The Garage Food Hall, Indianapolis, IN

It seems like many cities have virtually always had these markets or food halls, with the latter option now becoming more popular. I recall grabbing a cheese steak in Philly's marketplace decades ago. Many large cities in other countries have something like this as well. Well, now Indy has stepped-up to the plate and created their own.

To be clear, I don't think you should be visiting Indy without a stop to this new, refurbished former production space. The food hall is in the former "garage" for a historic Coca-Cola bottling plant. From what I gathered being there, this was the spot in Indy where Coke was bottled and delivered by trucks to the entire metro area for a long, long time. I can imagine back in the day that this was a very busy, bustling plant and area. It's now been renovated inside and out as a mixed-use development. In a ~2-3 block area, it already contains this food hall, a hotel, a day spa, retail shops, a really cool duckpin bowling alley/bar, a very nice new movie theater and more. It also has a second phase for residential development in the works. This is going to be one hip, happening spot in no time (if not already).

Since it has this Coke history behind it, that's what I focused on for this post. In reality, there are so many food options that I wouldn't have been able to to them all justice with only my single stomach to partake. Know that it seemed like anyone in your clan would be covered for food options at this place, including: raw oyster bar, Indian, lobster/seafood, tacos, arepas, fish & chips, pizza/Italian, burgers, plenty of beer/alcohol options, and many more food types and spots I'm sure I'm forgetting. It also seems like more are opening everyday.

Many of the art deco buildings are faced with a wonderfully rich, glazed-white terra cotta tiling, with gilded lettering that makes it almost feel like you're stepping back in time. That's a nice way to invite people in and welcome them to a new space. You can read more about it HERE.

Inside the Food Hall, you find relics of the bottling history of the buildings. You can see pumps, historic workwear, Coca-Cola memorabilia, and more. It was all very fun to run into these things as I wandered around trying to pick my perfect food spot for the day. You certainly get the feel for the history that this area and these buildings contain. Many of us know think of soda/pop as a bad thing, but back then, this was a highly in-demand product and many workers would have been very proud to work there and represent this brand in the community. For me, I can feel that as I walked through the spaces.

This is one quote that stuck with me from my short research - "Over the years, the Massachusetts Avenue plant grew into the world's largest bottling plant, with 260 workers who produced 2.25 million bottles of Coca-Cola a week, he said. It thrived until cans took over the market in the 1960s."

I wonder if these was breathable on a hot day, {gulp}... just grab a cold Coke!

This is their first automated bottle "capper". A person would use this machine to cap the bottles.

See the little red Coke bottlecaps?

I already know that I need to go back - for more history lessons and more food options. Again, I don't think this place should be missed if you're in Indy.

Cevichazo Parilla de Santi, Aguascalientes, MX

When in Rome, eat pasta or pizza.... but when in Mexico, eat tacos. Our coworker/guide took us to this wonderful lunch spot on sunny afternoon. We were so happy to be here, loved their energy, foods, patrons, and staff. I'd be back in a second... if I could apparate.

Oh, a parilla is a grill, which is what they're cooking all your food on...

Mmmm, Marlin!

Great interiors...

HUGE menu!

Shrimp

Marlin

Tuna

They also had grill fish entrees, which I would love to go back and try some day.

The food was so good. I say this often on this blog, but if you're ever in the neighborhood, do stop in!

Sunday Marin Civic Center Farmers’ Market, San Rafael, CA

How could I stay away from the State of California's 3rd largest farmers' Market? I can't. And why would I want to? Sure, it was a little rainy out, but the food, the people watching, the community, and the FOOD.

Breakfast needed to be sourced, and it was hard... to decide which amazing offering I wanted in my belly! It turned into Deli vs. Pork?!

Pork won (and deli was out of salmon anyways... I know, it's rough)...

I added a local coffee purveyor too...

They also do something special for local chefs - they have carts available for them to handle their daily shopping, which I thought was genius.

If you can't tell, I am sold on this market. If you're anywhere near on a Sunday morning, I would very much recommend.

China Fishing Camp, San Rafael, CA

This story pretty much tells itself, thanks to the outdoor museum they have set-up here. I'll let these folks tell the story...

Who knew this was happening so long ago - not me. Great little stop, IMO.

Butano State Park, Pescadero, CA

[this location is actually up the road from Pescadero, but well worth seeking out some other spots along Highway 1]

Any ole Sunday is a good day for a new hike, right? I think that's true. This trip was to a smaller state park about 1.5 hours from my home, to a place that had designated trails and redwoods. We picked out some smaller loops and strung together what should have been about a 4-5 mile hike. Also note, much of the terrain by the coast here is up and down. There's not a ton of flat walking or topography to be had.

[I'm sure this idiot fell]

Love the ferns.

Only a small trickle of water through this stream, but nice to see none-the-less.

Those are horizontal spiderwebs all over this redwood. I'd never seen anything like it. No rhyme or reason to it that I'm aware of.

There are many felled redwoods along the trails as well. Some quite large, maybe 5-9' across at the root ball. Don't know why these are falling either, but we did come up with some hypotheses.

By far, this is THE largest slug I've seen to date. It's actually known as the Banana Slug, obviously!, and is easily 5-7" long as it slugs along the ground (that's my medium-sized hand above it for some context). I really had a hard time believing how big this was. I mean, it's the slug that eats like a meal, for sure.

All kinds of lichen and/or moss on many of the trees. I'm pretty sure every redwood area is inland from the ocean by one hill or mountain range. The weather then gets pretty cool and damp over the hill each day, and helps the redwoods take hold over centuries. I could easily be wrong, but I look forward to finding out on my on. Perhaps the California Academy of Sciences is next on the list? (https://www.calacademy.org/exhibits/giants-of-land-and-sea).

One note, we were not able to walk our planned route. Though I think my spidey-sense and general sense of direction is good, we did not follow the route we planned. I think this park could have better signs on their trails, but they may not have the funds to do so. We made it work regardless, but it's always nice to complete what you've planned.

Notes on Pescadero:
I'm pretty sure "pescadero" means "fisherman" in Spanish... which makes a lot of sense b/c this small, one stop sign town, is located about a mile or so from the Pacific ocean. It allows easy access to Butano and is also a cute little town in it's own right. We started with lunch here, but also found they offer coffee, shopping, and a local pub/bar too.

We visited Arcangeli Market for an excellent sandwich and then headed into the woods. The market takes debit/credit cards, has a real bakery offering, and was as busy as heck, for a small town Sunday. I grabbed their Chicken Club on foccochia, it was tasty.