Bloomington Done Right: The Grant Street Inn
January 17, 2020
You know how we feel here at NPS when it comes to generic hotels. The good news is that this trip (off season and not on a game weekend) the Grant Street Inn had our favorite room available. Needless to say, this place beats the heck out of the Hyatt Place.
So here we are in room 31. Sadly the fireplace has been disconnected and no longer functions. In fact, there are a few things that could use sprucing up…like better furnishings, no ancient radio, no phone that plugs into the wall, and some outlets built into the bedside table. You can do it guys!!
The first trip of 2020 started out great with a last minute upgrade from United who seems to have changed their upgrade policy to make things more nail biting for Global Services members. Not sure how we feel about that.
And then there was the hilarious stretch limo that the car service used to get us from Indy to Bloomington.
While in Bloomington, visit the Irish Lion for a stiff drink. And have some food at Anyetsang’s Little Tibet Restaurant.
The Grant Street remains our favorite location to stay in Bloomington. Four showerheads.
Hyatt Place Pablum in Bloomington, Indiana
October 19, 2019
Yeah well the Grant Street Inn was full. So we ended up at a Hyatt Place. Nope. Hamster cages for all.

Bloomington Morning

Hamster cage 229

Same

Same

Not plastic, but might as well be
NPS will try hard to avoid Hyatt Place in the future. About the only good thing about it is that the Irish Lion is across the street.

Irish Lion across the street

The bar at the Irish Lion

Old Fashioned
There was also a house concert.

Ritt and Wilder Deitz
Two showerheads for the Hyatt.
Switcheroo at Grant Street Inn Bloomington, IN
October 1, 2015
I have been coming to the Grant Street Inn for about twenty years ever since they opened. They know me, and theoretically they know that I am a big fan of room 30. Alas, on this trip they put me in room 31. The room is nice, but its biggest feature is also its biggest flaw.
The problem with 31 is noise from the 7th Street bus route. It’s OK during the day, but it starts early. Room 30, just around the corner from the pod is much quieter. And room 30 has a fireplace and a nice shower thing with a hot tub feature.
The door to the outside deck is very nice. And the deck makes a great place to delete email as big buses rumble by.
The shower in 31 is reasonable. It is a cube with glass, but not as fancy as it could be.
While in town, try restaurant DO for some interesting Korean food.
Anyway, for forgetting that I really prefer room 30, the Grant Street gets a temporary three showerheads. Until next time!
Glassaholic: Moscow Mule
April 29, 2015
The Moscow Mule is very easy to make. About the only difficult bit is finding some copper Moscow Mule cups. That’s where Cardinal Spirits comes in. They provided me with some first run Vodka and some Moscow Mule cups last trip out to Bloomington.
So Moscow Mules it is!
Moscow Mule
1.5 oz Cardinal Vodka
1 wedge of lime
real ginger beer (barritts or home made)
pour the vodka over the ice, squeeze in the lime, add ginger beer. if you’re feeling adventurous, stir!
Yes, we know the governor of Indiana is a jackass. And as a serious participant in the Indiana business community, my company is not happy with the exclusionary stupid laws recently enacted. But it’s not like we can just pull up stakes and leave. So we sometimes have to go to Indy.
Last trip out, NPS gave the Alexander a shot with mixed results. This time, we found a better room (3044) and had a much better shower. Much less hamster cage. Much more bathroom kung fu. If we find a higher floor version, we will have what we actually want. Oh, and about that morning newspaper…
Not only was the shower glass, it had great shower pressure and plenty of hot water. YES!
I was so beat when I got to the Alexander, that I did not even go to the fabulous bar for a night cap. Slept like a log. Maybe next time.
Four shower heads for the Alexander. So much better than the awful Conrad!
In other Indianapolis news, other than a stupid jackass governor, the Libertine has moved to new fancier and hipper digs. Still the same great cocktails though.
Arriving too early for the event and just in time to squeeze in a cocktail, my companion and I were served by Benjamin Moran. After the event, three hours later, we returned for more. Here is the as yet un-named Libertine Experiment One:
2 oz Ford’s Gin
.5 Cocchi Torino
.5 Gran classico
.25 Dry curaçao
1 dash angostura
2 droppers scorpion grapefruit tincture (in house)
Stir down. Big rock. Grapefruit peel garnish for nose.
Benjamin was nice enough to make this for me even though his shift was over. But not to fear, Colin Lime was in the house to take over. Colin made us an Indiana Diamondback:
2 oz Bonesnapper Rye (local)
.75 Green Chartruese
.5 Demerara syrup (1:1)
2 dashes Angostura
3 dashes lemon bitters
shake. serve over big rock. lemon peel garnish.
Then it was back to Bloomington and the Grant Street Inn, but not before stopping in at the Irish Lion again for a Sazarac with Hendry.
Cardinal Spirits: A New Bloomington Distillery
April 16, 2015
Cardinal Spirits is so new that their grass has not come in yet. We were honored to get an evening tour led by a mysterious partner.
Cardinal is using both wine and barley beer as mash for vodka and gin distillery. Currently, the vodka is available and the gin is almost ready for release (still in the titration stage with aromatics). There is some brandy and some whiskey recently barreled as well.
How new is the brandy and whiskey?
The experiment is still underway when it comes to gin.
Needless to say, the tour was fantastic. So much fun to see Cardinal Spirits booting up!
Now it’s time to taste the gin.
As a creature of habit, I always look forward to returning to my favorite haunts. The Grant Street Inn is my Bloomington home away from home. And room 30 is my room…though they changed it up!
Traveling at the height of Spring in Virginia is a tough row to hoe, but at least it is the height of Spring here too!
Four perpetual shower heads forever. Plus a garland of flowers.
Very sad Bloomington news though, the Rail has closed. This leaves precisely zero high end mixology bars in town. So it will be the Irish Lion for some bourbon I suppose. So bummed.
Dinner at Janko’s.