Indianapolis, Indiana

This trip is quickly becoming (almost) all about food. Brunch at Good Morning Mama’s scheduled with Adam and Adeline Mueller, now sure to be a popular spot for Friday “Addie and Daddy Days.” Addie is a perfect combo of Adam and Lisa, which clearly means she’s adorable, smiley, smart, and cool. We watched Addie wolf down some yogurt, pancake, Italian Wedding soup (it’s no lie: she loves meatballs), and…SPAM. Yup, fried SPAM offered on the menu, ordered by me, shared by Adam, and consumed – with efficiency – by young Addie. She has a 15-month-old’s healthy metabolism and an early taste for life’s finer things. Very, very sadly, due to a camera malfunction (and some overly aggressive re-formatting by a do-gooder camera guy at Walgreens), we only have one iPhone photo of these dramatic events, which would have otherwise been well documented.

Up next, the Indianapolis Museum of Art, an Addie and Daddy Day staple. With the perfect weather in place, we couldn’t pass up a tour of the grounds, including the famous Robert Indiana LOVE sign, the Eli Lilly home, the Lilly children’s “playhouse” (a two story mansion), and the acres and acres of gorgeous park. A personal highlight: seeing Addie’s huge toothy smile after Adam ran her stroller down a little hill.

The museum itself is gorgeous, largely, I’m guessing owing to the Lilly family’s generosity. We focused on the temporary exhibits, and the modern American art. I loved the Tara Donovan stuff, especially the Plastic Cups, the Pencils, and the Mylar Balls. The elevated bowling ball track through two rooms of the gallery was also really fun to see. And the black painting/hole in the wall is still messing with me a little. Per usual, lots of gift shop action ended the visit.

After an hour or so of napping/chilling at Amanda’s, we went over to Adam and Lisa’s house for the highly anticipated smoked meats dinner party. Adam, food enthusiast, recent convert to the Michael Pollan school, and die-hard lover of all things pork, set the scene in a recent email:

Lisa, Addie and I would like to have everyone over Friday night for dinner. I will probably see if Rosie [Adam’s “meat lady”] can make some pulled pork and smoked turkey (all organic of course). . . . Even without meat, we'll have plenty of other good stuff I imagine.

Rosie is good at her job, and so are Adam and Lisa. The pulled pork and smoked turkey sandwiches were great, as was the spinach artichoke dip, the strawberry shortcake, and everything else. A mysterious problem with the homemade ice cream maker mattered little and gave us one of the better images of the night: Jeff sitting in a camping chair next to a cooler full of ice spinning the pot of liquid, would-be ice cream. I’m convinced that if given a bit more time his plan would have worked.

We were both thankful for the heavy dose of Addie and the ability to see parents Adler-Mueller in action. They clearly love it and are really good at it. Also so great to hear Jeff talk about Dialawg, watch and listen to Carl nerd out over the Indy Symphony, and get even more time with Amanda. Last night was such a good reminder of how nice it can be to be around (and if you’re lucky, live near) good friends.

We awoke Sat to the news that Adam was down with a flu bug that started with Addie earlier in the week and in no shape to join us at the Broad Ripple farmer’s market. Missing him, Lisa, Addie, Amanda, Laura, and I checked out the scene, including the sturdy-looking farmers, the guitar guy playing children’s songs, and the dog owning, stroller pushing, borderline-hippy-yuppies (a group that we could probably qualify for ourselves) straight from central casting. Love it. Maybe best of all were the two roughly-college-aged girls who I overheard say, upon seeing Addie in her sunflower hat, “I want a kid SO bad!!” For fear that Laura would schoolmarm them with her National Campaign to Prevent Teen and Unplanned Pregnancy speech, I held off on telling her the story until the mothers-to-be were long gone. Good move.

We took home some fresh produce and flowers and fixed up an egg scramble with peppers, ‘shrooms, spinach, and cheddar. The Scholars Inn bread and Couture-strength coffee stole the show.

Sated, over-caffeinated, and expected in Chicago, we said our goodbyes to Amanda, Lisa, Addie, and Indy. As ever, a great visit. We’ll be back soon for more.

Not much to say about the drive up 65 to Chi. A straight shot, without much traffic, or noteworthy sights. The wind farm and the pathetically underequipped rest stop (spoiled by the gold-plated ones in Ohio, perhaps [Ed note: Oops. The Nikon shots were never uploaded. Will post the OH rest stop pics ASAP for reference]) were the only potential exceptions.