Week In Indy

We got home Friday Oct. 14th from a week spent in the Indianapolis area. We tend to get stuck in a rut while RVing and this was a chance to break out of it. We usually go to either Green Bay or Black River Falls, WI. I noticed there were a lot of antique shops in the Indy area and since it’s about 4 hours from home, it was doable. We ended up staying way in Pendleton which is a farming community north and east of Indianapolis. There really are only a few RV parks to choose from and our first choice along the river was full. The place we ended up at was called Glowood Campground. It used to be a farm and they now have mostly tent camping. There must’ve been about 10 sites for RVs that had full hookups (sewer, water & electric). If we ever go again, I think we’d try staying south of the city.
We had heard that Carmel was a hub for antiques so that was our first stop on Saturday. It is pronounced Car-ml (like the candy) but we still can’t help calling it Car-mel like the one in CA. “Carmel by the sea” is one of the places we went to on our honeymoon and it took many corrections to learn to say it right. The Midwestern Carmel turned out to be a cute town full of shops of all kinds, statues, bike trails, etc. It is basically ideal for hipsters (aka yuppies). Unfortunately (or maybe fortunately?), we’re not hipsters so after spending a few hours in the Old Town Antique Mall, we didn’t buy a thing. We almost missed Melissa’s Antiques which was on the 2nd level behind the stairs. She’s someone I’ve been following on Instagram for years but we’re not friends. I wanted to check her booth out and it turns out she had the best stuff in the place! Plus she had it organized like a dream. When we left there, we headed to Westfield to the Main Street Shops Antique Mall. We had higher hopes for that place but also came away without buying a thing. We were only in Indy 24 hours and were starting to second guess our decision to go there.

Sunday we went to Noblesville which is just charming. The Antique Mall there was the best! We got a few things and planned to come back later in the week if we didn’t find anything better. I always take a ton of pictures of things I like when antiquing. I can look back on them and see if I still love it or still want it. Sadly, there were a few things I was iffy on and we were going back on Thurs. but never made it. Mostly because we got caught up in other things but also because the traffic in Indy is WORSE than Chicago! Not even kidding. It takes forever to get anywhere and there’s a lot of construction and bumper to bumper traffic. Ugh!

Monday we went to Pendleton which was 5 miles from us. There were a few antique stores there but they were closed. A lot have a sign on the door, “Open by appointment or chance”. It seems like a crazy way to run a business. We ended up coming home early and taking Mom to the Hoosier Park Casino (& horse track) which was in Anderson about 20 minutes away. We ended up losing but had a bit of fun. On Wed. we went back to the casino with Mom and played for hours on Fortune 88 slot machines. We were just recycling money but at the end we came out $38 ahead and were able to go buy dinner at the buffet. This was my 4th time eating out this year so it was a real treat. The food was “meh” but I enjoyed it anyway. Otherwise we ate all our meals in the RV.

Tues. we went to the Holy Cross area of the city of Indianapolis. There’s an industrial building (formerly a factory) that was been turned into Midland antique mall. It was a blast going from room to room and floor to floor exploring. Hubby found more treasures than I did this trip but that’s ok. We both had a great time and would gladly go back anytime. In fact, we did go back on Thurs. when we were in the area visiting several other places. We came back specifically for a Pullman Step Stool. It’s from the old Pullman train cars out of Chicago and made of all steel. It is heavy duty and rare. I looked online and there is only 2 on ebay and they go for between $289-400. The one we found was in great shape and much cheaper! Greg couldn’t stop thinking about it and so we got it and will be using is as the step coming into our RV. Next we went to Audrey’s which was advertised as “where the dealers shop”. First off, it was in a BAD neighborhood. They have a furniture store and then another larger building with “vintage”. Most of it was new stuff made to look old and the prices were the worst I’d seen. So far beyond retail, it was a joke. Like if a pair of sunglasses is $1 at an estate sale, $2 at a thrift store, $5 at an antique store–Audrey’s would have them marked $59. Needless to say, we didn’t buy anything there. I had such a bad vibe off the place. Greg found a nice newish metal cross and it was marked $125. I would’ve paid $65 and I wouldn’t have felt good about it. Greg asked how much they’d take for it and the guy says $100. He thought it was solid brass and old but it wasn’t. Finally the guy came down to $95. We let them keep it.

On Thurs. we went back to the Holy Cross area to a place called Society Of Salvage. Another store called Rewired Antiques is located in the same building. He specializes mostly in vintage lighting but has other cool stuff too. The most memorable thing we got this trip (besides the step) was a set of 5 chairs from SOS. They were auditorium seats taken out of an old school. We’re talking 1950’s heavy duty (sturdy) steel chairs that fold up. We both liked them the minute we saw them. They’re bright orange and can be hooked together at the bottom. We were originally going to get 3 of them. The guy working there said they were $20 each which seemed fair. We had to go through about 10 of them to find the best ones and had it narrowed down to 5. Since they’re old, they all have something superficially wrong with them. Like missing rubber feet, stains, etc. The guy saw how hard we were trying to find good ones so he said if we bought 3, he’d throw in the 4th for free. We couldn’t decide between the 5 so asked if he’d take $60 for 5 of them. He said yes! We were so thrilled! These suckers are really heavy but feel so good to sit in. Not like a metal folding chair or a plastic chair. As comfortable as a couch (minus the footrest and armrests). Now we have to figure out where to put them!

Greg is getting more and more into primitives and salvage finds. I find them interesting as well. The guy running SOS told us about a new place that opened up 2 months ago a block away so we decided to check them out. It’s called Little Doc’s Architectural Salvage. They have a showroom in front and a warehouse in back filled with some of the nicest, choicest salvage I’ve ever seen. We met the owners, Little Doc & Lindsay Keys (husband and wife), who are the coolest. They are living their dream and doing it in style. Little Doc’s father has run Doc’s Architectural Salvage for decades and now has opened another one in the Nashville area. Little Doc caught the vintage fever and he collects and sells. He showed us around and I saw several things I’d love to have but alas, I have only a 1,379 sq. ft. house that is already crammed full. One of the cooler things he had was a gigantic old porcelain sign for a monument company. Another was a huge 10 ft. tall wooden pulpit from the 1840’s! He’d taken it out of a lady’s house. She had won it at an auction when her church went out of business. I would give my eye teeth for it but as I said, I have nowhere to put it so can’t even entertain the idea. My dream is to buy a historic church that has closed and renovate it into a home and either an antique shop or a homeless shelter. I know that sounds vastly different but I like saving old things and I like helping people. I haven’t gotten Greg on board completely yet. He’s afraid we could lose everything we have by getting in too deep with something like that. In any case, it was fun to look and meet the Keys. I know they’ll be a big success! When we left there we went to check out Little Doc’s dad’s place. It was ginormous and a true junkyard. It was more old barn boards, doors, doorknobs, hardware, etc. Things we’re not as interested in but still like to look.

While we were in Indy, I can’t say I was loving it. However, since I’ve come home I have much fonder feelings for it. We had more fun than I realized at the time. 😊 If that makes any sense. I take so many pictures that I like making Flipagram videos and posting them to Instagram. Unfortunately, IG keeps removing them as soon as I post them. So I got fed up and didn’t post anything last week. Now I’ve tried again and they still removed them. My blog won’t allow videos either so I’m just going to put in a small smattering of pics to sum up the week. Thanks for reading!