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100 Things to Do in Indiana Before You Die

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100 Things to Do in Indiana Before You Die

Author: Jamie Ward
Publisher: Reedy Press
Release Date: September 1, 2022
Paperback: 192 pages
ISBN-10: 1681063867
ISBN-13: 978-1681063867
Dimensions: 5.5 x 1 x 8.5 inches
MRSP: $22.50

If you’re new to the Hoosier State and want a crash course in the Indiana scenery, or if you’re a lifelong local just wanting to find something new to explore, 100 Things to Do in Indiana Before You Die is a book for you! Grab a copy and stash it in your car for when the mood hits you to take a “One Tank Getaway“.

Falling into the lifelong Hoosier category spanning decades, I was surprised that I could only check 32 of the 100 off my list. I’ve tried to do a handful of others over the years, but things like small-town business hours exist (I’m looking at you, Schimpff’s Confectionery!).

Delving into 100 Things to Do in Indiana Before You Die, you’re presented with six sections; Food and Drink, Music and Entertainment, Sports and Recreation, Culture and History, Shopping and Fashion, and Main Streets and Neighborhoods. In the back, the list is indexed by season and suggested audience to help find something relevant to do on any given day.

While I could think of a thousand additional things to add to the list (in Indianapolis alone), narrowing it down to 100 would be a difficult task. Indiana is a much bigger place than what the “flyover” crowd wants to believe. But along those lines, the one thing 100 Things to Do in Indiana Before You Die could use is a map of where the places are, preferably sorted out by region of the state. No place is typically more than three hours away from Indianapolis, but a trip from Angola to Evansville can take 5 to 6 hours depending on the traffic.

VERDICT: Pick up a copy of 100 Things to Do in Indiana Before You Die and get to exploring the Hoosier State!

Disclosure: We received a review copy of 100 Things to Do in Indiana Before You Die.

Black Acre Brewing Co. Closing February 4th, 2023

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Black Acre Brewing Co

An Irvington staple for the past decade, Black Acre Brewing Co., has announced that they’re closing the doors for the last time on their 11th anniversary, Saturday, February 4th.

Last call!

Black Acre Brewing will be closing effective February 4th, 2023. We are extraordinarily proud of what we’ve been able to achieve in our 11 years in wonderful Historic Irvington, but it’s time for us to close this chapter.

Oh what a chapter it’s been! We have met so many great people and built life-long friendships along the way. We are truly grateful for all of you. We know we are incredibly lucky to have been able to be a part of the vibrant community here. We’ve laughed together. We’ve cried together. We’ve survived floods, fires, and plagues together. We’ve had lots of tasty beers together. We are really going to miss it.

Let’s go out on a high note! Mark your calendars to celebrate with us:
Saturday, February 4th will be our last day and 11 year anniversary. Cheers and love to you all!

Sun King Brewery to Open Taproom in Sarasota, Florida

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Indianapolis-based Sun King Brewery announced today that they are set to open a NEW taproom and brewery in the Sunshine State!

Sun King Sarasota, Florida, will become their first location outside of the state of Indiana.

In a statement, Sun King said “We are looking forward to having a permanent spot for fellow Hoosiers and craft beer fans to visit while soaking up the Florida sun!”

Hoagies & Hops to Close Fletcher Place Location December 31st

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“It’s bittersweet to share that we’ve made the difficult decision to close the Hoagies & Hops Fletcher Place location. Our last day operating the kitchen in Fletcher Place will be Friday, Dec. 31 and we will be closing at 7 p.m. for a private party. We are extremely grateful for the experience we had serving our amazing downtown customers.

Moving forward, we will be taking time to focus on our Butler-Tarkington location partnering with Chilly Water Brewery Tap Room while getting our food truck rolling so we can serve Hoagies & Hops to our customers anywhere! Thank you for your continued support. We look forward to seeing you at our Butler-Tarkington location and at our food truck stops.”

~ Kristina Mazza, owner of Hoagies & Hops

Indiana Governor Eric Holcomb Bullies Schools Into Masking

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On Wednesday, September 1, 2021, Indiana Governor Eric Holcomb signed Executive Order 21-24 which …

…allow(s) for schools and day cares to modify quarantine provisions if the facilities adhere to the following orders and guidance set by IDOH [PDF Version]:

  • Schools and day cares that have mask requirements that are consistently followed throughout the day do not have to quarantine students, teachers and staff who are close contacts and aren’t showing symptoms of COVID-19;
  • Schools and day cares must continue to contact trace by notifying their local health department as well as parents, teachers and staff who were in close contact.

The executive order will expire Sept. 30, 2021.

Franklin Township Community School Corporation Caves

Prior to Executive Order 21-24, Franklin Township Community School Corporation (FTSC) had only been requiring children to wear masks on school buses. Any mask-wearing in schools had been left up to the student’s and parents’ discretion.

On Thursday, September 2, 2021, FTSC Superintendent Dr. Kent Pettet announced that masks were to be required indoors yet again due to Governor Holcomb’s EO.

 

Dear FTCSC Families,

Yesterday Governor Eric Holcomb announced Executive Order 21-24. In this order, Governor Holcomb directed Indiana State Health Commissioner Dr. Box to evaluate and modify COVID-19 quarantine protocols. Dr. Box and the Indiana Department of Health then shared new COVID-19 quarantine protocols for schools. If everyone is wearing a mask in school, only the COVID-19 positive case would need to be quarantined. Anyone that was deemed a close contact will be asked to self-monitor and will not have to quarantine. The new Executive Order began yesterday and continues until September 30th.

The purpose of this change is to lower the number of students that must quarantine with each positive case. In FTCSC, our daily quarantine percent has been between 3.5%-5.5%, and with 12,514, that means about 400-500 students/staff are in quarantine each day. Governor Eric Holcomb and Indiana State Health Commissioner Dr. Box’s announcement will allow us to eliminate almost all quarantines and thus keep more students in school.

Therefore, starting on Tuesday, September 7th, FTCSC will require all students and staff to wear masks while indoors during the school day and continue to require masks on school buses. This requirement will stay in place thru Thursday, September 30th. This situation has been and will continue to remain fluid. We will review our data from September and continue to review health recommendations. It is our intention to return to parent’s discretion on mask wearing on Friday, October 1st.

All students and staff that are currently on quarantine and are not showing a COVID-19 symptom should return to school on Tuesday, September 7th. For students and staff that are currently COVID-19 positive or if you have been told to stay home due to symptoms, your previous return to school date still applies.

We appreciate everyone’s support and patience as we continue to navigate this fluid situation and try to keep as many students in school as possible. We have updated our Return to School website with the changes announced in this notification.

Sincerely,

FTCSC
#WeAreFlashes

Indiana Governor Eric Holcomb Bullies Schools Into Masking

We’re a month into the school year, and FTSC Superintendent Dr. Kent Pettet has done an EXCELLENT job at keeping parents informed on every single school’s COVID-19 stats. Right down to the breakdown of actual positive COVID-19 cases and the percentage of “contact traced” individuals who didn’t actually have COVID-19.

While we are upset that no parental input was used to make this decision, Dr. Pettet’s hands were tied by Indiana Governor Eric Holcomb in the decision making of reimplementing masks in the schools.

EO 21-24 was a bully move on the governor’s part as Eric Holcomb most certainly realized that the number of kids out of school WITHOUT COVID-19 due to contact tracing was far higher than the number of kids out of school who actually had/have COIVD-19.

Any educator in their right mind would do anything possible to ensure that school was disrupted as little as possible. Thus you get the mask requirement in place again. And that’s all on Eric Holcomb and Indiana State Health Commissioner Dr. Kristina Box.

Do Masks Really Make A Difference?

I’ll preface this with I’m not a doctor and I’m not a virologist. Most likely you are not either. Nor is our governor or the media. And our Health Commissioner, Dr. Box, is an obstetrician and gynecologist. She probably knows a little more than the rest of us, but viruses aren’t her expertise.

Let’s assume that masks do stop some transmission of COVID-19 infused “droplets” that might be in the air. Great news, right?

OK, now we take that mask off with our hands and touch whatever particles the mask may have caught. Then we rub our eyes. And suddenly we just rubbed COVID-19 in our eyes. Awesome, we now have COVID-19 from something that was supposed to help us.

Now let’s put that scenario aside and address an actual everyday issue in the schools. Lunch.

Every single day children are sitting at lunchroom tables across from one another, maskless, eating, drinking, and talking. Food is flying, spit is flying, and whatever germs they may have are getting spun around on a Tilt-O-Whirl centrifuge and getting a ride around the entire cafeteria. If just one of them has an active case of COVID-19, it just had the ride of its life and is ready to replicate.

And with that illustration, I really don’t see how masks are some magic tool that schools can use to fight COVID-19. Last school year masks were in place and our numbers look pretty similar to this school year. But the governor knows best.

Meanwhile, Indiana State Health Commissioner Dr. Kristina Box Goes Maskless

Via WIBC…

Indiana State Health Commissioner Dr. Kristina Box is being accused of hypocrisy after a photo emerged online that showed her not wearing a mask at a recent family wedding.

The photo was obtained and posted to social media by WIBC’s Rob Kendall of the “Mock n’ Rob Show” Monday morning.

Dr. Box defended the photo in a statement to The Journal Gazette Monday afternoon.

“I made an informed decision to take off my mask while dancing or talking with fully vaccinated guests,” she said. “This was a private event in which all but five guests present were fully vaccinated. Those five individuals included children for whom the vaccine is not yet approved and people with medical conditions whose private physicians have recommended they not receive the vaccine at this time.”

She added: “The CDC guidance calls for individuals to wear masks in indoor public settings in areas of high or sustained transmission because those are areas in which you do not know the vaccination status of the individuals who are gathered. I continue to wear my mask in these settings and encourage Hoosiers to do the same.”

Fun Fact: The CDC’s data also shows that vaccinated persons can still spread the Delta variant. In addition, a recent study found “no significant difference in the viral load present in the breakthrough infections occurring in fully vaccinated people and the other cases, suggesting the viral load of vaccinated and unvaccinated persons infected with the coronavirus is similar.”

I share this merely to point out the hypocrisy. Here’s someone who told us to stay away from family in 2020. Then she herself visited her own family and ended up contracting COVID-19 from it. And now we have the person who’s supposed to be in charge not listening to herself AND making excuses for it that simply do not make scientific sense.

CDC: Children at Increased Risk of Myocarditis and Pericarditis from mRNA COVID-19 Vaccines

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The Friday before the 3-Day Memorial Day weekend the CDC managed to sneak in an update regarding mRNA COVID-19 vaccines and some children getting Myocarditis and /or Pericarditis after their Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna shots.

Here’s the summary of that report released on May 28, 2021.

Since April 2021, increased cases of myocarditis and pericarditis have been reported in the United States after mRNA COVID-19 vaccination (Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna), particularly in adolescents and young adults. There has not been a similar reporting pattern observed after receipt of the Janssen COVID-19 Vaccine (Johnson & Johnson).

In most cases, patients who presented for medical care have responded well to medications and rest and had prompt improvement of symptoms. Reported cases have occurred predominantly in male adolescents and young adults 16 years of age and older. Onset was typically within several days after mRNA COVID-19 vaccination, and cases have occurred more often after the second dose than the first dose. CDC and its partners are investigating these reports of myocarditis and pericarditis following mRNA COVID-19 vaccination.

The CDC goes on to charge ahead with their vaccination recommendation of children 12 and older.

CDC continues to recommend COVID-19 vaccination for everyone 12 years of age and older given the risk of COVID-19 illness and related, possibly severe complications, such as long-term health problems, hospitalization, and even death.

What Are Myocarditis and Pericarditis?

Again, from the CDC…

Myocarditis is inflammation of the heart muscle, and pericarditis is inflammation of the lining outside the heart. In both cases, the body’s immune system is causing inflammation in response to an infection or some other trigger. Symptoms can include chest pain, shortness of breath, or palpitations.

The severity of cases of myocarditis and pericarditis can vary. For the cases reported after mRNA COVID-19 vaccination, most who presented to medical care have responded well to medications and rest.

The bottom line, it could kill you, but it probably won’t. Just like COVID-19 in the younger (under 50) population. Is it worth the risk? That is what you have to decide upon.

Hiding Updates in the Friday News Dump

Since we are not doctors and we don’t pretend to be, we do not make recommendations either way in regards to vaccines. Our job is to provide information and ask questions. Decisions are your own, and we respect whichever route you take.

That said, we have noticed the CDC doing the “Friday News Dump”, including the CDC Hiding the true “Breakthrough” COVID-19 numbers a few weeks before this.

What is the “Friday News Dump” you might ask?

In media circles, we routinely get news press releases and updates Monday-Friday for most normal business and government-related news. E-mails sent on Fridays have a very poor open rate, and are often thrown to the bottom of the pile come Monday morning because news outlets are addicted to “breaking” news and “exclusives”. News doesn’t have much shelf life in the eyes of mainstream media and daily newspapers and TV/radio programming (“Look, squirrel!”). Thus if there’s some news that you need to tell people about but don’t really want it reported on, you send it out as late in the day on Friday as possible. Those that would report on it move on to other things more recent when they get back in on Monday. And trust me, you can easily get 1,000 press releases some days.

Why do we bring this up? Because it is extremely fishy. Yes, government agencies do this frequently. But these last few seem to be something of importance. Unless, of course, your main objective is pushing specific vaccines and you don’t want anything to derail that. Add in the fact that the Johnson & Johnson shot had a pause put on it while the mRNA shots had not. It raises questions.

Jurassic Quest Drive-Thru Hits Indianapolis April 30-May 9, 2021

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More than 70 photorealistic dinosaurs are ready to return from extinction to delight families and dino fans everywhere, as Jurassic Quest Drive-Thru, the nation’s largest and most
realistic dinosaur experience will be at the Indiana State Fairgrounds and Event Center April 30-May 9, 2021.

After welcoming millions of guests to sold-out events across the country, Jurassic Quest Drive-Thru will transform South Lots of the Indiana State Fairgrounds and Event Center into a fun-filled drive-thru experience complete with baby dino and trainer meet and greets, photo opportunities, a choose-your-own-audio-adventure tour, and memories of epic proportions.

Jurassic Quest’s herd of animatronic dinos – from the largest predators to playful baby dinos – are displayed in realistic scenes that allow guests to experience them roaring and moving as they drive through the tour.

Jurassic Quest worked in collaboration with leading paleontologists to ensure each dinosaur was painstakingly replicated in every detail, from coloration to teeth size(!) to textured skin, fur or feathers, drawing on the latest research about how we understand dinosaurs and ancient giants of the sea looked and moved. Although the drive-thru experience means visitors will stay safe inside their vehicles, they’ll still need to avoid the swinging tail of the 50-foot Spinosaurus and the gigantic grinning Megalodon!

Tickets for Jurassic Quest are just $49 per vehicle (8 people or less) and available only at www.jurassicquest.com. An audio tour comes standard with every purchase (choose from two; special accommodations can be made for the hearing impaired) as well as a safari-style digital souvenir photo of your vehicle and family transported back in time via a Jurassic setting. Special souvenir packages and other add-ons can be purchased at check out.

Jurassic Quest Drive-Thru guests now get to choose their own audio adventure! Jurassic Quest’s own Safari Sarah, Dino Dustin, Captain Caleb, Prehistoric Nick, and Park Ranger Marty provide a fun-filled soundtrack for the hour-long trip back in time to help visitors navigate the dino herd and learn little-known dino facts – packed with plenty of lighthearted humor to tickle funnybones of every age (“get ready to Tricera-STOP here…”)! Visitors can opt for the original audio tour in English and Spanish or a brand-new audio adventure led by Safari Sarah with the rest of the crew serving up A BIG surprise for everyone at the end!

In addition to the life-like dinosaur exhibits, there will be opportunities to visit with one-of-a-kind baby dinosaurs and the Jurassic Quest team of dino trainers. Though no two visits are ever the same, all attendees will leave with the same bragging rights, “We Survived Jurassic Quest 2021!”

More than 2 million people have attended the Jurassic Quest Drive-Thru since the national tour launched in June with stops in New York, Los Angeles, San Diego, Boston, Philadelphia, Dallas, Oklahoma City, Detroit, Atlanta, Orlando, Cincinnati, Houston, and more.

Designed to be thrilling but not scary for our littlest adventurers, big or small, young or old, Jurassic Quest Drive-Thru guests have a dino-mite time!

Downtown Indy “Burger Study” To Close Tuesday, October 27th

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The local downtown Indianapolis eatery, Burger Study, will permanently stop serving its gourmet burgers at the close of business on Tuesday, Oct. 27 due to economic conditions making operations unsustainable.

Opened in 2017 by Huse Culinary, Burger Study, located in the heart of Georgia Street, was designed to rely on office workers, sporting events, conventions, concerts, and business travelers. The restaurant saw double-digit, year-over-year sales increases into 2020 and its future was bright before the COVID-19 pandemic hit.

“While we faced a difficult business decision to close Burger Study, we are viewing this as an opportunity to get even stronger at every other Huse Culinary restaurant,” said Craig Huse, president of Huse Culinary.

“Every single employee of Burger Study has been offered a position at a companion restaurant that is equal to or greater than their current role. We had an amazing team of hospitality professionals at Burger Study and this is a terrific opportunity to grow and strengthen the operations of all other locations, which have seen steady sales increases and opportunities since reopening.”

Huse Culinary’s other restaurants – St. Elmo Steak House, Harry & Izzy’s, 1933 Lounge by St. Elmo, and The HC Tavern + Kitchen continue to perform very well despite the pandemic’s effect on the hospitality industry as a whole.

“Because St. Elmo and Harry & Izzy’s are destination restaurants, they have given Hoosiers, and other visitors, a reason to travel downtown despite the pandemic’s effects on the Circle City’s landscape,” said Huse. “Downtown Indy has been steadily recovering, but complete recovery will take some time. It has been exciting to see all other Huse Culinary restaurants lead the way in the recovery of the hospitality industry since the reopening.”

The Burger Study team thanks to its customers for three years of loyal patronage. While disheartened by the closing, the team is reinvigorated at the opportunity of being able to put 100 percent focus on driving the increased success of all other concepts.

WizKids Cancels Q2 – Q3 2020 Public Events

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WizKids released the following statement on March 23, 2020, in regards to COVID-19.

The safety and well-being of our players, staff, business partners and their families is of the utmost importance, as such we have made the difficult decision to cancel all upcoming trade and consumer events during Q2 and Q3 2020. This cancellation notice includes both Origins Game Fair (June 17-21) and UK Games Expo (August 21-23). We feel this is a necessary and responsible step. As we will no longer be attending Origins Game Fair, we are currently discussing options for the status for our WizKids U.S. National Championships and will follow up with a separate announcement in the coming weeks.

We understand that things are changing rapidly all the time, and should it make sense and is safe to do so, we will consider attending events during the Q2-Q3 timeframe but with a smaller footprint than you are normally used to seeing from us. If so, we will post when and where these events may be held.

At this time, we are still planning to attend our regularly attended Q4 events. This includes The WizKids World Championships at Graceland, PAX Unplugged, BGG Con and more. Keep an eye on WizKids.com for the latest news about our event schedule. We look forward to seeing you all later this year!

We hope everyone stays safe and healthy during this trying time.

There is no mention of San Diego Comic-Con (July 23-26) or Gen Con (July 30 – August 2) at this time.

$299.99 Hand Sanitizer?! Coronavirus Price Gouging on Amazon

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After hearing multiple reports of Coronavirus price gouging on Amazon (Amazon affiliate link) I decided to take a look at hand sanitizer out of curiosity.

The first item to pop up was a 6-pack of 8 ounces Assured Hand Sanitizer (Amazon affiliate link) bottles.

Amazon Price Gouging Historical Pricing Data

I was stunned to see an initial price tag of $299.99, which then dropped to $109 (screenshot above) and then was suddenly out of stock.

It wasn’t until this past week that people started to figure out that the Coronavirus (COVID-19) was coming to America too. And at that point, the price shot up from the normal price point of under $15 in February and $10.75 in January.

See the historical price data below.

Yes, Amazon is Selling Dollar Tree Products

For those unaware, Assured is a Dollar Tree brand and these are always available (but probably sold out right now) for $1 each, or $6 for six of them, at any Dollar Tree in the country.

As stated above, the normal price Amazon sells them for is $10.75, and given what Amazon selling fees are, that’s a reasonable price. You’d still make little profit from that.

But THREE HUNDRED DOLLARS, or $6.25 per ounce, is absurd.

Amazon is Basically eBay with a Fulfilment Network

Many people are unaware that Amazon is really no different than shopping on eBay these days, except for the fact that Amazon has a HUGE fulfillment network which warehouses and ships products stated: “Fulfilled by Amazon” (FBA). If you’re buying something with “Prime”, it could be a product that Amazon carries or it could be a product that someone like me has purchased and sent into an Amazon warehouse.

Note that this offering is 3rd party fulfillment, not Fulfilled by Amazon, which is really the same as buying that product from eBay instead. In other words, anyone can sell “Fulfilled by Merchant”.

If Amazon actually had the product on hand in their warehouses, the merchant fulfilled items would be pushed to the back and possibly not seen at all.

Amazon Called Out on Price Gouging

And of course, the “reviews” are coming in. While I’d typically take comments like this with a grain of salt, it’s warranted in this case. It is indeed despicable.

Amazon Cracking Down on Price Gouging?

Given how fast this item dropped in price and went “out of stock”, you do have to wonder if Amazon caught this and flagged it. But with comments being a few days old, that’s hard to tell. One could only hope because it opens the door for price gouging lawsuits.

One of Many

I’m sure that this is just one of many such examples of price gouging running rampant on Amazon right now in relation to the Coronavirus fears.

While I wouldn’t want the job of policing that, I hope they do indeed nip it in the bud. And they should even go as far as to temporarily “gating” (an Amazon term for blocking unapproved sellers in a particular category) the entire category until cooler heads prevail.

Amazon Price Gouging Screen Shot

Here’s the full screenshot if you’re interested in seeing the entire page.

Amazon Price Gouging Screen Shot