Bloomington, IN visit

Questions on how we spend our money and our time - consumer goods and services, home and vehicle, leisure and recreational activities
Post Reply
Topic Author
finfire
Posts: 322
Joined: Tue Aug 14, 2018 1:52 pm

Bloomington, IN visit

Post by finfire »

My wife and I are visiting Bloomington, IN for last 2 weeks of July this year.

We like the usual stuff: outdoorsy stuff, dining, drinking, museums, sports, arts etc.

Any recommendations?

Regarding outdoors, we will have our street bicycles with us, so definitely interested in trails.

Driving is ok for local trips, just not interested in Indianapolis, as we go there lots for family.

Thanks for any recs.......
50ismygoal
Posts: 292
Joined: Tue Jun 24, 2014 6:41 am

Re: Bloomington, IN visit

Post by 50ismygoal »

It’s been decades, but Brown County State Park and Nashville are close and great.
User avatar
MillennialFinance19
Posts: 586
Joined: Sat Feb 09, 2019 10:06 am

Re: Bloomington, IN visit

Post by MillennialFinance19 »

Ha, this is great. I'm visiting Bloomington, IN for work next week. I'll let you know if I learn anything useful!!
VTI and chill until 57...
Topic Author
finfire
Posts: 322
Joined: Tue Aug 14, 2018 1:52 pm

Re: Bloomington, IN visit

Post by finfire »

MillennialFinance19 wrote: Mon Jun 06, 2022 7:37 pm Ha, this is great. I'm visiting Bloomington, IN for work next week. I'll let you know if I learn anything useful!!
Awesome....I'll keep an eye out!
Topic Author
finfire
Posts: 322
Joined: Tue Aug 14, 2018 1:52 pm

Re: Bloomington, IN visit

Post by finfire »

50ismygoal wrote: Mon Jun 06, 2022 7:30 pm It’s been decades, but Brown County State Park and Nashville are close and great.
I will check em out, thanks...
HerpNerd
Posts: 3
Joined: Tue May 15, 2018 6:30 pm

Re: Bloomington, IN visit

Post by HerpNerd »

As suggested Nashville and Brown County State Park are great choices. Also try the nearby Yellowwood and Morgan-Monroe State Forests and Hoosier National Forest. Lots of trails although I don't know if any of them are street bike friendly. I've also heard McCormick's Creek State Park west of Bloomington is nice but never visited. There is the TC Steele State Historic Site. Never been in but driven by lots of times. Looks interesting. My favorite thing to do the the area is just go for car rides. Story, Indiana is south of Nashville and has only a few shops/buildings but a good vibe to it. If taking a drive around the countryside might be worth a stop.

Can't speak to any of the restaurants in Bloomington or Nashville area. There are some breweries and distilleries also in the area but I haven't visited any of them so can't comment. My wife and I enjoy a ramen shop and Latin American pastry shop in Columbus but that might be a little far out of the way.

I like exploring the state and federal forest in the area and leave the shops to my wife.

Hope this helps.
MaxRN
Posts: 46
Joined: Wed Sep 12, 2018 10:54 am

Re: Bloomington, IN visit

Post by MaxRN »

Great gyros at the Trojan Horse on the downtown courthouse square. Visit the Indiana University campus starting with the Union for a walking tour of the campus. I second Nashville for "tourist" attractions, A nature alternative to Brown County State Park is the Lake Monroe area south of town. If you're interested in architecture then take a pleasant drive to Columbus and take the Miller House tour or one of the other tours there (with lunch at the 4th. St. Cafe). I went to IU a lot of years ago, my wife and I still visit occasionally.
Don't believe everything you believe.
raizar29
Posts: 30
Joined: Mon Nov 16, 2020 1:41 pm

Re: Bloomington, IN visit

Post by raizar29 »

I love living here and hope you have a great time. The bikes are a great idea since Bloomington has tons of great bike paths. There are so many great restaurants that I've yet to even try them all. Try as much of the international cuisine on 4th street as you can. If you want a great burger, check out Bub's. Feast Market & Cellar makes a perfect breakfast.
BBHead
Posts: 5
Joined: Wed Jun 19, 2019 8:44 am

Re: Bloomington, IN visit

Post by BBHead »

Its nothing fancy, but Mother Bear's Pizza on 3rd street on the south end of the Indiana campus is an institution. My wife and I still stop there whenever we travel through southern Indiana. There are several great places for brunch along Kirkwood Ave next to the campus as well.
Baxxter
Posts: 17
Joined: Tue Nov 05, 2019 5:54 am

Re: Bloomington, IN visit

Post by Baxxter »

Great town, it will be hot and empty when you're there but should be a good time.

Food/bars I liked when I lived there, in no real order:

Turkuaz Cafe
BuffaLouie's
Mother Bear's Pizza
Nick's English Hut

Cardinal Spirits
Function Brewing

First one's are more like, college-town stuff. Last two would be good anywhere.

Do some research and see if anything fits the bill depending on your taste - there are many more good options. Budget shouldn't really be an issue. I lived there as a grad student, so I wasn't really doing like steaks and entrees though there are good places for those. Uptown Cafe comes to mind if you like brunch on the 'fancier' side. If your accommodations have a kitchen or you need to pick up something quick for lunch check out Bloomingfoods. Check out the farmer's market if you're there on Saturday (they might also have one on Tuesday).

Won't be much going on sports-wise though it is a great sports town. I remember being pretty impressed with the Art museum on campus for it being a little college art museum. The campus has some pretty awesome buildings, you will probably want to walk around campus and maybe go inside the IMU building (Indiana Memorial Union - it's like the general student services building, but has cool old-school big 10 vibes).

You might get recommendations for the B-line trail, if you have bikes you can check it out. It's a rail trail, but if I remember it's pretty short and it didn't really do much for me as an avid urban cyclist, but the locals love it. Actually I think Cardinal Spirits is on the B Line, do check that out - also a coffee shop nearby that I remember being pretty good if that fits your schedule better. Your road bikes will fit well on the B Line which is Paved.

Watch the movie Breaking Away. You can get to the quarries if you're adventurous enough and willing to risk it. Check out Bloomington Speedway if you wanna.

Columbus, IN is a good interesting town for architecture, as mentioned. Some cool modern history there. Good breakfast place is Jill's Diner.

Brown County is very nice, many fond memories there.

Have a great time, I love Bloomington
User avatar
Kenkat
Posts: 9553
Joined: Thu Mar 01, 2007 10:18 am
Location: Cincinnati, OH

Re: Bloomington, IN visit

Post by Kenkat »

The TC Steele State Historic Site is definitely worth seeing if interested in art and history.
AnotherMike
Posts: 50
Joined: Sun Mar 22, 2020 2:56 pm

Re: Bloomington, IN visit

Post by AnotherMike »

I’ve always been interested in the Lilly Library, home of an extensive rare book and manuscripts collection. Plus be sure to have a pork tenderloin sandwich while you are in Indiana!
KA0400
Posts: 18
Joined: Thu Oct 08, 2015 3:49 pm

Re: Bloomington, IN visit

Post by KA0400 »

Some of my favorite haunts:

-The Irish Lion, authentic Irish bar, the leprechaun wings are fantastic.
-Upland Brewery, if you’re an IPA person, the Dragonfly IPA is tops
-Bub’s Burgers
-Oliver Winery
-Butler Winery
User avatar
FrugalInvestor
Posts: 6214
Joined: Thu Nov 06, 2008 11:20 pm

Re: Bloomington, IN visit

Post by FrugalInvestor »

Drive down to West Baden Springs (French Lick) and visit the West Baden Springs Hotel. Have lunch there and just walk around and read about the historic and spectacular building......
https://www.frenchlick.com/hotels/westbaden

Take a ride on the nearby French Lick Railroad.......
https://frenchlickscenicrailway.org/calendar/

Take a drive to Columbus, IN and view the memorable architecture.....
https://columbus.in.us/guide-to-the-architecture/
Have a plan, stay the course and simplify. Then ignore the noise!
Topic Author
finfire
Posts: 322
Joined: Tue Aug 14, 2018 1:52 pm

Re: Bloomington, IN visit

Post by finfire »

Thanks all, looking forward to the visit....
Nowizard
Posts: 4842
Joined: Tue Oct 23, 2007 5:33 pm

Re: Bloomington, IN visit

Post by Nowizard »

Surprising with comments about Nashville being close, though some might think 250+ miles is "close."

Tim
MMiroir
Posts: 852
Joined: Sun Mar 29, 2020 12:14 pm

Re: Bloomington, IN visit

Post by MMiroir »

Nowizard wrote: Tue Jun 07, 2022 8:52 am Surprising with comments about Nashville being close, though some might think 250+ miles is "close."

Tim
Nashville Indiana is a local tourist spot less than 30 minutes from Bloomington.

https://www.tripadvisor.com/Attractions ... diana.html
Nowizard
Posts: 4842
Joined: Tue Oct 23, 2007 5:33 pm

Re: Bloomington, IN visit

Post by Nowizard »

Thanks for the correction!

Tim
Hoosier CPA
Posts: 512
Joined: Tue Nov 22, 2016 8:43 pm

Re: Bloomington, IN visit

Post by Hoosier CPA »

Monroe Reservoir is close by. There's a neat firetower off 446 south of the lake - worth checking out. Lots of hiking. We had that whole area mapped out in our heads when we went to school down there, just from exploring all the fireroads, before everyone had a map on their phones. Sigh...

Griffy Lake is just north of campus. Hiking there too.

May be able to tour Assembly Hall, if you are into that.

Great place for walking and biking.

I've been out of school for 20 years but my son is going to basketball camp down there in a couple weeks, so I'm going to be spending some time walking and driving around for sure.

I've heard the town isn't what it once was, but I'll judge for myself when I get down there.

I don't think you can get at the Quarries anymore - they did some work to block off access and destroy some of the swimming holes.
otinkyad
Posts: 486
Joined: Wed Jun 01, 2016 5:35 pm

Re: Bloomington, IN visit

Post by otinkyad »

Bloomington is a place, a place where nothing, nothing ever happens.

Most of the posts are suggesting leaving town, which checks out. Most of my memories are thirty years old, and refreshed eight years ago. Luckily, I was a grad student, and had something that could very much occupy my time, and at the same time I valued the lack of distractions.

The Eskenazi Museum of Art was surprisingly good. Kirkwood Observatory is a fun outing if you enjoy that kind of thing. Morgenstern’s Books has reopened after the Barnes and Noble that ran them out of business closed in turn. I haven’t been to the refresh, but the original was a wonder, and I very much admire the owner’s dedication. If you happen to like any of these, please stop by the Village Deli and enjoy a sandwich and fries for me.
Topic Author
finfire
Posts: 322
Joined: Tue Aug 14, 2018 1:52 pm

Re: Bloomington, IN visit

Post by finfire »

Had a great time in Bloomington.

Visited all of the following and highly recommend them:

Brown county state park
Columbus, IN
Uptown cafe
Some and hopscotch cafe
The tap
Nick's english hut
friendly beasts cidery
mother bear's pizza
West baden springs
Biking- the bline and switchyard parks
User avatar
Marmot
Posts: 592
Joined: Sun Oct 10, 2010 1:44 pm
Location: Phoenix, AZ

Nicks on Kirkwood

Post by Marmot »

Long established IU sports bar. Gotta get a pint. I haven't been there in a few years but the "sink the biz" frys are supposed to be good.
Marty....don't go to the year 2020....Dr. Emmett Brown
Post Reply