Taking a Drive Along Meridian in Indianapolis

I’m back! Did you miss me?

I had a great time in Indianapolis, visiting our old stomping grounds. Dave and I lived in Indy for the first 7 years of our marriage and loved it there. It’s always good to go back.

As you know, I was invited to the Indianapolis Home-a-Rama to take pictures for you guys, and it was a lot of fun. I got lots of great things to show you. I took over 400 photos of the houses, so it might take me awhile to get them all cropped and posted, but they’re coming, I promise!

It turns out they don’t grow houses quite as big at the Indy Home-a-Rama as they do in Cincinnati. They were a little more to “human scale,” and I liked them better. There were a couple I was ready to move into just as soon as I can raise a million dollars.

When we lived in Carmel, Indiana, I worked downtown at the Indiana Statehouse, which is a grand old building. I loved it. I was on a team of proofreaders in the Legislative Services Agency, which was actually a lot more fun than it sounds. We always knew what was going on because we saw the paperwork first. Sometimes we’d have lawmakers pacing anxiously behind us as we worked on their bills.

Every day on my way to work at the Statehouse, I drove down Meridian Street, which is lined with historic old homes. It’s a miracle I never got in an accident with all the gawking I did. The commute always flew by.

While we were in Indy this week, I told Dave that one of the things I wanted to do was drive down Meridian again and take some pictures of the houses that I used to drool over.

It wasn’t as easy as I imagined. If you’ve ever driven down Meridian, you know the traffic can be kind of insane. Dave drove with the emergency blinkers on and crept along as slowly as possible (without getting run over) so I could snap these. I’m surprised no one rear-ended us.

Even going 20 mph, it was hard to snap pictures fast enough. A lot of them were fuzzy, or were so crooked it looks like I’d been drinking (I wasn’t). I thought I’d show you some anyway. Just take a look at these places! They make my heart go pitter-pat.

Aren’t those fun? I wish more of them had turned out. There were quite a few houses for sale along the strip, so I’ll have to search the MLS to find some when I get a chance.

When we lived in Carmel, we were told that former Vice President Dan Quayle lived nearby, so we drove over there to take a picture of his place for you.

Disclaimer: we were never sure if it was true or just a rumor, however. If you know if he really owns a home here or not, please let me know.

The grounds of Dan Quayle’s-Supposed-Estate are huge and surrounded by barbed wire fences and “NO TRESPASSING” signs. We finally found the entrance but couldn’t see much of the house beyond the gates:

We were disappointed we couldn’t see more than some brick and a window or two beyond all those trees.

What we could see, though, were several big, black SUVs with darkened windows. So we think we must’ve had the right place. (Either that or a drug lord is holed up there.) We weren’t there long until an SUV roared up behind us out of nowhere and we had to move along. Quickly. But at least I snapped this photo first.

I just hope the Secret Service doesn’t come after me for this.

I also had a GREAT time in Anderson, Indiana, speaking to the writing students at Anderson University. It’s such a beautiful campus. I always love going back there and walking around, especially in the Fall.

Best of all, I got to spend time with my good friend Debbie, who graduated with me all those years ago and is now teaching in the English Department there.

She and her husband Troy were our best “couple friends” after college when the four of us moved from Anderson to Indianapolis. Troy died unexpectedly two years ago, leaving her and their three children behind. We really miss him!

She arranged for a Memorial Prayer Garden to be built in his honor on campus, so we went to see it while we were there. It was beautiful.

I wish I had gotten a better photo of it, but I was focusing on the plaque! I thought this was a wonderful way to honor his memory.

Debbie recently remarried and we were lucky enough to be at their wedding. It was so good to spend some time with them this week.

So now we’re back home in Ohio. My inbox is overflowing, so I apologize if you wrote me and I haven’t gotten back to you. I’m a bit swamped and way behind on everything around here.

As I scanned through the e-mails, I noticed I’ve been getting lots of requests for decorating advice. If you’re one of those people asking for my help, I’m very sorry. You guys know I’m not a decorator, right? I’m afraid I’m not going to be any help.

I hope to have some exciting news to share with you this week, if all goes well, so cross your fingers for me! (No, Mom, I’m not pregnant.)

P.S. I still don’t have enough Fake Family Fotos to hold the contest. If at least 5 more people send pics in, I’m going to embarrass myself by showing some of mine, too. I’m telling you, they’re pretty funny. How’s that for incentive? E-mail your worst studio-taken pics to me here: Julia @ hookedonhouses.net. Thanks, guys!

Tagged as: Dan Quayle, Home-a-Rama, Indiana, Indianapolis, Meridian Street, old houses