indy to find books, yet I enjoy visiting independent bookstores on conference trips. In Chicago, I remember being awed by my trips to landmarks like The Prairie Avenue Bookstore, which is now sadly closed. Powells is open in Chicago. In Portland, Oregon, Powell's is the original and worth the airfare by itself. So many bookstores, so little time.

So it was with some consternation that my search for independent + bookstore + Indianapolis yielded  less than exciting results. Indy A-List, a crowd-sourced best of site, lists a number of chains, including half-priced books. But still. Disappointing.

Indy Reads Books       911 Massachusetts Avenue       317-384-1496
New and used books, they rely on volunteer staff and donated books. Great idea, but it shows the city's commitment to literacy. Really.

Book Mamas       9 S. Johnson Avenue       317-375-3715
Check the site (and call ahead) to be sure they're open when you want to go.

Books Unlimited (no website)      2629 Shelby St       317-634-0949

Big Hat Books (no website)       6510 Cornell Ave       317-202-0203

McVan's Fine Books (no website)      912 Broad Ripple Ave       317-796-0444
New and used. Mostly video games.

B&L Book World (no website)       7775 E. Washington St       317-359-0099

Matt Cox Recommends Downtown

The Libertine Liquor Bar… it’s also very walkable from the hotel(s). http://libertineindy.com/

Also, lots of good stuff in Fountain Square (on Virginia just southeast of downtown) that i didn’t even list here…http://www.urbanspoon.com/n/40/3907/Indianapolis/Fountain-Square-restaurants - Brass Ring, Siam Square, Santorini… all highly recommended. 

[Editor's note: I asked Matt about the Libertine - I have never been but am looking forward to a cocktail there after he and M.Eble posted wonderful pics from a recent trip - highly recommended by Matt and Indy Monthy. -ms]

• RAM Restaurant and Brewery on Illinois (3-4 blocks from hotel - a chain but a small chain, great food from what I remember in Denver) http://www.theram.com/indiana/indianapolis.html

• Scotty's Brewhouse (6-7 blocks from hotel - at Virginia and Pennsylvania) http://www.scottysbrewhouse.com/locations/indianapolis-downtown/

• Rock Bottom Brewery (on Washington - 6 to 7 blocks from hotel - http://www.rockbottom.com/locations/indianapolis-downtown/largeparties)

• The Rathskeller German Restaurant and Pub (12-13 blocks from hotel - Michigan and New Jersey) http://www.rathskeller.com/

• Bru Bar (12-13 blocks from hotel - 410 Mass Ave) http://www.bruonmass.com/

• Harry & Izzy's (6-7 blocks from hotel - http://harryandizzys.com/locations/downtown-indianapolis-location-information/)

• An "outsider thought" - Creation Cafe (three minute cab ride, more of a 20 minute walk - this is actually a really cool spot on the canal with views of downtown, etc. - it's another direction from the hotel but really neat and great food - 337 W. 11th Street) - they have rooms upstairs and my friend Brian who works for IU Medical Center and coordinates this stuff says they have used them before for the room and food. http://www.creationcafeandeuphoria.com/creationcafe/

The JW Marriott is easy walking distance from a lot of stuff downtown. The thing is, it's brand new and so it's a couple blocks from things. Not a big deal really, but nothing is "across the street" (except what's in the hotel itself). But once you're over into the downtown area you have a lot of stuff. Several chains of course (Champp's, Buca Di Beppo, PF Changs, Palamino, Hard Rock Cafe, etc., but none of that is probably ideal).

But do check these: 

There's no reason not to have something within walking distance really. Any of these would work pretty well for both atmosphere and food and should have the room. RAM, Rock Bottom, and Harry & Izzy's are closest but the others are really cool too. 

-Matt

Grand Budapest Hotel

Keystone Art Cinema       8702 Keystone Crossing       317-566-8185

So you may not be as big Wes Anderson fans as we are, but we were concerned that we might miss the opening of the new movie, The Grand Budapest Hotel. If you have no idea what I'm talking about, skip this post, or if you are a casual fan, you should check out some of the hype. The latest is this piece on Anderson's use of aspect ratio to chronologically date some of the stories being told, to reinforce the film's timeline. If you haven't seen the trailer:

The Grand Budapest will be playing at the Keystone starting Friday, March 21. As of this post, Her, Nebraska, Philomena, Dallas Buyers Club, and other recent indy and award-winning films were playing there.