Day 3: OH >> IN >> IL

I woke early, opening my eyes to Henley staring at me mere inches away, which is the case more mornings than not. My hosts continued to be kind and generous and we hung out for a bit drinking coffee and smoothies and eating hard boiled eggs with Sriracha. I took my time leaving, not looking forward to doing anything in the rain. Henley and I eventually left and went to a nearby dog park that had those water fountains that are flush with the ground. He was in heaven. 

Before exploring Columbus, damage control had to be done. I had washed my two white tees with a reddish shirt that had never been washed. I do not wear pink. I immediately drove across Columbus to Madewell to fix this disaster. Near-tragedy averted, now I could move on. 

We started in Short North, the arts district. This was kind of disappointing as it seemed to be just stores and restaurants you’d find anywhere else. I know that is not completely true, as I did come across cute shops located there when I was researching Columbus online, but I wasn’t in the mood for leaving Henley in the car or outside while I shopped. I did, however, leave him outside to run into North Market, a public market with dozens of vendors selling flowers, produce, fish, prepared foods, and more. Two Columbus treasures I couldn’t miss were Stauf’s Coffee Roasters and Jeni’s Splendid Ice Cream, both of which have a handful of locations and both have one of those locations in North Market. I got an iced coffee from Stauf’s and a mid-morning ice cream from Jeni’s: wildberry lavender and honey almond brittle. It was worth the ride from Boston. 

Next we visited German Village. It is a cute neighborhood with adorably beautiful homes. I’m not sure what else it has to offer besides a popular book shop, which did not allow Henley in so we didn’t stick around long. I had never seen houses like this before. It made me think about how the architecture of homes can be drastically different in different places. It sounds like such a “duhh” comment and I’m sure I knew this already, but I guess it’s not something you, or I anyway, think much about until you are in a place that has architecture you’ve never seen before. And where is the line drawn? Where does this Ohio architecture stop? How far east does it go? How far west and south does our typical New England architecture go? It’s similar to accents. I don’t normally think about people from as far north as Pennsylvania or as far east as Ohio having noticeably different accents, but I’ve heard some good ones. 

When it comes to seeing new places on this trip, I can’t even call what I’m doing scratching the surface. I’ve lived in Boston for four years and there’s still so much I have to do and see and get to know better. I love nature n’ all, hiking, camping occasionally, but I really love exploring cities too. I love living in a city and having that challenge of getting to know it constantly there, waiting for a day off to do nothing but wander, stroll, taste, sip, and learn. 

It's hard for me to decide where I want to be when I have such a love for both country/nature and the city. When I grow up, I’d like a farm house in the country. I want to raise kids where they can play in brooks and woods and fields. This home will need to be within a day’s driving distance from my city apartment, which will need to be an Uber ride away from the airport where I can catch a flight to my third home overseas. 

Next stop was Indianapolis. I guess I just didn’t do enough research beforehand. Better yet, talking to a person from Indy for recommendations would have been helpful. I thought I had a good little list going, including a couple cultural stops, coffee house, restaurant or two, same kind of list I made for each place I’d be stopping in. I first went to Monument Circle. Nice monument. Now what? I walked along the canal for a minute. Nice manmade waterway. Done. I feel bad for these cities I’m not even giving a chance. It’s not their fault. Not at all. I’m sure they’re great cities, but it’s the lesser known places, neighborhoods, things you learn from a trusted local that are important. I just didn’t get to do that with these places the past few days. I did find a great place though called Locally Grown Gardens. They do have gardens and sell lots of produce, but also had four entrees to choose from and a few different kinds of pie and really cool indoor and outdoor seating areas. I got salmon with a mixed green salad. Huge portions, delicious, reasonably priced. Indy is good in my book. 

I love Boston. I do. I love it so much. But you do not realize that the behavior that we are used to, even comfortable with, is not the same behavior in other places. Dude, people are nice in Indianapolis. It’s probably not confined to the city. Maybe it’s all of the midwest. And maybe Boston’s rudeness is really all of Massachusetts or New England. But, shit. People were smiling at me. Everyone! All the time! Individuals, couples, families, men, women, black, white. They said hi or at least smiled and/or said something to Henley and/or told me how beautiful he was. This didn’t happen a couple times. This was what happened with almost every single person I passed. Even if it was a guy, alone or with friends, it wasn’t a catcall or a harassing comment, it was a “Hi!” “Hey there!” There were times I would see someone from a great distance. I think they were looking at me, I think they were smiling at me, but I didn’t have my glasses on so I couldn’t be sure, until I got closer that is, which is when I could confirm it. That’s how far away the kindness began! It was actually a little exhausting because then I felt like I, too, had to smile and greet everyone I passed. I could only look bewildered at such pleasantries for so long before I had to accept it and join the club or else I’d be a cold Masshole like I was bred to be, evidently. What’s wrong with us? Why are we so cruel? Maybe we’re always just so grumpy about the weather. I was pulling out of a CVS parking lot and a guy waved goodbye to me. He waved goodbye to me! 

I noticed it in New Mexico and Arizona when I was driving around there this past January. Where I’m from, when you call someone or walk into a business, a polite conversation would go: “Hi, this is who I am and why I’m here or calling.” In the Southwest it goes like this: “Hi there!” “Hello!” “How are you?” And get this...they then wait for you to respond, to learn how you are doing. “I’m great, thanks. How are you?” And then you wait for their response. When all of this is said and done, you may move on to what you need. I’m a nice person. Polite. Pleasant to anyone and everyone I may talk to on the phone or in a store. But I had to really stop and slow myself down and not just barge in demanding help with something. Fascinating. 

I was hesitant to leave the land of the kind, afraid I’d never see such smiles again, but I hit the road towards St. Louis. I am now staying in the car tonight at a rest area a little outside the city. I have a pretty good set up going on. I first cleaned out the car and reorganized, a sometimes daunting, but always rewarding, twice daily chore. We stretched our legs a bit, Henley got a good brushing, and we are now settled in the back for the night. I got a Red Box movie for the occasion and just cracked open a juice box of wine. Did I mention I got a slice of peach pie to go? I’ve been smelling it for hours. I can stand it no longer. Goodnight! 


Here's a sample of my driving music :)

Scottish Rite Cathedral of Indianapolis