Benches Around The World: Indianaplois

I apologize for the tardiness of this post. Life has gotten a bit crazy the last few months, and today I finally sat down and reviewed what I wrote so I can post it.

On to Indy!

Indianapolis, home of the Colts. Well, I am a Bengals fan, but we’re not here to discuss football. I was excited to explore the downtown area for the first time a while back. I fell in love fairly quickly with this bustling city. I went to the Circle Center Mall, which was massive! The streets in the surrounding area of the mall have every available food option you can think of. I walked around a bit then decided to head back towards the hotel I was staying at due to weather possibly moving in. I went to the Monument Circle and was blown away at how people centered the area is. This is where I found my “bench”. I say “bench” because there weren’t any real benches in the area, but there were these little table and chairs set up everywhere along with picnic tables. This is part of an experiment being put on by Big Car in conjunction with the Indianapolis local government. They have ‘parklets’ which are wooden deck-like platforms that have bistro style seating available. They also has various activities set up around Monument Circle for everyone to enjoy and escape work on your lunch break or to enjoy while visiting the city. They have games like giant Jenga, ping pong, chess, checkers, a bookmobile, and different activities each night of the week. They have a list of activities on their website, which I’ll include at the end of this entry. I found a spot at one of the parklets and enjoyed the live music, and people watching. I honestly sat there for about three hours just watching business people taking their lunch breaks and playing Ping Pong or the giant Jenga. Not only is having these activities available fun, it’s also great stress relief. I guarantee that anyone that left work and took their break decompressing outside with friends, or alone if desired, when back to work in a much better mood thus being more productive. I think that it’s a fantastic initiative and you all should check it out. Since it is an experiment it’s only running from August 1, 2015- October 16, 2015. Check out the list of activities, all of which are free!