A day in the life of Carmel isn't complete without a stop at the Eric Clark Activity Center/Carmel High School Natatorium.

The heavily traveled, five-lane U.S. 31 corridor through Carmel is lined with low-rise suburban office buildings that showcase the city's business clout.

A full parking lot gives the first hint that Carmel's City Hall is a busy place on any given day of the week.

Carmel residents are like many Americans who spend big money on spa-related services: They want to look and feel good.

Carmel is one of the fastest-growing communities in the state's fastest-growing county. So it was no surprise on this Wednesday morning to find plenty of construction crews at work building new homes, businesses and schools.

As the old story goes, one of Carmel's popular and best-known attractions was discovered by accident. A crew drilling for natural gas in the early 1900s missed the gas -- but hit a natural pocket of water that spewed under great pressure into the air. People from across Hamilton County gathered to see the geyser.

Fluffy white clouds billowing in a baby-blue sky offer a perfect excuse for some to ditch work and enjoy a sunny summer day.

As the lunchtime crowd begins to move through the cafeteria line at Shapiro's Delicatessen just before noon, the kitchen staff turns its attention to dinnertime and beyond.

Mike McDowell is putting together an odd-looking contraption called a recumbent bike, or a "bent" to those who ride them. For three years, McDowell has operated Valley Bikes in space that used to house a factory.

Kim Hajduk is having fun taking inventory of the wares inside her historic Old Town Carmel consignment shop, where the shelves and shopping racks groan under the weight of an assorted mix of merchandise.

From Marion County, the gateway to Carmel up Keystone Avenue offers ample evidence of one vehicle for growth north of Indy.

Maroon. Neon orange. Pale yellow. Green. Light blue. Teal. Welcome to the end of the rainbow. The pot of gold is on East 131st Street, where children of all ages are clad in colorful T-shirts and spread across the fields of the Carmel Dad's Club, playing soccer, baseball and lacrosse.

Walking north through the first-floor corridor of the Carmel Clay Public Library, the atmosphere is about what would be expected.

Businessman Mark Schutte might signify best why the Glass Chimney restaurant is in its 28th year as a successful gourmet dining destination in upscale Carmel.

The smell of freshly cut lumber permeates the intimate studio that houses the Carmel Community Players. On stage, four actresses run through mostly memorized lines for their production of "The Odd Couple."

Cyndy Bailey's workday was over by 11 p.m. on this Wednesday. Her four children were tucked in their beds, and her daily tasks were finished.

Here's a look at what was going on elsewhere in the world, nation and state on May 26.

If you follow the money in Hamilton County, chances are it leads to Carmel. But it's a trail of wealth that begins with Indianapolis.

In the late 1970s, some wise guy coined the phrase "golden ghetto" in reference to Carmel's affluence. Later, the term "Carmel housewife" became synonymous with cell phones, SUVs and professionally manicured nails.

People of Asian descent are helping to change the face of Carmel. The city, like many other Indianapolis suburbs, has seen its share of diverse newcomers in the past decade. But Asian-Americans have made perhaps the biggest impact.

Carmel is nearing a crossroads. No doubt, during the past 10 years, the community has enjoyed a strong housing and real estate market thanks to a savvy blueprint mixing, corporate offices and high-end, custom homes.

Nervous. That's how Mike Hollibaugh, the director of Carmel's Department of Community Services, felt while awaiting the state's draft of the environmental impact study to transform U.S. 31 into a limited-access highway.

Carmel police continue to monitor the races of people involved in traffic stops today, long after an agreement from a 1997 lawsuit expired.

Mayor James Brainard has learned a thing or two about figuring ways to expand territory for his city during the past 71/2 years.

The name Bub's Burgers & Ice Cream has a ring of the 1950s to it. Yet, Carmel native Matt Frey's month-old eatery is one of the newest businesses in the heart of Old Town.

Nestled under two highway overpasses along the five-mile Carmel stretch of the Monon Greenway are more than 30 blank, concrete art canvases.

Carmel is notable for matters beyond its status as the suburban address of choice for the local well-to-do. It is also a haven for the arts.

Two rounds of school redistricting coupled with developer-touted new subdivisions are leaving some Carmel parents wondering when the next round of school building will start.

It's doubtful many people have benefited from the Carmel Dads' Club as much as Carmel baseball coach Eric Lentz. A product of the Dads' Club, Lentz has seen the club prosper from a baseball-oriented club to one of the top youth sports organizations in Central Indiana.

Six years ago, Carrie Etgen researched Indiana schools online before she and her husband, Garry, moved from New Hampshire for his job at Lilly Research Laboratories.

When Mayor Jim Brainard was campaigning door-to-door in Carmel nearly eight years ago, he realized the community was missing something.

When the weather outside gets hot, children can Dive Into a Good Book at the Carmel Clay Public Library. Carmel's summer reading programs kicked off June 4. The youth programs will run through Aug. 2.

Jane Wildman knew that learning more about police work would only increase her effectiveness in her own job. Wildman, coordinator for middle school drug prevention and school safety for Carmel Clay Schools, is among 80 graduates of the Carmel Police Department's Citizens Academy.

Joan Himes is on a mission this summer -- to take in all that Carmel Clay parks have to offer.

Until the 1960s, Carmel, the widely known residential seat of wealth for Central Indiana, was mostly a farm town. While many credit the completion of Keystone Avenue with changing the pace of the community, originally known as Bethlehem, affordable housing, big-city civil unrest and lower taxes in the suburbs caused Carmel's population to climb.

An aging baby boomer population and current health care trends are fueling growth in Carmel's health care sector, according to Jeff Burt, president of the Hamilton County Alliance.