It is not really a long trip, between 2 and a half and three hours, but it is to about four blocks west of “The Circle” which has in its center The Soldiers and Sailors Monument. Back in the days before malls, when big department stores were downtown, the day after Thanksgiving, the stores would unveil windows that featured animated elves and reindeer and all sorts of Christmastime scenes.

My parents would take me and you know, I honestly think it was more magical than anything Pixar can come up with. We stood in the cold of November, dressed up because we were going to Indianapolis and stared in at all the creative wonders. It was the W.H. Block Company that I remember most. If I remember correctly, Block’s also had pneumanic tubes that transferred money up to a central office, and brought back the change. Tubes right through the air – who would have thought?

But, tomorrow, I will not be in the back seat, riding along. I will be driving, and that’s okay, except Interstates run through the city and there I’m not certain about parking around the Government buildings. We are going early, leaving plenty of time to get where we are going, because we don’t know the correct lane without GPS.

We’ll be down by the Indiana Central Canal – and if I have time, I’ll probably go over and stand there thinking of towpaths and times gone by. Then I’ll get in the car and turn on the GPS again. Kind of a little bit of guilt there.