Cheap Lodging
Indy Hostel-4903 Winthrop Avenue. Indianapolis, Indiana 46205, Really nice hostel!
Monticello, IN-
Indiana Beach Amusement Park-: (574) 583-4141 -Very cool amusement park making ingenious use of space with coaster going out over water to save room. Indiana Tips
Suggestions, comments? Send them to me at evan @ trashytravel.com
Southeastern Indiana bills itself as the Fried Chicken Capital of the World. Follow the Chicken Trail and find out for yourself.
Another Regional Specialty is the Pork Tenderloin Sandwich. Follow the Tenderloin trail to taste them. Some Favorites tenderloin places are Nick’s Kitchen in Huntington, IN which started as a sandwich cart in 1908, Lemon Drop Diner in Anderson, IN since 1954 and Nickel Plate Bar and Grill in Fishers, IN which started as a saloon in the 1800s. The Tenderloin Connoisseur tells about them all.
The Indiana State Fair is in August.
Anderson, IN
Eats-
Gene’s Root Beer-640 S Scatterfield Rd, Anderson, IN 46012 (765)642-5768-You will see a lot of these root beer stands of this type on this page. This one is Coney dogs mostly. They call their variation the Spanish Hot dog. Nice sign and cute logo
Bloomington, Indiana
Former home of Bobby Knight and home to Indiana University.
Local Radio of not-WFHB-91.3/98.1 FM-community run
WIUS-1570 AM-Indiana U’s stationLocal alt paper the
Bloomington Independent. They have a very good music listing, but its bad with the addresses. Following are a couple of reliable venues. There are hundreds of local bands in this relatively small town.
Live Music-
The Bishop: 123 S Walnut St, Bloomington, IN 47404 (812) 333-4700
The Bluebird-216 North Walnut Street-812-336-3984.
Soma Cafe-332 E. Kirkwood Ave-Next to TDs Cds, Coffee shop with occassional bands and performances.
Uncle Festers house of booze-430 E Kirkwood Ave-Bloomington, IN 47408 (812) 323-1023Records-
TD’s CDs and LPs, 322 E. Kirkwood Ave., Bloomington, IN
All Ears-401 E 10th St.-812-336-6465
The Velvet Onion-201 E 2nd St, Bloomington, Indiana The Velvet Onion is a creative space used to host house shows, poetry readings and dance parties in order to raise funds for radical, autonomous projects. (574) 536-1187
Eats-
Rockits Famous Pizza 222 N Walnut St.(812) 336-7625-music memoriabilia pizza joint.
Laughing Planet Cafe 322 E Kirkwood Ave (812) 323-2233-good burritos
Uptown Cafe – Cajun-Creole food 102 E Kirkwood Ave, Bloomington, IN 47408
Phone:(812) 339-0900 Cajun Meatloaf sandwich , shrimp and grits
Other stuff-
The Backdoor-207 S College Ave, Bloomington, IN 47404-Gay bar with burlesque and drag shows and occasional live music.
Caveat Emptor 112 N Walnut St (812) 332-9995 used books
Brookville, IN
Event
Canoefest-Indianas Largest Canoe Race-and a chicken fry off
Follow the Chicken Trail to be a Judge in the Chicken cook off and to eat tasty chicken
Chesterton, IN
Eats-The Port Drive-In, 419 N Calumet Rd, Chesterton, IN 46304, (219) 926-3500
French Lick, IN
Check out the amazing West Baden Springs Hotel.
Indianapolis, IN
Thanks to my friend Jon for helping me update this info.The Local alternative weekly for Indianapolis is the NUVO.
Music Stores-
Karma Records, 8811 Hardegan Street, County Line Mall
LUNA music 433 Mass Ave Indpls, In 317 917 5862Bars-Alley Cat Lounge, 6267 Carrollton Ave (rear),
Indianapolis, 317.257.4063, In alley just east of Carrollton Avenue and south of Broad Ripple Avenue. Swing by here after seeing a show at The Patio. Open til 3 am on weekends.
Other Stuff-
Live Music-
General Public Collective ?-Art gallery in Indianapolis, Indihttps://www.instagram.com/punk_rock_night/?hl=enana: 1060 Virginia Ave, Indianapolis, IN 46203
Birdy`s-2131 E. 71st Street, Indianapolis, IN 254-8971 Corner of 71st & Keystone Ave
Melody Inn-3826 N. Illinois-317-923-4707-Every Saturday is PUNK ROCK NIGHT
The Patio-6308 N. College Ave., Indianapolis, IN 317.253.0799 , 62nd St. & Guilford Ave. in Broad Ripple, which is the “cool” area.
The Vogue-6259 N. College Ave, Indianapolis, IN 317.259.7029-ex-moviehouse now hosts dance parties, concerts & burlesque shows, plus multiple bars.
The Dojo-4675 East Tenth Street, Indianapolis, IN 46201 DIY performance space.
White Rabbit Cabaret -Touring bands, comedy acts & an in-house burlesque troupe play here 1116 Prospect St, Indianapolis, IN 46203, most nights til 1AM (317) 686-9550
State Street Pub: 243 N State Ave, Indianapolis, IN 46201 (317) 974-9285
Bar-The Slippery Noodle-372 S. Meridian St., Indianapolis, IN 46225 (317) 631-6974-Indianas oldest bar. Live blues
Eats-
Working Man’s Friend – diner featuring AMAZING MUST EAT burgers- 234 N Belmont Ave, Indianapolis, IN 46222 SUper bizarre early hours, closes by 5 most days, closed sunday, some days closes earlier.
Johns Famous Stew Indianapolis- 100 years, 1146 Kentucky Ave, Indianapolis, IN 46221 (317) 636-6212
Shapiros Deli-Jewish deli. 808 S. Meridian, Indianapolis, IN 317-631-4041. Amazing Corned beef. Been here for A hundred years!
King Ribs for BBQ- 4130 N. Keystone Indianapolis, IN 317.543.0841
Mug ‘n Bun Drive-In, 5211 W. 10th St., Indianapolis, 317-244-5669-old timey burger joint with Car hops.Serving fine food to Indy’s west side for over 50 years.5211 West 10th Street Speedway, IN 46224 (317) 244-5669 great old sign on this pork tenderloin and Onion Ring Joint.
Red Key Tavern -Since 1933. Cash only. Great burgers 5170 N College Ave, Indianapolis, IN 46205 (317) 283-4601
The Rathskeller-Voted Best German Restaurant in Indy every year-401 E Michigan St, Indianapolis, IN 46204 (317) 636-0396
St Elmos Steak House-127 South Illinois Street,Indianapolis, IN 46225 (317) 635-0636-aint cheap, but it includes all the sides, and only one app, a super hot shrimp coctail. Also unusual, the choices of either navy bean soup or tomato juice. They also just opened up the 1933 prohibition lounge.
King David hot dogs-Downtown Indianapolis, 135 North Pennsylvania St.
Indianapolis, IN 46204 Only open til 4 pm or earlier
Phone: (317) 632-DOGS BBQ Dog, Corn Dog, Chicago Dogs and more.
The Tamale Place-5226 Rockville Rd, Indianapolis, IN 46224 (317) 248-9771-mostly meat and a little bit of corn.
Steer-In Restaurant -5130 E 10th St, Indianapolis, IN 46219 (317) 356-0996-cold old timey drive in. Since its Indiana they have pork tenderloins too.
Big Hoffa’s Smokehouse Bar-B-Que -800 E Main St, Westfield, IN 46074 (317) 867-0077-BBQ and ice cream place. Currently charming but they are talking about expanding nearby (2017 news)
Destinations-
The Indianapolis Speedrome is one of those crazy figure 8 tracks.
Just north of Indy is Fairmont, IN where you can visit James Deans Grave.
Commiskey, IN
Don’s Drive-In-506 N 7th St, Kentland, IN 47951 (219) 474-6323-Very little evidence of this online, but the reviews say this place has amazing burgers as well as other dishes not usual for this type of joint.
Michigan City, IN
Eats-
Carlson’s Drive In -cash-only drive-in with burgers, chili, BBQ pork & Chicago style hot dogs- 118 W Coolspring Ave, Michigan City, IN 46360 (219) 872-0331 since 1947
Mooresville, IN
Logansport, IN
1912 Denzel Carousel-Stop by to see a great example of preservation of this classic carousel. They also have a little train. Train and Carousel rides are 50 cents each. The carousel has a ring machine, which is very rare these days. If you get the brass ring you get a free ride!! This is located in a municipal park.
This is the area where Holiday World Amusement park is located, a must see.
There is a decent website that lists area attractions. These include Dr. Ted Musical Marvels which is a collection of Street Organs and other music boxes. Also included are sights such as the Boner Bridge.Other Indiana CitiesCannelton, INWalls Drive In, Highway 66-They make a cheeseburger here with canadian bacon on top.
Evansville, IN
My name is Evan, so naturally I have stopped into Evansville twice so far. I always want to get Evansville Souvenirs but the only place you can get them is at the airport. Fortunately, you can drive in and out of the airport in ten minutes.
Eats
The Gerst Haus, 2100 W Franklin Street, Evansville, IN 47712 (812) 424-1420 German Restaurant where you can get the GERST SAMPLER, ham rolls, kraut balls, potato pancake and fried oysters and the forerunner of the tenderloin. A sister restaurant is in Nashville.
Powers Hamburgers-1402 S Harrison Street, Fort Wayne IN 46802; (at West Brackenridge Street; 260-422-6620- Mini Sliders similar to Hackensack NJs White Mana
most nights til 3AM (260) 267-5303
CS3 aka Calhoun Street Soup, Salad and Spirits at 1915 S. Calhoun St., Fort Wayne, IN-back room also refered to as the tiger room
Francesville, IN
Eats-
Patio Drive-In-234 N US 421, Francesville, IN 47946 (219) 567-2268-Closed in Winter. Indoor dining room. Opens for the season in March.
Gary, IN
In Valparaiso, near Gary is the 49’er Drive-In Theatre , N. Calumet Ave. (old S.R. 49) Valparaiso, IN 46383. This area was home to Orville Reddenbacher.
Eats-
Arman’s Restaurant – 5875 Melton Rd, Gary, IN 46403 (219) 938-3334-Chicago Style dogs and Polish Sausages, Also the regional tenderloins and some suprisingly well cooked other dishes.
Greenwood, IN
Eats-
The Suds (since 1957)-350 Market Plaza, Greenwood, IN 46142(317) 881-0085-adorable drive in with decent onion rings and coney dogs
Hammond, IN
Eats-Regional hamburger chain Shoops has two branches here and through IL and Indiana. Schoop’s Hamburgers – burgers, fries, chili, shakes & bottomless coffee.
7235 Indianapolis Blvd, Hammond, IN 46324
Muncie, IN
Eats-
Burkie’s Drive-In-1515 W Jackson St
Muncie, IN 47303 (765) 282-4355-Old school drive in with GREAT sign.
Jasper, IN
Every August, this town hosts a German Festival, Strassenfest.
Jeffersonville, IN
Eats
Vintage Candy Store-Schimpffs Confectionery, 347 Spring Street, Jeffersonville, IN, 47130 (812) 283-8367
Upland, IN
Warsaw, IN
Eats
Noa Noa Wood Grill & Sushi Bar -Seafood & sushi restaurant with a tiki theme, with fish market and bar- 310 Eastlake Dr, Warsaw, IN 46580 (574) 372-3224 New Speakeasy coming soon.
Washington, IN
Eats-
Mason’s Root Beer Drive-In, 1201 National Hwy E, Washington, IN 47501 (812) 254-2830-Local Favorite hot dog drive in. Great old sign and wonderful new signage. Over 60 years
East Point Main Toll Plaza
Indiana Toll Road Near Ohio State Line
Connecting with Ohio Turnpike