One Night In Indiana (Indianapolis, Carmel: amusement park, theater, university)

[jgp333]

I will be visiting for about three days in August for a conference and was curious to hear from locals where you would go if you had never been to Indianapolis before and wanted a fun atmosphere for evening entertainment. I am 29 years old, openly gay and very into history and culture. I enjoy comedy clubs, jazz clubs, spoken word, theater, sports etc. very open to different experiences. Just hoping to hear suggestions I wouldn't know about by just Googling tourist attractions. I know where I live in Atlanta you would really miss out on the best of the city just going to the well known spots.

[grmasterb]

Originally Posted by jgp333

I will be visiting for about three days in August for a conference and was curious to hear from locals where you would go if you had never been to Indianapolis before and wanted a fun atmosphere for evening entertainment. I am 29 years old, openly gay and very into history and culture. I enjoy comedy clubs, jazz clubs, spoken word, theater, sports etc. very open to different experiences. Just hoping to hear suggestions I wouldn't know about by just Googling tourist attractions. I know where I live in Atlanta you would really miss out on the best of the city just going to the well known spots.

Is your conference downtown?

[ischyros]

Originally Posted by jgp333

I will be visiting for about three days in August for a conference and was curious to hear from locals where you would go if you had never been to Indianapolis before and wanted a fun atmosphere for evening entertainment. I am 29 years old, openly gay and very into history and culture. I enjoy comedy clubs, jazz clubs, spoken word, theater, sports etc. very open to different experiences. Just hoping to hear suggestions I wouldn't know about by just Googling tourist attractions. I know where I live in Atlanta you would really miss out on the best of the city just going to the well known spots.

I assume you will be downtown and with a car? Within walking distance of about anywhere downtown is the Indiana State Museum. It is mostly Indiana history but if you love history you may enjoy it. Or in the basement of the Indiana War Memorial is the Indiana War Memorial Museum. It details the history of all the major wars the US has been in. It's free, it may sound kind of boring, but I found it to be extremely well done. Again the emphasis is on Indiana's role in all the wars but there is a lot of other information as well and it's very interesting if you have even a passing interest in military history. If you want to get an idea of it, I believe you can actually go through the whole thing in Google Earth.

For jazz, if you have a car, you can check out the Jazz Kitchen on College Ave in Broad Ripple. Downtown on Mass Ave is the Chatterbox Jazz Club.

If you're here in the first half of August, you'll be in town for the Indiana State Fair. If that is of any interest to you, obviously there is a huge carnival, lots of exhibits, and concerts. On the main stage will be concerts like Robin Thicke, Pitbull, Lynard Skynard. On the free stage are concerts like Barenaked Ladies, America, and Kansas to name a few.

There's a couple comedy clubs downtown. There's Crackers which does mostly traveling comics. And on Mass Ave is ComedySportz which does great improv. Crackers also has a location in Broad Ripple. If you want to drive way out, Morty's Comedy Joint is on the border of Indy and Carmel on 96th St. They feature touring comics on weekends but Wednesday nights are more akin to amateur night.

As for theater, you can check out what's going on at the Murat. It includes the history Murat Theater that features big productions, Broadway shows, concerts, etc, and the more intimate Egyptian Room both in the same building. There are also productions at the Indiana Repertory Theater, the Madame Walker Theater, (both downtown) or find out what's going on at Clowes Hall at Butler University about 4 miles north of downtown.

Hope this helps you out a little bit!

[shayloure]

Originally Posted by jgp333

I will be visiting for about three days in August for a conference and was curious to hear from locals where you would go if you had never been to Indianapolis before and wanted a fun atmosphere for evening entertainment. I am 29 years old, openly gay and very into history and culture. I enjoy comedy clubs, jazz clubs, spoken word, theater, sports etc. very open to different experiences. Just hoping to hear suggestions I wouldn't know about by just Googling tourist attractions. I know where I live in Atlanta you would really miss out on the best of the city just going to the well known spots.

Some times the Irving Theatre has spoken word nights. In addition to what other suggested for history and culture, I'd also recommend checking out the Indianapolis Museum of Art. It's free and you only have to pay for a certain special exhibit if you want to see that exhibit. I spent 3 hours in the museum looking at the art on each floor and I still think there's a few pieces I missed, so don't think by not paying anything that you're missing out because believe me this is a pretty nice museum. The state fair is cool, but only for people who go to state fairs. Our's is here and what makes it one of the largest events is because we're the capitol and the largest city in Indiana. Aside from Dallas and Minneapolis, I'm not sure what other large cities actually play host to their state fair. Anyway, with that being said, it is fun if you're into rides that are smaller than an amusement park but larger than a carnival. There are concerts and and this year there will be a beer garden so that will be something new. As far as other concerts go, I know the warped tour is coming to Klipsch music center some time in August. Yes that is in one of our northern suburbs, however, getting outside of downtown is how you're able to see more of the metro area. Also, there's a car share program set up now. So you'd be able to get a car for a couple of hours and drive from downtown to other places. We do have a bus system, but yeah.....it only goes to certain places, and only three routes are frequent (meaning every 15-20 min.). Most routes stop running around 10:30 pm with the last around 11:30 on weekdays. On weekends it stops earlier. Last thing regarding jazz, definitely check out the Jazz Kitchen in Broad Ripple. On Thursdays they have Latin night and that's usually a good time. But they have good music and good food and drinks on other nights of the week as well.

[ruascott]

I really think mass ave is the area you want to check out....chatterbox is a good jazz club there, plus a lot of other interesting restaurants/bars.

Museums and such have been mentioned. I can't stand the fair, but some people love it.

[Zig'sbird]

Since you are interested in history it really is a shame that you are only here for 1 day. Like auto racing also? If so the speedway has a great museum of race cars with of course the emphasis being on Indy cars.

The canal is a nice place to walk plus it also has a memorial for the Medal of Honor and another memorial for the USS Indianapolis.

Indy is also the national headquarters for the American Legion and needless to say they have a lot of memorials.

Also downtown is the Eiteljorg Musuem. Eiteljorg Museum of American Indians and Western Art

A great bar to visit is the Slippery Noodle on the southside of downtown. It's the oldest bar in Indiana. Be aware though, it's a Blues bar. http://www.slipperynoodle.com/

Outside of the Noodle I have no idea on bars.