Welcome to Indianapolis

Hi, I’m Joanna Lynn. First, I want to thank Mohamad Al Karbi for inviting me to write a guest post for his blog. Mohamad is always so encouraging and interested in what I write. He’s been a great blogging friend. I know part of Mohamad’s blog is about different places in the world and I would love to tell you all about my home city. So, welcome to Indianapolis, Indiana, in the United States.

I have lived here since I was a toddler. It has changed so much over the years. It’s known by several names: Indy, the Racing Capital of the World, the Amateur Sports Capital of the World, Circle City and Crossroads of America. When I was growing up, it was also given the derogatory names Naptown (because people said the only thing to do here is take a nap) and Indiananoplace (pretty self-explanatory). It was a different place then. We rarely went downtown except to see the lighting of the “Christmas Tree” (strings of lights coming from the Soldiers and Sailors Monument to form a “tree” on the circle. We have a circle drive made of bricks in the middle of downtown – hence the name Circle City).

Indianapolis is so much more now. Downtown is full of places to go. It is easy to navigate and I constantly hear from my passengers, as I’m driving for Uber and Lyft, how clean the city is and how easy it is to get around, with much lighter traffic than other large cities. I’ve also had passengers state how people smiled as they passed. I told them, “Yes, and sometimes they’ll even say ‘hi'”.  Living only three hours from Chicago, I know how the people in larger cities tend to be more to themselves. I like to say Indianapolis has the benefits of a larger city (we’re the 15th largest city in the nation) with midwestern friendliness.

For many years we have been known for our love of basketball and the Indianapolis 500 (aka the Indy 500). We also are the home of the (NBA) Pacers and the (NFL) Colts. Both have beautiful, fairly new facilities, Banker’s Life Fieldhouse and Lucas Oil Stadium, respectively. We also have the Triple A minor league baseball team, the Indians (which feeds into the major league baseball team, the Pittsburgh Pirates).  They play at Victory Field and, if you visit during the season, you need to see a game.  They are very affordable and so much fun (and I don’t even like baseball). The NCAA Headquarters (National Collegiate Athletic Association) is in Indianapolis.  They cover all sports in many universities and organizations across the United States.

Our zoo is a nice size, not too big and not too small, with great dolphin shows throughout the day.  Next to it is the White River Gardens and the White River State Park. In the same area are both the Indiana Historical and Eiteljorg Museums (native american and western art). Our children’s museum has consistently been rated as the number one children’s museum in the world for years.  It is five floors of so many exhibits that it takes a full day to see it all and really experience it.  There are dinosaurs in the basement, a carousel on top and so many things in between.  I love the museum, as do many other adults.  It’s a great place.

• If you like the outdoors and hiking, we have many parks to choose from.
• If golfing is your thing, there are a lot of choices.  Actually, Crooked Stick Golf Course is located in a suburb of Indianapolis, Carmel, IN (pronounced car-mle, not like the city in California).  Crooked Stick is part of the PGA tour.
• There are plenty of bars where you can hang out if you like to grab a beer or party with friends.
• For the Science Fiction and Popular Culture fans, we just had the Pokemon Nationals and we have Comic Con, Pop Con as well.  We even have the only Doctor Who store in America, Doctor Who North America  (www.wh0na.com).

  

Like other large cities, we have much to offer. I can’t even begin to touch on all of them, but it’s a great place to visit. I love to travel and have been to many different places. It’s so exciting to me to see new places and experience new things, interacting with people from different cultures and backgrounds. Indianapolis is the only city I can remember living in (other than when I was in college). I love this city and, even though I know there’s a possibility that I may not always live here, it will always be home.

~ Joanna Lynn