Horse at Pogues Run

When we're traveling home from downtown on I-70, we like to jokingly ask each other if the horse will be out near Pogue's Run. Of course, he always is. We're not sure why he's there but he always brings smiles to our faces.

Garfield Park- Indianapolis, IN

The view of the Garfield Park Conservatory from the Sunken Gardens:

Here's an interesting page about the history of the park and the pagoda.

MacAllister Center for the Performing Arts:

Plaque honoring Al Feeney, Mayor of Indianapolis from 1948-1950.

Statue of Henry Ware Lawton:

What is it with the squirrels at Garfield Park? They've got to be the most people friendly squirrels in the city. Several years ago, we had a little one get as close as a squirrel has ever gotten to us as we were sitting on a bench in the Sunken Gardens. The Heidelberger Papers has mentioned that they'll get up close and personal with you and that was the case when we were there over the weekend. Luckily, we had some leftover popcorn from our visit to the Ice House so the squirrels kept us pretty entertained while we fed them.

Garfield Park is just a wonder. It's like Indianapolis' version of New York City's Central Park. The Sunken Gardens are just gorgeous. The pool was buzzing with activity on the hot day as was the infinitely cool pagoda. Several years ago, we went to a performance of Long Day's Journey Into Night at the MacAllister Center for the Performing Arts. Check out the Bard at Garfield Park website- they performed Much Ado About Nothing this past weekend and, in September, will perform Twelfth Night which we might have to go see. It's FREE for goodness' sake. This park seems to have it all.

Indiana State Park Pass

Even though we typically only use it for our visits to the Fort Harrison State Park, the annual park pass is still the best $36 we'll spend this year.

Holliday Park- Indianapolis

In Autumn, Holliday Park particularly calls to us. It's such a gorgeous place anyway but the fall foliage really makes it special. If this park is nowhere near your home, you need to make a special trip to visit it anyway. We love the trails that wind down towards the White River. We even think it is cool on the part where you walk under the road. After a hearty hike we always have to take time to gawk at the Ruins. They are originally from a New York building that was torn down and they look so grand in this park setting. Holliday Park is one of those places in the city that always makes us happy.

Scenes from... Feast of Lanterns

We were downtown for an event last night so we swung by Spades Park to see the Feast of Lanterns after reading about it for years. Not very familiar with the area, we twisted and turned through the streets, unsure where we were, until we saw the beautiful sight of all of these papers lanterns suspended throughout the park. They were absolutely gorgeous- definitely more spectacular than we imagined. We found parking on a side street and walked through the park to gawk at the lanterns, listen to good music, and browse at some cool art. We are so glad that we've finally seen this tradition. We love a sense of history about a place so we love that this website has some newspaper clippings from as far back as 1923 documenting the Feast of Lanterns. The pictures don't really do the lanterns justice so be sure to go to the Feast of Lanterns next year and see them for yourself.

Eagle Creek Park- Indianapolis

Does it get any better than a late summer day spent leisurely at Eagle Creek Park? We don't think so. Finding ourselves with a rare weekday free, we headed to the west side to find some zen at Eagle Creek. We haven't been canoeing in well over a decade so we decided it was time to do it again. We parked at the Marina and signed up to rent a canoe for $10/hour. We headed out and quickly realized what good upper body exercise paddling is. As we tried to get in sync with our paddling, we were thrilled with all of the wildlife that we saw. We've never seen so many herons (we think that is what they are, you'll correct us if we are wrong). They are so gorgeous and we even saw some baby ones. We managed to paddle for almost 2 hours and then found a picnic table to enjoy some much needed sustenance. On our way from the Marina parking lot to the hiking path, a fellow park visitor had to point out a deer right in the parking lot just a few feet away from us. As you can tell from the photos, he was a bit of a ham. We then headed through the woods (getting lost as we always do here) for a long hike. The chorus of locusts and even more deer sightings made for a perfect walk in the woods. It's only $5/car to get into the park and it is so wonderful; we are feeling pretty jealous of the west-siders.

Ft. Harrison State Park: Bliss for $4

Need some zen? Head to 59th St and Post to the Fort Harrison State Park. We love this place and feel so lucky that it was kept as a park and not developed with houses. This is a great place for nature lovers, runner, walkers, and cyclists. There is a big asphalt loop called Harrison Trace Trail in case you don't like to venture into the woods. If you like a hill, you can walk or pedal up to the horse barns. If you like walking in the woods, they have several terrific trails such as the particularly scenic Fall Creek Trail with the Fall Creek Boardwalk and Observation Deck. As you may have gathered from the name, you are walking along Fall Creek on this trail so you get to enjoy the sound of the water and you might see deer or hear exotic birds. Just this past week, a couple of nice ladies alerted Mrs. WYA! to the fact that a trio of woodpeckers were in the area that she was headed towards. It is hard to believe that this amazing respite is just minutes from 465. They are currently building another playground area but we hope that they don't have plans for too much more development. We think it is pretty perfect the way it is. We actually wish that they'd close it as a park and just let us live there.