Tulips Three Ways

Several of my tulips bloomed today and I thought I'd take the opportunity to practice my flower arrangements. Hooray for spring!

Indianapolis Downtown Parking Part One

This post will cover some day-only parking options in Downtown Indianapolis. Overnight parking will be covered in part two.

Option 1: Street parking.
There is a limited amount of street parking available in Downtown Indianapolis on a first-come/first-serve basis. Parking at meters is free on the weekend but, depending on what else is going on downtown, it can be difficult to find a spot. If you are going to try for street parking I recommend checking out Illinois and Capitol streets between Maryland and Ohio. Market street between Illinois and Capitol may also be a good bet, and some angled parking spots are available in front of the State Capitol building, immediately west of the theatre on Washington Street.

Option 2: Garage parking.
There are many parking garages downtown. One of the more economical garages for short-term parking is the Sun Garage at the Circle Center Mall. Enter this garage from Washington or Maryland streets, between Illinois and Meridian. Rates start at $1.50 for up to 3 hours, $3 for 3-5 hours, and $6 for 5-6 hours. The Sun garage closes at 2 am.

Option 3: Surface lot parking.
There are a number of surface lots in downtown Indy, some attended, some with honor parking. Most generally charge $5-$7, cash only. One such lot is located at 15 East Washington street, between Meridian and Pennsylvania, about 3 blocks from the theatre. Overnight parking is typically not allowed in these surface lots.

A garage to avoid: The Capitol Commons garage at 10 S. Capitol (entrance on Washington, just across from the State Capitol building) is one of the most expensive garages downtown, charging $5 for the first 20 MINUTES, and $15 for the first hour. Don't park here, unless you want to get gouged! :)

For an interactive map of parking and other downtown attractions click here.

Coming soon- overnight parking!

7 weeks to go

My first tulip bloomed the other day and today 4 more followed suit. I've had an incredibly crazy couple of weeks at work lately but have this weekend off and plan to enjoy it.

Last night FH and I went out to dinner at a new-ish local restaurant/bar where we'd like to have the after-party, Scotty's Brewhouse. Great selection of beers, good food, and a huge outdoor patio. It's within walking distance of the two downtown hotels and family friendly as well for the folks who might be traveling with kids.

We've gotten several more RSVPs and really appreciate the nice notes some people have added on their cards. We can't wait to see everyone and are looking forward to sharing our city with you all.

Statistics

It's been 13 days since we mailed the invitations and we've received 31.25% of them back. Or, if you prefer numbers to percentages, 30 postcards have arrived in our mailbox. So far we have 35 confirmed guests attending the wedding (and 124 unknowns). There's still time to get in on the ground floor of responding. Don't wait, send back your RSVP today!

If you have travel related questions please feel free to leave a comment in the blog and I'll respond in a post!

Who are you? (who, who? who, who?)

The RSVPs started arriving yesterday and we have 14 out of 100 back. Yea! It's so fun to see them in the mailbox and read the nice little notes people have written on them.

A few of the cards have arrived a bit, um, incomplete, so I thought I'd post a little tutorial:

Lol! Luckily I was sneaky and numbered all the cards and the guest list, just in case anyone forgot to write their name. Okay, keep the rsvps comin! And check back on the blog for updates on parking, Indianapolis area attractions, and other important information.

Mr. Postman

Wow! We mailed the invites on Saturday just before noon and they've starting arriving to folks as far away as Buffalo today. Impressive, Mr. Postman!

Invitation Eve

Tomorrow we send out the invitations! While we decided long ago on sending them out 10 weeks before the wedding (to allow plenty of time for all the oot guests to make arrangements), all week long I've been bugging FH about them.

Monday: Can't we just send them out tomorrow??
Tuesday: But I'll have time to go to the post office on lunch Wednesday! What about Wednesday?
Wednesday: Oh, come on, it's been a long week, sending them on Thursday would just make my day!! Besides, then people will get them at ten weeks.
Thursday: Fine! I can wait until Saturday.

Okay people, keep an eye on your mailboxes. I promise from this point on the blog will contain more actual information, like details on parking, hotels, and all that jazz. And please, please prevent my head from exploding by sending your rsvp postcards back in an expedient manner! :P