Mass Ave
After a long hot day of trekking around you really just want a cool quiet spot to grab a drink and a bite.
Nothing like a little neighborhood bar is there?
I've always had a thing for these ghost signs, Admiral Cigars. love it.
yeah, I know, we're not in Kansas anymore, interesting little neighborhood, Mass Ave. See, even Indy isn't above branding.
Take that "Q" haters
When this was set down in front of me my head almost exploded.
On the inside, I was trashing the bar like a coke fueled 70's rock band!
On the outside, I calmly removed the offending fruit and set it aside.
When the hell did this all start anyhow?
9 comments
Funny -- I photographed that sign but never noticed the cigar part, just the awesome Quaker Oats typography.
ReplyDeleteAs a not-very-impassioned "Q hater," I just have to point out that "Mass. Ave." has been the logical common name for Massachusetts Ave. and, as the primary commercial strip just NE of downtown, it makes sense as a neighborhood name. "The Q" -- not so much.
More interestingly, there are numerous micro-neighborhoods right around Mass. Ave. -- Chatham Arch, St. Joseph, Lockerbie -- even when I lived right there, it was hard to understand their boundaries.
Of course, who else would the cigar jump out to but me?
ReplyDeleteSince I have no idea where Gateway Quarter came from, I'm not qualified to argue the point since you put it in that context.
You lived there? awesome! I hope OTR and the Q can be that go-go hustle some day.
Looking at your picture those trees have really grown in the last year haven't they?
I lived right at the intersection of Mass. Ave., East North St. and North East St. -- does that sound confusing at all?
ReplyDeleteMass. Ave. is cute and all but, when I lived there, how often did I really need to go to the hot chocolate shop or run out for gourmet dog biscuits? I loved that O'Malia's [supermarket] was nearby, and the video store, and some of the other more mundane things.
I think "Gateway Quarter" has its roots in the building that's called The Gateway Condos. Then, I think it became a catch-all name for related rehabs right around there, and then shortened into "The Q," which is hopefully on its way out.
that pizza looks A-M-A-Z-I-N-G.
ReplyDeletethat pizza was amazing dipped in doughy and rolled in bready saucy cheesy goodness.
ReplyDeleteHmmm...gotta love the Bell's Oberon.
ReplyDeleteI lived in Indy for a couple of years at Riley Towers downtown. I agree with VisuaLingual that the only thing I really took advantage of was the video store and sometimes the grocery. Usually I bulk shopped in the suburbs because the downtown grocery was pricey. Indy does have some nice downtown parks and the canal park areas seem improved since I lived there. But I rarely took advantage of them. I did not spend much time downtown. Back then the Broad Ripple neighborhood seemed to be the only area really hopping.
ReplyDeleteI have to say that the naming "Gateway Quarter" was a must for this re-branding of OTR. So many people have ingrained representations of OTR that it will take more than marketing to change the association. Before the riots, Main Street was hopping and I believe some of that had to do with Pendleton disassociating the neighborhood from the OTR name. In the long run I hope perceptions are changed and it all becomes OTR as a whole once more.
You should have checked out Metro right down the street at 707 Mass. They have a wonderful historic Victorian Back Bar and a nice patio. Bar has been there about 20 years now. Long before anybody called it Mass Ave.
ReplyDeleteThe neighborhood was "that place" back then. You locked your car door and rolled up your windows. Old pawn shops and junk shops/warehouses. Drug Dealers and prostitutes. It looked like the run down parts of OTR. I have some great old pictures of the area 25 years ago when only a handfull of us were venturing into downtown and restoring in Lockerbie, Chatham and Mass ave.
If you saw the photos back then you'd understand why we decided to move to Cincinnati. You look at the Million dollar condos on Mass Ave and realize it used to look just like OTR!
Mass Ave is what the area around Findlay Market "could be".
Hey Paul, funny you mention that, we did go in the Metro but I was craving pizza big time so they pointed us to Chathams.
ReplyDelete