We drink, we eat, we shop, we drink some more...and we love were we live

What is it that we love about Broad Ripple? Is it the art? Is it the culture? Is it the people? Is it the bars? For me, it's all of these things combined, with the fact that every one of them is within a stone's throw from our front doors. We have the Monon Trail, the Indianapolis Art Center, hiking, and kayaking. Feeling hungry for Thai, Mexican, Indian, Chinese, Cajun, Japanese, Greek, or maybe just a Chicago Dog? Well you don't have to go very far. What seems like a normal day to us (by us I mean myself and other "Ripple Rats") may not be as normal as we think. We have so much available to us, and a lot of us take it for granted-I know I often do. The following account is a small example of how a Broad Ripple Rat spends his day, on foot.

The day starts like any other day, in any other city, in any other neighborhood: with a shower and a good teeth scrubbing. When Ashley, my cohort for the day, arrives we head out for some coffee. There are plenty of coffee shops around to choose from: Perk Up, Hubbard and Cravens, and of course the almighty Starbucks. However, we head to the Monon Coffee shop. The Monon, as I so lazily refer to it, may as well be an extension of my home. There are actually plans in the works as you're reading this for an underground tunnel connecting my bedroom and the Monon. I spend more time there than I do anywhere else, and everyone there (other patrons and employees alike) feels like family. Ashley and I have decided to go to Three Sisters for breakfast, but it's seven in the morning, and they don't open for another hour. We relax for fifty minutes and enjoy some coffee, conversation, and cigarettes with our barista, Kaiton.

Eight o'clock rolls around and I'm starving! We walk a half block to a place that, with an exception to the paintings adorned with Talking Heads lyrics, reminds me of my grandmother's house. Three Sisters Café is one of the most vegetarian and vegan friendly restaurants Indianapolis has to offer. While I enjoyed a vegetarian omelet covered with three different delicious cheeses, Ashley indulged in a vegan-friendly, yet surprisingly delectable, tofu scramble. We then burn off breakfast by walking up to the Indianapolis Art Center. If you've never taken a stroll down the "art trail", as I ignorantly call it because I don't know its official name, you should take twenty minutes of your day and check it out. We spend about an hour walking the trail, admiring the work, taking pictures, and skipping stones in the White River.

We stop at my house for a short break and to map out the rest of the day. We relax for a few minutes, grab some bread for the ducks, and trek down the street towards the record store. A block from my house, at the infamous "rainbow bridge", we stop to feed the ducks. This is a simple pleasure of mine; I try to feed the ducks everyday. Not because they need it, but because I simply enjoy it. Broad Ripple's ducks are special in that they seem to have grown accustomed to the fact that people are going to feed them year 'round, so they never migrate - no matter how cold it gets. If something like the Wicksboro incident were to happen in Broad Ripple, our ducks would be screwed - they wouldn't know how to fend for themselves. Although not entirely true, I like to believe they need me!

Moving on, we hike down to Indy CD & Vinyl, my favorite record store in the country and former place of employment. Like the Monon Coffee shop, Indy CD & Vinyl is more like an extension of my home than just a record shop. The employees there are family. I purchase the new Shins single and a Mogwai 12", and chat with humble record store staple Mrs. Annie Skinner for a while. We then continue our voyage through the Village. We walk down the graffiti-filled alley by the Alley Cat Lounge for more coffee and more records. Feeling a bit drained, we stop at Hubbard and Cravens to re-caffeinate ourselves. We get a vegan double chocolate chip cookie that we dip in our coffee to make it soft, warm, and even more delicious! We march further down the alley to 61st Street, then head a half block west to Missing Link Records, where I buy even more records. With two floors of vinyl to finger through, shopping at Missing Link requires more time than shopping at any other record store.

Two o'clock in the afternoon rolls around. Ashley has prior engagements, and I'm beat due to lack of sleep. She attends to her appointments, and I attend to my bed a few hours.

It's six in the evening and it's time for dinner and drinks. I make pasta at home and meet Ashley as well as our friends Kyle and Melissa at Average Joe's for pool and adult beverages. The pool tables are full, so we sit and enjoy beers and each others' company before heading to the Alley Cat Lounge. Here, everyone knows your name and there always seems to be an open pool table. Before closing the night out at the Alley Cat, one more food stop is in order: Ashley and I stop at the Gyro Joint for falafel. There are no words in the English dictionary I can use to possibly come close to explaining how much I love falafel. We close the night out at the Alley Cat - have a few drinks, play pool for a few hours, call it a night and part ways.

If you get anything out of this long-winded, somewhat egotistical article, get this: although this was a typical day for me, and many other "Broad Ripple Rats," this is a not-so-average day for most Indianapolis citizens, and certainly for most Hoosiers. We have a lot to be grateful for. We're surrounded by culture you can't get anywhere else in Indianapolis. There are more dining, shopping, and drinking options available in a two-block radius than most people in this city have in a ten-mile radius. We have two of the most vegetarian and vegan-friendly restaurants in Indy, Three Sisters Café and the Broad Ripple Brew Pub; three of Indy's finest record stores, Indy CD & Vinyl, Luna Music, and Missing Link Records; the Monon Trail, the "art trail," and a number of other trails for exercise; the White River for kayaking; and art out the wazoo! What is a wazoo? No one knows, but we have art out of it! I didn't realize it until I was away from it, even for a short time. This, in my opinion, is one of the greatest neighborhoods in the Midwest. Appreciate it. Don't take it for granted. Take some time to stop and take a look around.