Indianapolis

J.C. & I outside our hotel, right before we took a "cab" to Broad Ripple for the night.

I had asked the desk clerk at the hotel about cabs, and she gave me the business card of the company they use. The card said only "Taxi Service" at its top, followed by some phone numbers. After calling one of the numbers to request a pick-up, I didn't think much of it, until a pristine white Town Car showed up in front of the hotel and a guy exited the car and entered the building.

I realized a few minutes after J.C. and I took the above photo that someone had called my cell phone, and when I called the person back, the guy who'd walked into the hotel was coming back outside. The guy was white, about our age. "I thought you stood me up," he said.

When we got into the cab, he told us it would be a flat rate, cash only. There was no meter on the dash; there were no certificates anywhere. It seemed to be just this guy and his clean car. We agreed with the price, and we were on our way.

Topics of conversation on the way there included (but were not limited to): snakebites, pizza vs. burgers, displaced turtles, water buffalo, nature hikes in South Dakota.

A strange man.

We decided not to call him back for our return trip.

The marquee for the concert, our reason for visiting Indianapolis this past weekend.

The everybodyfields opened for The Avett Brothers at the Vogue, and all in all, it was the best show I think I've ever seen.

I know it's a bit of a cliche to say something like that, but The Avett Brothers were amazing. If you've ever heard and liked one of their songs, you owe it to yourself to go and check this band out live. What I personally loved was how obvious the band's love for playing music was. "High-energy" is an understatement. But to say it was just that undersells how amazingly they played and sang. Really, an unbelievable show.

And the everybodyfields were great as well. I now have a minor crush on Jill Andrews. And probably on Sam Quinn, too; he seemed to me just the right kind of unique.