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Stay, Explore, Eat: Bloomington, Indiana

The Mr. and I closed out our 2019 by taking a much-needed couples trip to Bloomington, IN. The lovely folks at Visit Bloomington invited us to check out the city with the kidlets, but we decided to be a little selfish. Whenever we travel, it’s always family travel. And let’s face it, a vacation ain’t a vacation when traveling with kids. The last few years have been tough so it was time that we got away just us for once.

We stayed at SpringHill Suites Bloomington and the room was very nice. Video of the entire room can be seen on my Insta Story. We were welcomed with a gift bag of goodies and wine which was much enjoyed by the Birthday Boy. I didn’t know whether to be proud or annoyed that he a.) didn’t leave me any. b.) tried something new and unlocked an achievement in major adulting by drinking wine. Drinking isn’t his thing, so I was all like “well, look at you BUT could I have gotten more than a drop?” LOL!

Our first night in Bloomington we settled in, got a bite to eat at Bub’s Burgers right across from our hotel, and planned the day ahead. I had a salad with mango salsa and hubs had the triple burger. He wants to go back for the Big Ugly Burger.

Our first full day in Bloomington was spent scoping out the city, finding places to take photos, and trying to stay warm. When we arrived, it was relatively warm, but the temperature dropped and the wind decided to show out during our adventure. I was dressed to go on a nature walk, but we decided to nix that plan because… cold.

Our first stop was to check out Artisan Alley and the murals painted on the surrounding buildings. Artisan Alley is a creative space for artists that provides work studios, co-work spaces, classes, equipment, tools, essential amenities and volunteer opportunities for community members interested in the arts. Being that it is a space for artists and run by volunteers, the occupants come and go as they like and keep their own hours. All of the studios were closed except for the barbershop, but it was still inspiring to tour the space and envision what it’d be like if I decided to join a similar co-op for my shop. I didn’t take any photos inside, but I did get some video footage that can be seen in my #btownexplorer Instagram story.

Along our way to our next stop, we ventured onto the Indiana University campus to do touristy things. Visit Bloomington provided us with a scavenger hunt of things to check out, but I decided to throw in a wildcard to visit Mays Greenhouse because I ALWAYS have to find a greenhouse when we travel! Mays had several greenhouses, but I went straight for the houseplants! They had SEVERAL of my wishlist plants. A rubber plant was high priority on my list so as soon as I spotted them, I grabbed one. The banana plants and huge monstera adansonii baskets were pretty enticing as well. It’s okay though because we’ll be back for the summer!

After our trip to Mays, I felt a little midday crash coming on, so we stopped at Hopscotch Coffee so I could grab a latte to go. We returned to the hotel to rest, thinking we might do something later that night. I did my face mask and we ended up calling it a night!

The next morning, we checked out of the hotel and stopped at Target for leggings for me to layer in. I wanted to make sure I was nice and warm during the rest of our adventure. After I got into my cozy leggings, we returned to some spots we wanted to take pictures. We literally hightailed it, set up the camera and skedaddled back to the car because…cold.

 

After our quick photoshoots, we headed to the Tibetan Mongolian Buddhist Cultural Center where I got my entire life. It was such a sight to see. We spent time inside of the cultural center where we set intentions for the new year and made a donation. I really felt good about what we put out there. My entire time spent at the monastery brought me so much joy. We’ll definitely be back during the summertime. Hopefully, we’ll stay on the grounds in one of their yurts.

After being in such a serene space, we decide to have lunch at a bar of all places. Like who does that? Well, the food and brews at The Tap Brewery were totally worth setting off my introvert-o-meter. The service was excellent, our food was fresh and bursting with flavor. I had the firecracker shrimp tacos with raspberry beer. Hubs had another burger and we split parmesan garlic wings. He’s really not a man of variety, lol, but he did take a sip of my raspberry beer and agreed that it was amazing.

After our meal, it was time to hit the road to gather our tiny humans. We wish we could have stayed an extra day to ring in the new year, but let’s be real, we would have slept through the countdown. We were all in the bed dozing before the ball dropped once we returned home. I’m just happy hubs and I got a chance to escape; even if only for a couple of days. A big huge thank you to Visit Bloomington for hosting us! We had an amazing time!

Stay

SpringHill Suites Bloomington

Explore

Artisan Alley
Mays Greenhouse
Tibetan Mongolian Cultural Center

Eat

Bub’s Burgers
Hopscotch Coffee
The Tap Brewery

Danielle

Tuesday 4th of February 2020

Wow! I actually have family who lives in Bloomington, Indiana. I hope you had a great time. I love all the photos!!!

Carissa

Tuesday 21st of January 2020

This looks like an amazing kid-free baecation!!! I’m jealous LOL! I love all the pics!

Nanekia

Sunday 19th of January 2020

First...A vacation with no kids!!! Secondly I love your pics. I love exploring towns and it looks like you two had fun doing so.

Mimi Robinson

Saturday 18th of January 2020

OMG! I loved your pictures, you and hubby had such a great time. You guys took in a lot of nice spots. I love the pictures you took of the two of you. I need to start using my tripod to get pictures of us when we travel.

Kiwi

Saturday 18th of January 2020

Wow you took so many cute photos and dope backdrops here. Looks like an amazing baecation!

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