Indianapolis, Indiana

           The afternoon baked me in my car as I zoomed into the sunburned landscape of Indiana. Although this state has not seen the worst of the droughts in 2013, it was the first time so far on my journey that the ground looked parched. On both sides of the highway, the grass and other vegetation ached for moisture, and the dust, wind, and sun were unrelenting. It was late afternoon before I reached the southern fringes of Indianapolis.

            The hotel I booked was in the industrial part of town close to the airport, and it was clearly frequented by business travelers only staying for a night or two. After checking in, I set out into town in search of dinner. To my dismay, I discovered that the main highway into downtown was closed due to construction, but luck was with me and the detour was neither complicated nor tedious.

Dozens of buildings along the route appeared to be vacant, whether commercial or residential. I began to lose count of all the ‘For Sale or Lease’ signs that I passed. It is clear that Indianapolis has seen better days, but as I approached downtown, the signs of economic strife began to give way to the hustle and bustle of a thriving city. The contrast was rather startling.

I found the restaurant I had chosen on Yelp, and parking not far away. It seemed that there was some sort of business dinner happening at the place, because several groups of six to ten well-dressed people were seated immediately after responding correctly to the question, “Are you with so-and-so?” After a little while, one of the hostesses walked over and asked if I was over 21. Taken aback and somewhat confused, I immediately responded that I was not. When I asked why she inquired, she explained that no one under the age of 21 is permitted to sit in the bar area by state law. That means not even at a table in close proximity to the bar, regardless of whether or not one even tries to order a drink. It was a bit of a culture shock; I had heard of not being permitted to sit at the bar when one is underage, but not of being forbidden from sitting near the bar. It seemed to me that legislation of this nature would put an undue strain on restaurants, which would have to carefully define what is the ‘bar area’ and what is not. Due to this complication, I waited an additional 10 minutes to be seated. My meal turned out to be well worth the wait, and I left with a bulging stomach and a contented smile.

The next day was the first Sunday on the second leg of my trip. Happy to relax in my hotel room all day, I reveled in the fact that in many areas of the country, there are few things to do on Sundays. It was extremely refreshing; coming from the 24/7 Tri-State area, it was nice to relax without feeling negligent.

Monday morning arrived with the usual dreaded buzz of my alarm. Actually, my alarm doesn’t buzz. My phone gently cradles me awake with a melody of wind chimes that gradually ascends in volume, but I react to it in precisely the same, disgruntled way. After getting my wits about me, I left the hotel in search of the Capitol.

Navigating city roads is never easy if you don’t know where you’re going, and Indianapolis is no exception. I was honked at and sped around too many times to count, and by the time I found parking near the Capitol, I was a little stressed and scatter-brained. The business district of Indianapolis is just like any other city; Men in suits and women in heels whizzing around, making deals, and talking on their phones. The only difference between this metropolis and others that I have visited was the unmistakable barnyard smell that occasionally wafted by my nose.

When I arrived in front of the Capitol, I stopped for a moment to take a few pictures. To me, the outside of the building looked very similar to the Harrisburg Capitol, except for the numerous stairs in the front, and of course the statues were different. When I walked inside, I proceeded to the Tour and Information desk. I bought a book in Vermont called The Capitols Collection in which one can collect stamps from each Capitol, complete with the date of one’s visit. I stamped my book, and waited in the rotunda for the tour to begin.

     The rotunda of the State House was not exceedingly ornate, but enormous as usual. The unique feature of this rotunda was the huge stained glass window that spanned in the interior of the dome. 8 representative statues, each labeled ‘Law,’ ‘Art,’ ‘Liberty,’ ‘History,’ ‘Justice,’ ‘Oratory,’ ‘Commerce,’ and ‘Agriculture’ stood resolutely above the ground floor. These figures all represent practices that are important to the culture and economy of the state of Indiana. After a few minutes, our guide walked over, and the tour began. She started by talking about the construction of the building itself. The building we were standing in was Indiana’s fourth State House. The first building, located in Corydon, Indiana, is still standing. The second building as the Old Marion Courthouse, which was demolished in the early 20th century. The third building, which stood in the same spot as the current Capitol, was modeled after the Parthenon, but the legislature was forced to abandon it due to structural problems. After the destruction of that building, the current State House was built. A carving in the main part of the building proclaimed that the building took about a year to build, from 1887 to 1888, and cost $1,980,969.

The House Chamber was closed to the public for renovations that were needed to update the electronic equipment inside. The Senate Chamber was open, but wasn’t too much to look at. The sharp overhead lighting, and the absolute silence within reminded me of a classroom or library, but not in a very pleasant way. As we walked through the halls, our tour guide told us how the method of heating early in the 20th century, coal, coated the inside of the building in soot. During a series of renovations in the first half of the century, changes were made to the lighting and other aspects of the building that took away most of its original character. All of the painted stencil work throughout the building was covered up in 1958 during a period of poor stylistic decision-making, but thankfully, thorough restoration during the 1980s brought the building back to its original grandeur.

The Supreme Court in Indiana also meets in the Capitol. The chamber has soaring ceilings, and pictures of Indiana’s Supreme Court Justices festooned the walls. Three large windows in the exterior wall are topped with stained glass portions, designed to look like the wise, watchful eyes of owls. It was my favorite room in the whole building, and not just because I love owls.

     The tour only lasted about an hour, and afterwards I went to the Indiana State Museum. After paying a nominal admission fee, I watched a short video about Indiana. One of the unique things about this state is that people from Indiana are not called Indianans, Indiananites, or any other derivative of the state name. Rather, they are called Hoosiers, a demonym that has been used for at least 150 years. There are many theories for the origin of the term, but none are widely accepted as fact. Among these theories is the idea that there was once a contractor named Hoosier who worked on the Louisville and Portland Canal who liked to hire laborers from Indiana. They were called Hoosier’s men, and eventually all people from Indiana were called Hoosiers. James Whitcomb Riley, a well-known poet from Indiana who was often called the “Hoosier Poet,” offered a more amusing explanation. He said the nickname came from the ruthless habits of the early settlers of Indiana, who were known for biting off the noses and ears of their opponents. It was so common that a settler would walk into a local tavern, spot a severed ear on the floor and inquire, “Whose ear?”

After the video ended, I moved on through the rest of the museum, which began with the ancient beginnings of the land that is now Indiana. I perused several exhibits dedicated to natural history, the history of Native American inhabitants, and the first colonization of the land of Indiana before moving on to more recent history. The part of the entire museum that stood out to me the most was the full Klu Klux Klan uniform that was displayed among the other remnants of the Civil Rights Movement. It was very shocking for me to see it shown as matter-of-factly as anything else, as I come from an area of the country where they were not very active as an organization. It would never even occur to a museum curator in the northeast to put something like that on display, because the backlash would be so severe. It was a little unnerving, and a bit of a culture shock, but I had to remind myself that it was a part of the comprehensive history of the region, and a museum as extensive as this one would be remiss if they didn’t include it.

Later that day, I went to a large laundromat on the north end of the city. As I traveled through town, it was remarkable how much my surroundings changed. After leaving downtown, it was only a few blocks before the buildings began to look neglected. Sidewalks and roadways were cracked, crumbled, and in need of repair. Countless ‘For Sale’ and ‘For Rent’ signs bombarded my vision, and the number of fast food restaurants began to increase exponentially. I passed by several corners with dozens of weary individuals waiting by the bus stop, most of them looking exceedingly unhappy. Just as I began to feel a little uncomfortable, I passed over a highway, and the derelict buildings and cracked sidewalks were replaced with enormous, colonial style mansions with perfectly manicured lawns and expensive cars sitting in the driveways. It was very surprising and a little sickening that so many families were enjoying such lavish lifestyles while less than two blocks away many people were suffering through the worst of the economic downturn. I wondered if the people living in the wealthy neighborhood just pretended the languishing masses didn’t exist, just over the highway.

It seemed to me that Indiana has been through some very difficult times lately, along with the rest of the world. They have sustained one of the worst unemployment and underemployment rates in the entire country, and the economy is creeping along at sloth-like pace. It was heart wrenching to witness first hand, and I felt a huge amount of empathy for the people dealing with the hardship. Despite the economic hardship, many of the people that I encountered in Indiana seemed stubbornly positive, and inspiringly tenacious, and it was clear to me that the perpetuated misfortune was not for a lack of trying. With my mind filled with the questions of our tumultuous times, the next morning I set out for Michigan.