South Calhoun Street, Fort Wayne, Indiana

By special request from Kevin over at Urban Indy, this is a post following South Calhoun Street in Fort Wayne from Rudisill to Murray Street, which is right before the overpass that leads you into downtown. It's an eclectic stretch full of great old buildings and signs and now with a mix of ethnicities breathing life into it. (click photos for larger image)

At 3702 S. Calhoun is Southside Vacuum, in business since 1947!

This building at 2730 S. Calhoun is the Calhoun Street Emporium. We love the top of the building where the name Leland is with 19 and 23 on either side of it.

At the Pontiac and S. Calhoun intersection, we liked the detail at the top of this building.

We couldn't tell what this rusty round thing on the side of the Rialto Theatre was from the street but, from the picture, we see that it reads "police alarm".

The gorgeous Rialto Theatre has had many lives. Right now, a non-profit is in the midst of restoring it into the "Rialto World Cafe and Cultural Center- a gathering place to engage and serve the growing international community".

This is a detail at the top of the building right next to the Rialto which is the store Finders Keepers.

And this is the wide shot of the Finders Keepers building at 2608 S. Calhoun. You can see both eagles at the upper corners.

At 2124 S. Calhoun is the adorable City Glass shop.

At 2302 S. Calhoun is Mannie's Place which Manta.com says was established in 1948.

We loved the look of the Mungovan and Sons Mortuary at 2221 S. Calhoun.

OK, St. Patrick's church is actually on Harrison, not Calhoun, but it was so gorgeous seen from the mortuary parking lot that we had to include a couple of pictures.

Hopefully something will go into this building at the corner of S. Calhoun and W. Masterson.
The Oyster Bar Restaurant building at 1830 S. Calhoun is so cute that we have to show 2 views.

We adore the people behind Calhoun Street Salads and Spirits for making this building look so good!

We had to take a picture of the public phone outside of Saigon Restaurant because they are a rarity now and will probably soon be obsolete.

We love old advertisements painted on the sides of buildings. This one was at Dewald and S. Calhoun.
The gorgeous Troy Laundry building at 1717 S. Calhoun which, according to this site, was built in 1914 and is one of only 3 remaining buildings in Fort Wayne with a glazed terra cotta facade (one of the other ones is the Rialto).

We loved the look of this building at S. Calhoun and Murray Street but had no idea what the HBC at the top meant. It turns out that it stands for Holsum Baking Company.

Hook's Drug Store Museum & Soda Fountain- Indianapolis, IN

While we were at the State Fairgrounds for the fair, we popped into the Hook's Museum and were reminded of what a cute place it is. The soda fountain was bustling so we didn't get a chance to enjoy that, but it is always fun to browse at the antique drugstore items along with the new candies and trinkets that you can buy. Their website says that they are open on "selected weekends" so, if you missed them at fair time, you might want to give them a call to see when you can visit.

Yikes- Goblin soap!

The Indianapolis Propylaeum

The Carriage House: the first home of the Children's Museum:

The Tea Room:

Mrs. Curry's Famous Rolls:

Soup of the Day- Lobster Bisque:

Chicken and Mushroom Crepes:

Hoosier Chicken Pot Pie:

Meeting room space:

Guest Rooms:

The third floor ballroom:

On the third floor, just to the left of the ballroom, is the Carole Lombard room:

Maybe she powdered her nose here!

Finally, after years of living in Indianapolis, we made it to the Propylaeum. For some reason, we had it stuck in our heads that the only event open to the public was their Tuesday Teas but actually, they serve lunch Monday- Friday from 11-2P. Reservations were recommended per their website so we made those the day before. This place just has all of the things we love; food, tea, history, architecture, and even a dash of old time Hollywood.

First, we really enjoyed our food. The tea room was cozy and beautiful. Mr. WYA! thought that it might be a little too precious for him but the men won't feel too overwhelmed by frilliness here. There is certainly something for everyone on the menu. We had to try the soup of the day because it was one of our favorites, Lobster Bisque. The broth was a little thinner than some we've had which was fine since it can be a heavy soup and we were having it before an entree. The lobster pieces were huge.

For our entrees, we ordered the Hoosier Chicken Pot Pie and the Chicken and Mushroom Crepes. The entrees come with a fresh green salad (try the tasty homemade poppyseed dressing) and Mrs. Curry's Famous Rolls. We don't know who Mrs. Curry is but, my goodness, she can make a roll. These are actually sweet rolls that remind us of the cinnamon rolls that Mrs. WYA!'s Mom makes. We don't know how the Tea Room sells any desserts when they start you off with these decadent treats. The crepes were covered with a Champagne sauce. The whole entree was very delicate and lighter than it might sound like. It was beautifully presented with a flower on top. We're suckers for aesthetics so we liked that.

The Hoosier Chicken Pot Pie might sound like a heavy lunch choice that would make an afternoon nap mandatory, but it wasn't at all. The crust was light and airy, and the temptation to oversalt something like chicken broth didn't occur to the chef. The veggies were firm and fresh. The whole thing came together as an Indiana classic that didn't leave you overfull.

As if that lovely meal wasn't enough, patrons are free to roam through the 3 floors of the historic building. There are many meeting rooms that can be rented and overnight rooms that can be used if anyone rents the space for an event (what a great place for a wedding reception). We loved wandering around and really loved the Carole Lombard room. As old Hollywood historians know, Fort Wayne native Ms. Lombard died when she was flying back from an Indianapolis War Bond Rally and her plane crashed. Her last night was spent in Indianapolis at the Claypool Hotel which was where the downtown Embassy Suites now stands. Some furnishings from that room, such as the dresser, were sold and are now in a room at the Propylaeum. How cool is that? We don't know why this information isn't prominently posted on their website for old Hollywood fanatics like ourselves. We also think they could have a nice event where they set up a movie screen in one of the meeting room areas and showed one of her movies. That's just a moneymaking idea from us to them.

Our server and the rest of the staff couldn't have been lovelier and our experience couldn't have been better at the Propylaeum. Hopefully, other Indianapolis area residents have not procrastinated going there as badly as we have. We won't wait so long for our next visit.