Trip to Indianapolis :: Day One #LoveIndy

Winter is so long and so cold and so boring ….. I get cabin fever. Especially now that we homeschool. I’ve just gotta get out of the house sometimes.

We really enjoy going on a little mid-winter break as a family around the end of January. Just a break from routine. It’s so fun and rejuvenating. We’ve visited Great Wolf Lodge for the last few years and decided it was time for something new.

Since we’ve never been to Indianapolis, it sounded like a perfect city to visit. It’s only about two hours from our house, which is a great distance for a little getaway. Just far enough away to be a mini vacation, but still close enough that we don’t get on each other’s nerves in the car. We had such a blast!

We woke up and got ourselves on the road. We played all day in Indy and then spent one night in a hotel. The kids did some swimming in the pool. (always a highlight!) We woke up the next morning, enjoyed our hotel breakfast, visited some more great places and then headed home. We were home by dinner time on day two. It was really the perfect mini-break.

Indy is such a fun city with so much to do! We could have stayed much longer with all they have to offer.

Indy – Day One

Our first stop was The Children’s Museum of Indianapolis.

Oh, my goodness. Just, WOW! We were there almost the whole day. It was amazing. There is so much to see and do. The kids LOVED loved it. They literally ran from one exhibit to another.

Upon entering “The World’s Biggest and Best Children’s Museum” you are greeted by these HUGE dinosaurs trying to sneak in. It’s pretty awesome and just let’s you know what kind of day you’re about to have.

Then, in the lobby, we were greeted by a life-sized, rotating, Bumblebee. So, yeah, that was awesome.

We haven’t even made it to the ticket counter, yet, and already my kids minds were blown!

Once inside, there is just so much to see and do. There are some exhibits that stay and some that rotate.

We loved them all. The Dinoshpere, Science Works, Treasures of the Earth, The Playscape, The Train, The Planetarium. Everything.

We got to excavate statues and bones, put relics back together, play with a giant Rube Goldberg machine, touch a REAL dinosaur bone, get on a train, explore the tomb of an Egyptian Pharaoh, take a ‘plane’ to China.

The kids loved the China exhibit. They got to take care of baby pandas, learn calligraphy, and “cook” us a meal.

There was a house of mirrors with a skinny mirror that I really wanted to steal. I NEED ONE!

And man, The Fireworks of Glass. This gorgeous blown glass tower is one of the largest permanent sculptures by renowned artist Dale Chihuly. It has over 3,200 pieces of blown glass, the tower rises above a glass ceiling and can be viewed from all sides as you walk up the ramp. I probably took a million pictures of this thing. It is just stunning and there is no picture that can do it justice.

There’s a rotating chair on the bottom level so you can admire the glass ceiling. And. of course, there’s a neat hands-on section for the kids to create their own colorful sculpture from plastic shapes that mirror the originals.

We could have easily stayed at the Museum until close, but we wanted to save an hour to check out the Rhythm Discovery Center. And we are glad we did. It was really fun!

So, up next. We left the Children’s Museum and headed to the Rhythm Discovery Center.

“Rhythm Discovery Center welcomes you to make your own music and Find Your Rhythm!”

This place was a blast. It’s the world’s foremost percussion museum and it provides innovative programs, interactive exhibits, and artist performances. It draws from cultures all over the world and offers a unique, engaging experience to explore rhythm and percussion.

We had a lot of fun. You are invited to fulfill all of your dreams of being a percussionist. Dreams I didn’t even know I had until I got there.

You can play almost every instrument in the place. And they have a lot. They even have sound proof rooms so they can just have at it.

The kids kept asking, “Can I really play it?” haha. Once they knew there were allowed to play the drums, they got into it.

Actually, my husband and I even got in on the fun. It’s hard not to. I’ve always wanted to crash some giant cymbals. THEY ARE LOUD!

And after all that exhausting playing and learning and music making, we were hungry and headed to dinner.

We decided to go to Shapiro’s Delicatessen. Yeah, that was a good decision.

This deli is cafeteria-style and has been around since 1905! They serve more than 2,000 customers each day for breakfast, lunch, and dinner at its two locations.

It’s an Indianapolis institution. So, of course we had to try it. It’s old-school comfort food at it’s best. Macaroni and cheese, meat loaf, greens, matzo ball soup, cakes, pies, pastries and of course their famous corned beef and pastrami on giant sandwiches. Oh, and the pickles. So good!

I had the best potato pancake of my life!