October 2020

Indianapolis Monthly

Indianapolis Monthly has become central Indiana’s premier general-interest publication—the Circle City’s essential chronicle and guide, an indispensable authority on what’s new, what’s news, and what people are talking about

Indianapolis Monthly1 min readLeadership
Indianapolis Monthly
EDITOR-IN-CHIEF Michael Rubino DESIGN DIRECTOR Todd Urban DEPUTY EDITOR Daniel S. Comiskey DIRECTOR OF EDITORIAL OPERATIONS Megan Fernandez DINING EDITOR Julia Spalding MANAGING EDITOR Kelly Kendall EDITOR EMERITA Deborah Paul CONTRIBUTING EDITORS Ro
Indianapolis Monthly1 min readAmerican Government
Open for Debate
For most Hoosiers I know, there’s a third rail of politics: politics. I’m not sure if it’s our Midwestern niceness, penchant for deference, or mind-your-own-business-ness, but I hear from a lot of you who have at least some level of discomfort with d
Indianapolis Monthly1 min read
Contributors
Whenever freelance writer Linda Vaccariello brought up Bob Ross in the course of reporting her story on him this month (p. 57), the reaction was always the same. “People love the guy,” she says. “And many have no idea he filmed The Joy of Painting
Indianapolis Monthly2 min read
Buzzworthy
Adam Wren’s August profile of Mitch Daniels as Purdue returned to campus received high marks from readers. WHAT KIND OF U.S. PRESIDENT WOULD MITCH DANIELS HAVE BEEN? 22% The best we’ve had in decades. 46% Certainly better than Donald Trump. 15% A sav
Indianapolis Monthly2 min readPolitical Ideologies
Electoral Dysfunction
The BLM Murals from the summer protests find new life, p. 22. PAN-WHA? Indiana is just one of six states that refused to allow a pandemic to be one of the reasons voters can vote by mail next month—a factor that could disenfranchise an untold number
Indianapolis Monthly1 min read
Corn Mazes
Skip the dinky ones—10 acres minimum. With four elaborate mazes covering 9 miles of paths, Exploration Acres in Lafayette is the granddaddy of Indiana field puzzles, voted best in the country by USA Today. It has a help line to call if you get lost.
Indianapolis Monthly2 min read
Ghost Stories
Q: I’M GUESSING THAT MOST HAUNTED HOUSES ARE CLOSED THIS YEAR. ARE THERE ANY SPOOKY ATTRACTIONS THAT ARE VIRTUAL? A: Yes, even though haunted-house employees are almost always masked, this probably isn’t the year to let them paw at and breathe on you
Indianapolis Monthly2 min read
Rah Deal
TIME STAMP 1983 OCTOBER 29, 1983, opening night of the Pacers home season that year, was billed by one local newspaper as the most spectacular season opener in NBA history. The Pacers, coming off a last-place finish in their division, faced the leagu
Indianapolis Monthly3 min read
Painting the Town
On a piece of plywood, a Black woman exhales these words: “I have come to see you write your will to live.” The declaration, penned by local poet Manon Voice, curls around the moon. “I wanted to express the idea of Black female breath being snuffed o
Indianapolis Monthly1 min read
Just Your Luck
Early Kind, purveyor of tarot cards and sage sticks, is positively bewitching, p. 28.
Indianapolis Monthly1 min read
The Thread
After a hearty session of fall leaf-peeping, refresh yourself in good taste with this PICNIC BACKPACK ($80). The front section holds a table sett ing for a proper al fresco date for two on the trails. The hip wicker-basket alternative can also hold u
Indianapolis Monthly1 min read
Black Market
A LITTLE PRACTICAL magic helped when Early Kind owner Andi Mc-Cleary began seeking more space for her bewitching online store. Aft er she put her wishes out into the universe for a venue to host a month-long popup shop, a regular customer of hers at
Indianapolis Monthly1 min readPopular Culture & Media Studies
Nicole Tenerowicz, Hair Stylist
YOU’RE KIND OF A VETERAN OF THE CITY’S STYLE SCENE. I’ve been involved for a while, whether it’s modeling or styling for runway shows and photoshoots. WHAT WAS ONE OF YOUR FAVORITE JOBS? I did hair for the first annual Indiana Fashion Week last year,
Indianapolis Monthly2 min readFashion
Lady Luck
LOTS OF ARTISANS create their wares from scratch. Karen Somerton makes hers from scratch-off s. During a seven-year stint working at a gas station, Somerton sold thousands of lott ery tickets. “Customers’ tickets got scanned, and if one was a winner,
Indianapolis Monthly2 min readRegional & Ethnic
Lebanon
THE TURF Boone County For decades, Titus Bakery (1) has been mixing, kneading, frying, and icing some of Indiana’s most tantalizing yeast circles. There’s also a deli and something called “donut pudding.” (Whatever it is, it’s awardwinning.) We recom
Indianapolis Monthly1 min read
At Your Fingertips
WHAT IF THE nail salon could come to you? That’s the concept Lindsay Wainscott used to build NEAT Mobile Nail Salon, an extension of her private SoBro studio, where she has built a reputation for intricate modern-art designs. Before COVID-19, NEAT wa
Indianapolis Monthly2 min readArchitecture
What a Steel
IN AFFLUENT Golden Hill, historic homes were designed for Indy’s elite, mostly between 1915 and 1940. An idyllic landscape provided a respite of privacy without compromising the convenience of downtown amenities. The homes represent an array of perio
Indianapolis Monthly1 min readMedical
Flu Season Starts This Month. Are You Worried?
Amy Kressel, MD, infectious-disease specialist at Sidney & Lois Eskenazi Hospital “We’re concerned that people might not come in for the vaccine because they are afraid. Influenza season ended abruptly after COVID-19 came in, and we don’t know what w
Indianapolis Monthly2 min read
My Practice Room
Commemorates Dixon’s 2012 Russia gig with Mike Clark and Jerry Z—24 cities in 26 days, part of the “Russia reset” cultural exchange organized by the Obama and Medvedev administrations. “Being a musician has taken me around the world,” Dixon says. “I
Indianapolis Monthly2 min read
Peak Luxury
THE GREAT Smoky Mountains National Park att racts more than 12 million visitors each year, making it the most-visited national park. Crowds are especially dense come fall when the black gums, sourwoods, dogwoods, and red maples burst into fiery folia
Indianapolis Monthly1 min read
Day Trip
If you’ve ever tried to carve emotion into a pumpkin, you’ll appreciate the artful achievement on display at Louisville’s JACK O’LANTERN SPECTACULAR. Drive through Iroquois Park to ogle thousands of cartoony frightful faces glowing a kaleidoscope of
Indianapolis Monthly1 min read
Sharper Image
Prep Talk ABOUT FOUR years ago, around the time that Aric Geesaman’s third child was due to be born, the amateur bladesmith with a background in biological sciences decided to turn his garage-studio hobby into a full-time gig. His reasons for diving
Indianapolis Monthly1 min readRegional & Ethnic
New Season
Revisit The requisite autumn trip to Brown County will be a little more enticing this year with the gourmet reboot of Nashville stalwart Big Woods as The Original. The former smokehouse-and-pizza menu morphed into a slate of handcrafted dishes with r
Indianapolis Monthly1 min read
The Feed
DEEP DIVE Beloved Chicago-based Lou Malnati’s Pizzeria plans to add three Indianapolis-area restaurants to its popular fleet of 60-plus locations … ANOTHER SHOT Cozy Broad Ripple tequileria Sangrita brings the agave and tacos to The Yard at Fishers D
Indianapolis Monthly1 min readRegional & Ethnic
Release The Cracking
At this hands-on tribute to the New Orleans culinary tradition that is equal parts dining and social event, seafood is brought to the table in double plastic bags along with bibs, gloves, and metal crackers for opening the crab legs. Drop your spent
Indianapolis Monthly1 min readCooking, Food & Wine
Rise and Shine
A GRADUATE OF Herron School of Art + Design with a degree in fine-arts photography, Jess Kartawich went from snapping shots of beautiful things to creating beautiful things as part of the team that opened the wildy popular Leviathan Bakehouse over th
Indianapolis Monthly4 min readRegional & Ethnic
Heat Seeker
WITH ITS clubby neon Día de los Muertos motif, La Una Cantina is the $2 shot of fun that downtown Bloomington needs seven blocks from the hallowed limestone perimeter of Indiana University. A funky, freaky mash-up of murals and mirrors, skulls and ba
Indianapolis Monthly1 min read
Grazing Pack
TWO CHICKS DISTRICT CO. (1531 S. East St., 317-426-3652, twochicksdistrictco.com) ■
Indianapolis Monthly5 min readAmerican Government
Whitley Yates, GOP operative
BECAUSE SO FEW BLACK VOTERS ARE REPUBLICAN, YOUR JOB SEEMS LIKE A TOUGH ONE. WHAT INTERESTED YOU ABOUT THIS POSITION? What interested me was a candid conversation I had with Indiana Republican Party chairman Kyle Hupfer about the work he had been doi
Indianapolis Monthly5 min readAnthropology
Lying in State
I WAS CLEANING UP my office recently and happened upon a notepad listing every funeral I’ve ever done. I conducted my first funeral at the age of 22, for my landlord’s dog, Laddie. My landlord was a mortician who had spent decades burying his friends
Indianapolis Monthly9 min read
The Second Coming of Bob Ross
BOB ROSS might have called it a happy accident. The itinerant painting instructor was making his way across the country in the early 1980s, looking for a place to film his work, when he walked into Muncie’s public television station. Ross asked to sp
Indianapolis Monthly2 min read
Dome Town By Canopy Crew
A SET OF fantasy treehouses in Kentucky’s Red River Gorge elevates the glamping concept—literally, by placing three domed tents in the trees connected by suspension bridges, and stylistically, by decorating each hideaway like a boho studio apartment.
Indianapolis Monthly2 min read
On the Wild Side
Wildlife Prairie Park $115 to $120 per night Located outside Peoria, Illinois, this 1,800-acre zoological park hosts some 60 species, including wolves, black bears, and bison. You can ogle the critters at your leisure by staying in one of several bri
Indianapolis Monthly2 min read
Under Canvas
KNOWN FOR its high-end camps outside Yellowstone, Moab, and Zion national parks, this chain of glamping destinations expanded east of the Mississippi in 2018 to the Great Smoky Mountains. Situated on a hilltop not far from Pigeon Forge, Tennessee (bu
Indianapolis Monthly2 min read
The Fields
ONE OF THE Midwest’s newest (and swankest) glamping experiences opened just last year on a working blueberry farm in South Haven, Michigan. Word didn’t take long to get out: All 10 of its tents were booked solid for most of this season, which ends la
Indianapolis Monthly2 min read
Beaver Island Retreat
WHEN GORDON LIGHTFOOT sang that Lake Michigan’s “islands and bays are for sportsmen,” he was no doubt referring to Beaver Island, Michigan, the largest of the former. Located 32 miles off the coast of Charlevoix, a posh boater’s haven, the 58-square-
Indianapolis Monthly2 min read
Nomad Ridge At The Wilds
KUDOS TO the three of you who know that one of North America’s largest conservation facilities is located in rural southeast Ohio. For everyone else: That hidden gem is The Wilds, four hours from Indy atop a winding road in Cumberland. The site, affi
Indianapolis Monthly2 min read
Coadys’ Point Of View Resort
NEAR THE Wisconsin-Michigan border, this small family resort harks back to a time when the Badger State was full of them. Situated on 15 wooded acres that come to a point on North Twin Lake, Coadys’ hosts a handful of yurts and safari tents that feel
Indianapolis Monthly1 min read
How To Use An Open-Air Shower
(1) Be fast, especially if water is limited. Master what’s called the Navy shower: Quickly douse yourself, then turn off the water while lathering up your hair and entire body. Rinse off, and you’re done. (2) If there’s no drain, make sure you use an
Indianapolis Monthly2 min read
The Mohicans
ANY GLAMPING destination can off er a night among the trees. Very few provide an evening up in them. On an isolated 100-acre property just south of Mohican State Forest in Northeast Ohio, owners Kevin and Laura Mooney have built one of the coolest tr
Indianapolis Monthly2 min read
The Eco Camp
YOU WILL KNOW that you’ve arrived at The Eco Camp, a delightfully crunchy, solarpowered tent city in Northern Ohio, when you spot owner Alex Wrege zooming toward you on his mini Segway—dressed in a Hawaiian-print shirt and cargo pants, sipping his la
Indianapolis Monthly2 min read
Camp Long Creek At Big Cedar Lodge
IN 1987, Johnny Morris, founder of what was then still a burgeoning Bass Pro Shops, bought 42 acres and a rundown motel overlooking Table Rock Lake, just outside of Branson, Missouri. The goal was to have a place for customers to test fishing boats.
Indianapolis Monthly19 min readAmerican Government
Kind Of Blue?
Here at the Hickory Hall Polo Club in Whitestown, polo players atop thoroughbreds thwack a ball around a 300-yard-long, 160-yardwide stretch of carefully groomed green grass. The sun dips in the August sky. Alongside the field, families and couples a
Indianapolis Monthly1 min read
All That Jazz
JONATHAN FRITZEEN, STYLIST ASSISTANT; CARLY RAE PHELPS, HAIR STYLIST; DANELLE FRENCH, MAKEUP ARTIST; JA’TWON HENDERSON, MAKEUP ARTIST ASSISTANT; CHUKWUDI OKOYE, MODEL; KHRISTIAN HILDRETH, MODEL; MUSICAL EQUIPMENT PROVIDED BY SAM ASH MUSIC AND SOUND G
Indianapolis Monthly1 min readPolitical Ideologies
The 2020 Candidates
Born in Soviet Ukraine, the Indiana State Senator is an uncompromising conservative. The Broad Ripple resident and former Indiana State Representative is hoping to flip a reliably red seat.
Indianapolis Monthly43 min readRegional & Ethnic
Restaurant GUIDE
INCLUDES Fletcher Place, Fountain Square, Mass Ave, Mile Square PIZZA As some of Indy’s most celebrated restaurateurs open pie places all over town, we haven’t forgotten where we first found artichoke hearts and goat cheese on our ’za. Bazbeaux has c
Indianapolis Monthly1 min read
Mountain Paradise
VINTAGE: 1990–1994 Resides in Muncie’s Minnetrista Cultural Center OF THE TENS of thousands of paintings Bob Ross created during his improbable rise to fame, this is one of the few that hung in his home. Unlike the hastily prepared canvases on his sh

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