Indy attraction

We’re finally off to Beef & Boards Dinner Theatre

/ Roadtirementvintage / 12 Comments

Photo courtesy Beef & Boards Media

It has been since October 2019 since our last visit to Beef & Boards Dinner Theatre in Indianapolis. COVID-19 closed it for a long time, and some rocky start ups were also hurt by that danged pandemic. We were due to go last week but alas, Covid exposure within the cast forced a postponement of the opening of Kinky Boots . We are going tonight!

This production is a Tony Award winning musical, featuring the music of Cyndi Lauper and on stage at B&B for the first time.

This has survived over 5000 years

/ Roadtirementvintage / 14 Comments

This Egyptian vessel has survived for over 5000 years. It is amazing that you can still observe it close up in the Newfields  museum in Indianapolis.

This pot is about 14 inches tall

This artifact is identified in a museum information label as a Nagada II Vessel, titled Flamingos. It is dated 3400-3200 B.C. The pictures of the flamingos and the geometric lines are typical of other pots of the same vintage.

“Kinky Boots” coming to Indy Beef & Boards Dinner Theatre

/ Roadtirementvintage / 20 Comments

The 2022 season at Indy’s beloved dinner theater has a Tony Award winning musical opening next week. Their press release proudly states: Kinky Boots, the Tony Award-winner for Best Musical, struts onto the Beef & Boards Dinner Theatre stage for the first time in 2022, featuring music by Cyndi Lauper and a heartwarming tale that’s based on a true story. Opening Feb. 10, this high-heeled hit will bring plenty of sparkle to Beef & Boards’ 49th Season!

This vibrant musical not only won the Best Musical Tony, but also Best Original Score for the talented music and lyrics by Cyndi Lauper, along with four additional Tony Awards, and the Grammy Award for Best Musical Theatre Album.

Kinky Boots is on stage for 47 performances through March 27 in the intimate space of Beef & Boards Dinner Theatre. Tickets include the dinner buffet and select beverages. For tickets, visit beefandboards.com or call the box office at 317.872.9664.

We are so looking forward to seeing this marvelous show. The pandemic stifled so many months of B&B’s productions. It will seem like finally getting to go to visit a dear friend when we see Kinky Boots next week.

Another large vintage 1970 art work

/ Roadtirementvintage / 10 Comments

De Wain Valentine was born in Colorado in 1936. He is known for his translucent glass, fiberglass and polyester resin minimalist creations. Of the same time as Robert Indiana of the LOVE sculpture, Valentine has a fine piece in the same gallery room at Newfields (IMA) in Indianapolis.

Vintage 1970 Double Concave Circle (Deep Violet-Red)

Above is the ID plaque at the museum with information about Valentines art

This is an impressive 8 foot tall circle of polyester resin. What we found fascinating was the fact that this striking red circle is a mere 20 feet or so from the Robert Indiana LOVE sculpture. Both were made in 1970. De Wain Valentine lives in California, and developed a unique resin for large scale pieces.

Indy’s Circle of Lights celebration

/ Roadtirementvintage / 27 Comments

Monument Circle, the “center” of downtown Indianapolis, Indiana, is a large traffic circle with the Soldiers & Sailors Monument standing in the center. Each year the monument is turned into an impressive display of Christmas lights. It has been dubbed by some as being the “World’s Largest Christmas Tree”.

Photo courtesy Indiana War Memorial Foundation

Each November the Indiana Brotherhood of Electrical Workers IBEW 481 decorate the Soldiers & Sailors Monument with 52 garland strands with 4,784 LED lights, strung from the top of the Monument to its base. The Monument will continue to be surrounded by 26 larger-than-life toy soldiers and sailors and 26 peppermint sticks.

Last year the pandemic forced the lighting of the monument and fireworks to be on TV only.  This year folks viewed the celebration in person. The celebration started with a talent show on the circle. The lighting of the nearly 5000 colorful LED bulbs signals the beginning of the Christmas Season in the Hoosier State.

Going to see Beef and Boards “Shear Madness” to start the 2022 season

/ Roadtirementvintage / 9 Comments

Tony (Daniel Klingler) plops shaving cream on Nick (Jeff Stockberger) as he prepares to give the undercover cop a shave in Shear Madness

From a Beef & Boards Dinner Theatre press release dated December, 2021: “Shear Madness is back by popular demand to kick off Beef & Boards Dinner Theatre’s 2022 Season! Opening just a bit early, on Dec. 28, this play will have the audiences rolling in the aisles as they help detangle the clues of a murder mystery in a not-so-typical hair salon.”

This hilarious production features madcap improvisation blended with the clues that reveal the person responsible for the murder of the old lady upstairs in the salon. The audience gets to spot clues, interrogate suspects, and solve the mystery. No two shows end the same, leading to repeat customers who enjoy the madcap mayhem. Set in Indianapolis, the play features many funny references to the local area.

Shear Madness has won tons of awards, including “Best Comedy of the Year” multiple times, and has been inducted into the Comedy Hall of Fame, the first stage play to be so honored. It will run through February 5. Tickets range from $58 to $70 and include Chef Odell Ward’s famous dinner buffet. For tickets visit Beef and Boards or call the box office at 317-872-9664.

Sher and I have not been to B&B since October 2019. We can’t wait to get back to our favorite theater!

BJ’s Restaurant and Brewhouse

/ Roadtirementvintage / 17 Comments

Philly steak

It has been over a year since we were able to see Maj’s sister. That changed when we met for lunch at BJ’s Restaurant and Brewhouse in Noblesville, Indiana. Noblesville is northeast of Indianapolis but is really part of the Indy Metro area. BJ’s is part of a national chain.

We had a wonderful time “catching up” on the news from my sister’s family and we shared our family news too. It’s amazing how much has occurred in the past year and a half in our families.

 

 

 

 

The restaurant is spacious, and when seated we noticed extra partitions between booths. The food and service was excellent. The menu featured tons of options, and many different beers. We ordered something we had never seen before: a flight of margaritas! Served like a flight of beers, it had four different margarita samples.  We agreed the strawberry sample was our favorite.

The flight of margaritas

The food and service were both excellent. The portions were very generous, and all three of us enjoyed our meals. The most enjoyment of this luncheon came from our being together again. Now that things are at least somewhat back to near normal, we hope to get together each month.

 

Easley Winery in downtown Indy

/ Roadtirementvintage / 13 Comments

Sher and I had the opportunity to visit another central Indiana winery today. The Easley Winery is literally in downtown Indianapolis, a couple of blocks north of Washington Street, the main east/west artery in the city.

The main entrance

Inside at the counter for picking wines to sample

 

Basket full of sample glasses

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Easley has been around since 1974, and currently has over 100 acres of vineyards in southern Indiana. They offer very nice tastings, either inside or out on the patio at umbrella covered tables.  For $5.00 you  can sample seven different wines. Easley has a great variety of wines to choose from.

We found that of the seven wines we tasted Sher and I both liked the Sweet Barrel Red and the Reggae Margarita wines the best. We purchased a bottle of each before we left. Family owned Easley Winery is a great place to have a nice break from a busy day of sightseeing in Indy or for an enjoyable single destination.

A one ton oddity

/ Roadtirementvintage / 14 Comments

 

The 28 inch diameter, 2000 pound granite sphere floats on a cushion of water pumped up from a fountain below. The socket of the granite base is precision carved to allow an 8/1000th inch thick layer of water that the ball rests on. Even a child can rotate the ball!

This marvelous floating granite ball fountain is in front of the Nature Center at Holliday Park in Indianapolis.