Tranquil setting with modest accommodations. Lovely place to heal and hold spiritually-centered…read moreretreats

Enjoyed my stay at the Oakwood Center. It is about an hour an a half from Indianapolis. Their…read morefacilities are very well furnished with tasteful Victorian to mid century and themed decor; well maintained, neat and clean. Their community is very friendly. They have a community building with a professional grade kitchen, ping pong, and a gift shop. There is a community pool, labyrinth, chanting circle?, and children's play structures outside. There are several different buildings that hold retreats. One of which is the Sanctuary Lodge, which they have a massage room. They have names for each building and its rooms. We stayed at the "Farmhouse, which is on the second floor of the "guesthouse". The decor was rustic and oh so cute! The amenities included a fully functional kitchen with a dining and "living" area to be shared with guests with rooms. There are 6 rooms in the "Farmhouse": Orchard View", "Iris Room", "Fairy Bunk Room", "Lodge Room", French Connection" and one unnamed Room. There are 2 full baths on this floor. They provide a towel for each guest and closet space. You can bring your own groceries and drinks and place them in the shared kitchen. I would love to stay here again if I get the chance to. Indiana is a lovely place. And apparently creator of Garfield, Jim Davis lives close by.

Went to a wedding here. In a rough neighborhood, and I wasn't sure if it was still a church or had…read morebeen converted. Nice enough outside, older building so I hoped it was interesting inside. Street parking, plus a lot across the street with what might be another small venue. Walked in and: wow. They have kept a lot of the patina of the old building, but redesigned the spaces and added interesting touches. Very cool. Perfect for a small wedding, maybe a concert, etc. The ceremony and reception were both there; they reconfigured it while we had a cocktail hour upstairs. So many nooks and crannies, plus sweeping views, and lots of good places to hang out and talk. Really worked well. Sound was good, lots of natural light plus their own lights. Staff were excellent: friendly, professional, helpful, unobtrusive. We had a really great time. I would definitely recommend this for events in the area.

Black Bird Farm is a gorgeous family-owned event venue. They have a renovated farmhouse full of…read morebeautiful antiques and it's surrounded by fields. The real feature is the barn! Draped in twinkle lights, the barn is romantic and cozy but spacious enough to accommodate loads of guests (up to 300ish?) They have a bar area, catering area, outdoor patio, and have restrooms under construction. The staff is fabulous - very professional and helpful. I've been to many events at Black Bird including weddings, parties, and workshops, and I couldn't recommend them more!

This place is just beautiful! It's a wonderful venue for a wedding. The property is private and is…read moreperfect for that special day. The barn is modernized with facilities for guests and they have a bar for those important refreshments. We attended a wedding here that was outside under a huge oak tree. If weather had not cooperated there was plenty of room in the barn. I'd recommend it!

I attended a wedding at this Venue in July. What a great place to hold the wedding. The vine arch…read moredecorated with flowers in the woods was wonderful as was the burlap aisle runner. The barn and he "milk parlor" had some really great decorating details using machine parts from a farm. I have to say if it were my daughter, knowing what I know now, I would have a spring or fall wedding here but not a summer wedding. There was no air conditioning whatsoever. The guests were all sweating up a storm and couldn't stand staying in the barn because it was so hot. The small house fans were weak and offered no relief. They desperately need ceiling fans at a minimum and a swamp cooler would be good. My companion was beyond overheated and couldn't leave because there was no cel reception to call an uber.

I attended one of Madjax's spring events tonight where we made polymer clay jewelry. We were walked…read morethrough each step and had fun creating our own customizable pattern. They will be baked and next week we will go in to create our jewelry pieces. For the 2 week class it was $20, and they have other classes for similar prices! It was definitely a great experience and something not a lot of people in the community know about. In addition to the various classes, Madjax also has a monthly membership to their design lab where members would have access to all of the various tools they have, and would be able to receive training on them. They are going to be expanding their lab to include wood and metal working in the near future!

Madjax is a new and happening venue in Muncie - what was once an old warehouse is being transformed…read moreinto "a center for innovation and design; it brings together makers of all kinds converting the energy of ideas, power of problem solving and grit of making into entrepreneurship" (as taken from their website). You can find events here from yoga, the workshops/club, concerts, small businesses, etc. It is still a work in process as they are continuing to renovate the place for more space. Currently is houses a Brewing Co. and printshop. I attended a concert here for The Outlet, which is a once a month Christian heartistic expression of arts events performed by musicans, artists, dancers, etc. The open space was nice, the warehouse/industrial look fit the theme, and the bathrooms were newly renovated and nice. The space for this event was big enough to fit a few hundred people and chairs were provided. For The Outlet in particular, vendors were setup and free food was provided to concert goers. There was an assortment of great performers from acoustics, to poetry, to rap and instrumentals. The Outlet is free to the public as well.

I had the best time at this Marriott. Looking at the photos I took of my room, I'm reminded just…read morehow much I loved my stay and will always remember it. My visit to Muncie was made all the better just by staying at this hotel. According to the internet, the official name of the hotel is the Courtyard by Marriott Muncie at Horizon Convention Center. Whatta mouthful! I'll just call it the Marriott. I never liked the term "conveniently located," because it raises the question: convenient to whom? It's such a nebulous, throwaway phrase. But literally, this Marriott is conveniently located in downtown Muncie, in the middle of the city and within steps of many restaurants and attractions. There's even a terrific restaurant attached to the hotel that's located downstairs (1925 Pubhouse). The hotel is next door to the Muncie Children's Museum, within sight of the Muncie Visitors Bureau, and across the street from a grassy area where many outdoor concerts happen during the summer. If you want to not use your car very much when you visit Muncie, but you want to do a lot and visit a lot of places, this is a good hotel at which to stay. One of the cool things about this Marriott is that it is a teaching hotel, and provides job training and employment for people with disabilities. I love that. The dude who checked me out of my room, and the homie who kindly sold me a cup of coffee and avocado toast, both had disabilities. My lovely interactions with them were an integral part of me loving my stay. As for my room: It had a comfy king-sized bed with lots of pillows, a TV that you can connect to Amazon Prime and other streamers to watch your favorite movies about hundreds of beavers, a mini fridge to store water bottles and chill a bottle of white wine, and a view that overlooks the city. It is a nice, clean, functional, comfortable, restful and special hotel.

It has been over eight years since my original review of Muncie, Indiana's Courtyard by Marriott at…read moreHorizon Convention Center Since that time, I've stayed in the hotel any time I return to Muncie and it has become a regular part of my travel routine within Indiana. The hotel is a Marriott franchisee owned by Arc of Indiana, a non-profit organization dedicated to supporting individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities. The hotel is a "teaching" hospital and plays host to the Erskine-Green Training Institute - Indiana's first statewide hospitality training center for individuals with disabilities. The goal is to train folks with disabilities for a competitive wage jobs. The hotel itself is a for profit project that provides an immersive training ground for those interested in hospitality industry jobs.The hotel is contractually obligated to have at least 20% of its employees be persons with disabilities. While Scott Wise's Thr3e Wisemen Brewery was part of the hotel in the beginning, it has been replaced by a similarly themed 1925 Pubhouse that also serves as a training restaurant for Erskine-Green. Opened in December 2015, this Courtyard is a six-floor hotel that is attached to Thr3e Wisemen, the Muncie Children's Museum and the Horizon Convention Center. Originally targeted for the old Roberts Hotel, which was snatched up and turned into condos before the project was greenlighted, the hotel ended up being built on land donated by the city of Muncie. During training, Erskine-Green Training Institute students stay at the hotel, unless they are relatively local and commute, while in their 10-13 week training programs. This also means, of course, that this Courtyard is one of the most accessible hotels you can imagine. Truly. It offers a variety of accessibility options in the majority of its rooms including wheelchair accessibility, roll-in showers, and adaptive equipment for both visual and hearing impairments. Some of the rooms even have automated doors (though, ironically, mine wasn't working during my most recent stay). The hotel was recently renovated as it nears its 10th anniversary. It offers spacious rooms, contemporary/clean decor, a fair pricing point, an in-house bistro that offers breakfast and dinner, an around-the-clock Starbucks option (not full menu), a nice and wheelchair friendly pool, a fitness center, and even a check-in center that has been made accessible. You should know, as it's a tad confusing, that the parking in front of the hotel actually belongs to the new condos. Don't park there. They seem a tad moody. Instead, there's a parking garage behind the hotel where guests park for free (It's $1 an hour if you're just visiting). There's no doubt my affection for Erskine-Green somewhat skews my rating, and I'll acknowledge that while I seldom have any issues on this visit the automatic door didn't work (and it's quite heavy without the automatic feature) and a packed house due to a convention clearly had the staff a bit overwhelmed. Minor quibbles (though having stayed from Friday evening to Sunday, I was a bit bothered that no one bothered to address the automatic door). On the plus side, a previous tip I'd made to lower the bed had actually been implemented. Bravo. As this is centrally located in downtown, the hotel attracts a variety of traveling guests, businesses, and others. On one visit, I even met the duo from Air Supply in town for a concert (If you don't know Air Supply, move on - I'm old. Get over it). The meeting rooms were nicely equipped, there were charging stations all over the place and even more since the recent renovation added charging stations at tables. Profits from this hotel go to benefit the Erskine-Green Training Institute and other ARC projects. So, you have a terrific room at a fair price with great service and you're supporting a great organization working to put folks with disabilities in the workforce. It really doesn't get much better than that.

Let me preface this by saying that I, myself, am an event planner. My husband and I are capable of…read moreplanning events, and even enjoy doing it. So, "Why??", you ask, did we get a wedding planner? Well, let me ask you: do you want to enjoy your wedding? Or do you want to be running around making sure the DJ cues your dad to the dance floor in between mingling with the most special people in your life? Your wedding will already go SO quickly - don't waste it by attending to the small details. Jessica was AWESOME. I'm a laid-back bride and I appreciated her relaxation, yet incredible attention to detail, during the planning process. We met for coffee twice and communicated via email in between. She brought up questions I hadn't even thought of, created the agendas, communicated with vendors, chimed in when we needed advice and made our wedding perfect. She's the kind of wedding planner that will make sure you eat at your own wedding (so you don't pass out), will snag you for that perfect sunset shot, and keep the event running smoothly while you enjoy the best night ever. She's amazing, kind, efficient, professional, and fun. Definitely recommend!

I got married a week ago today in Muncie. We had the ceremony in a church and the reception for 150…read morepeople at my parents' home. So, when we began planning, we knew we'd need some extra hands on deck as our venue didn't come with a built in events coordinator. Plus, I was planning a wedding in Indiana from my home in San Francisco, which can be very stressful. I got Jessica's name from two girlfriends, and after my initial email to her about a year ago, we got on the phone to talk through my wedding vision. Now, as a publicist, I have planned my share of large scale events, so I really wanted Jessica to sell me (and especially my parents) on her services and why we would need her help. And that's exactly what she did! Jessica has so much experience planning all kinds of weddings, she asked really smart and detail-oriented questions, but I think what sold me is that Jessica also had an outdoor, at home reception in September a few years ago, so I knew she'd take great care of us. Jessica's support throughout the process was so critical to helping us pull off a fabulous wedding. What I love most about Jessica is that she wants to work with brides who love to plan - that's me! In the months leading up to the wedding, Jessica's makes sure you've thought of absolutely everything and nothing falls through the cracks. We had one or two calls last Fall to talk through wedding details and decide on the right planning package for us (more on that below). When I was back in Indiana in the Spring, Jessica came to my parents' home in Muncie to walk through the yard and help us make some decisions on placing the tent, band, bar, etc. She has so much experience and really great ideas, so she helped us take lots of things into consideration. Then, we had two more meetings to run through every single detail before the big day. She's very flexible on timing for meetings and what works best with your schedule. We selected JDWC's Wedding Day package, which consists of 12 hours on-site on the wedding day, plus planning meetings leading up to the big day. My parents were a little hesitant when they saw the price tag, but I can't tell you how many times throughout the planning process I heard them say "I don't know what we would do without Jessica - she's worth every penny!" and I couldn't agree more. I would highly recommend Jessica Dum Wedding Coordination to any bride who is thinking she might need some help on her big day!