Indianapolis, A Great Second Last Stop

Hard to believe, but we're on the second last night of our trip. We arrived in Indianapolis, Indiana an hour later than planned because we both forgot the time changed again when we crossed into the state. Now we are on home time again so emails and blog posts won't arrive at weird times. Our hotel is a football lover's dream. It is a Holiday Inn directly across from Lucas Oil Field which is where the Indianapolis Colts play. Already, this was our best hotel! When we got in we had an extra large room on the top floor overlooking the stadium. The downtown area was a short walk through pleasant streets except for one tunnel that I didn't love but turned out ok. 

Here's the stadium and we were there just as the big front windows were closing. I believe the roof retracts as well.

After that bit of gawking by me, we were off to the downtown area. Here are a few shots of some of the streets and buildings. Once again, they have preserved most of the heritage buildings which really adds to the feel of the city. In our short time here, we enjoyed Indianapolis and would definitely come back to spend a few days here.

This is looking towards the Circle Centre which is a large 4 storey mall with all the usual mall stores in it plus some that you only find in the states. Still tons of shoe and dress stores... 

This started out as a basic street scene because I liked the old buildings, but then I noticed the orange car. I had to get up quite close to see what it was. And I still had to look up the exact type it was. 

Meet the 2013 Jaguar F Type. Wow!

At what I think is the centre of downtown, there is a large area simply called The Circle. Around the outside are shops and businesses. The centre is dominated by a large monument dedicated to all of the Indiana people who have been in wars dating back into the 1800s. It has different carvings on each side depicting battle scenes. 

They also have bricks in the surrounding walkways dedicated to fallen soldiers from all the wars.

Here are some other views from The Circle.

It was around 30 degrees and we were a little warm from walking so we went into Starbucks for some iced drinks. And then I saw this guy. I'm thinking Indiana, Daniel Boone, Davey Crocket etc. I had my phone out but it was too obvious to take the picture that way. So I put my Nikon's shutter on quiet mode and aimed from the hip, like Daniel Boone would have, and took a couple of shots, hoping for the best. Here's what I got. I was very close and that looked like a real raccoon hat. (Like I would know!) I wouldn't have paid as much attention if he'd been wearing a whole costume, but just the hat? This is not something you see every day!

This is the Capitol Building.

As we were walking around, we found this interesting statue of a famous college basketball coach named John Wooden. He coached UCLA to phenomenal success but he was from Indiana and is celebrated for his integrity and honesty as much as for his success. 

Now it was getting close to dinner time. I liked the look of this place because it was all about the Colts. 

But then, we saw the Weber Grill Restaurant. We couldn't not go there. It ended up being a good choice. 

Marilyn had a grilled shrimp skewer plate. It looked nicer than this but the server came over and whipped out the metal skewer before I could take a picture!
 

I had a bbq combo because I had to try their ribs and brisket. I think this is 3 types of ribs in a week. I will be paying in sweat over the next weeks I'm sure but it was worth it! The brisket was the best I've ever had and I will be looking up the Weber recipe for sure. 

We're off to Cleveland early tomorrow morning for our last day. There's a reservation in place at a great restaurant and we'll have a good amount of time to explore the city.