Gather

Although we didn’t have a terribly cold winter, I am ready for spring: sun shine, warm breezes, open windows. I am even ready for all the muddy paw prints and extra mopping I do this time of year.  Spring also has one giant advantage-spring break.  Even though I’m not in school, I still look forward to taking a little time to thaw out after winter.  I won’t be traveling to exotic beaches or road-tripping to Panama City; however, why be deterred from having a spring break right here at home?

The whole point of spring break (for me) is to relax and have a little fun. Of course when I go somewhere, I have a few main objectives that decide what I spend my time doing. So I’m applying my travel plans to Bloomington.

Art and Culture: It doesn’t take much to see Bloomington’s thriving art scene.  I’ll be walking around the IU campus to check out the Eskenazi Museum of Art and the Grunwald Gallery of Art at the Henry Radford School of Fine Arts.  I’ve never been to the Mather Museum of World Culture so it’s on my list.  I’ll also be checking out all the new galleries I miss during First Friday Gallery Walk and all the galleries in town I haven’t been to yet. I could spend a day or two just seeing art galleries.

Music: With a world renowned music school in the community, it’s no wonder Bloomington has a fantastic, diverse music scene.  Player’s Pub and Bear’s Place have regular songwriter showcases among other performances. Student performances at IU Jacobs School of Music happen several times a day. Bluebird Nightclub concludes its Bloomington Battle of the Bands March 28th and has nightly performances.  The Bishop always has something interesting. As with every trip, a hard-to-find seemingly secret bar is a must-thus The Root Cellar. My go to dance spot is always, always, always The Backdoor. I’ve heard great things about Salsa dancing on Saturdays at Seredipity Martini Bar.  I heard about Blockhouse so I want to check that out. I’m going to have to extend my staycation at this point.

Theater Plus: It’s going to be hard to decide what shows I want to see. Cardinal Stage Company will present King Charles III.  Bloomington Playwrights Project performs new plays at the beginning and end of March. IU Theatre ends The Tempest on March 4th and begins At First Sight March 24th. The Comedy Attic hosts several comedians throughout the month of March. Musical Arts Center, Neil Degrasse Tyson, Shaolin Warriors: The Legend Continues, and The Collegiate A Cappella Midwest Finals take place at IU Auditorium in March.

I didn’t intend for this to be a two part series, but Bloomington has so much going on.  In the next part of the series, I’ll be exploring options for the outdoors, food, and drinks, and of course history of the city.  Until then!