INDIANAPOLIS — The holiday lights on the Soldiers and Sailors Monument became a beacon to come downtown Friday night. Hundreds in the crowd watched the lights come on with a cup of hot chocolate.
South Bend Chocolate Cafe has served sweet treats on Monument Circle for nearly two decades. Their hot cocoa was in demand for Circle Lights as the temperature hovered just above freezing.
"The line out here is insane," said owner and operator Kristine Tressler. "It's around the block, and I feel blessed that we have that every year."
Tressler said the day Indianapolis turns on the Circle Lights is usually the day when her business' cash register lights up the most.
"We hear stories all day long about how people came down here as kids or that they bring their kids here every year," Tressler said. "We've become a tradition. It's incredibly moving."
The cafe is an outlet of the South Bend Chocolate Company, which started operations in 1991. It remains Indiana-owned and based in its namesake city.
