Indianapolis, Indiana

I am not sure if I ever would have thought of traveling here if it was not for my cousins wedding.  But, it ended up being a pretty good vacation. If you are looking for a city that is relaxed and easy to walk around, Indianapolis would be it. Indianapolis is only 10 hours away from Minneapolis and the drive is not too bad unless you hit traffic near Chicago.

Firstly, I have to mention our hotel. It was great! I have never had this spacious of a room. They also had water in the lobby and two attached restaurants. The beds were comfortable and the halls were quiet. The pool area was a bit small and it was really hot that weekend. So, more pool area would have been better, but not a deal breaker.

There were also some great views right outside the hotel. You can walk to many of the monuments and historical areas.

I wouldn’t recommend the breakfast at the hotel. The service was not great, they wouldn’t let my family sit by each other but still charged a group rate. One of my cousins was served a moldy bagel and did not apologize or take it off the bill. I had one experience there and it was also not good. I needed something to go and it was foreign to the worker, even when there was a posted take out menu.

My favorite part of the trip other than the wedding was going to a small town called Zionsville. It had it’s own Bentley dealership.

It is a town that is full of little shops and quaint restaurants. We had lunch at the Cobblestone Cafe. I wish it was not blisteringly hot as it was because they have a wonderful patio in the alley. Instead we sat inside and ate wonderful food. I had a salmon plate and a taste of a few other items on the  menu.

If you go to Zionsville you need to stop at this cafe. It is everything I love about a small town restaurant especially the fresh food.

We also made stops at a chocolate shop called Ghyslain which was completely unexpected. It was housed in a beautiful old church with artwork on it’s walls.

They had a lunch menu and a case filled with desserts. I bought a box with many different kinds of chocolates.

We also stopped at a wine shop called The Wine Guy where they had an excellent selection on reasonably priced wines. I would love to have a shop like this right near my home. They also sold gift baskets and gourmet food items.

After this trip to Zionsville we explored more of downtown Indianapolis. We saw this large glass structure when we were walking around before and wanted to see what it was. It was a garden/concert venue that spanned the area between the streets in downtown.

When we got there there was a concert going on. What a great little venue. I would love to see some of my favorite bands in this close and unique setting.

That night we went to eat at the Colts Grill which was the only restaurant that could house my whole family without a previous reservation. I now know why it was so easy to get in there.

This restaurant committed some major fouls in the restaurant industry. First, it sells itself as a bar with craft brews, when I asked what was on tap the server could not tell me he had to find a menu and that took at least 10 minutes. I ordered a beer off that menu and it turns out it is not actually on tap right now and I ordered another one. It took almost 30 minutes to get a drink.

We ordered and waited and waited. Which was fine because we had good company. But, when the food finally came out, I had a completely different meal then I ordered. I told the server that I am a vegetarian. So, I purposely ordered a pasta dish that came without meat. He must have ordered the wrong one when entering it in the system.  He apologized and brought out the right dish. Which was not good anyways.

We got the bill without any comp on it.

Then to make things worse I went to the restroom and of course picked a stall without toilet paper. Only to come out of the bathroom to find about 8 workers standing around the hostess stand.

The bar area had a good vibe. But, I definitely would not recommend going here if you make the trip to Indianapolis. Actually, I wouldn’t be surprised if it already closed.

While we had some free time during an afternoon we spent time at the monument. There was a flash mob there one day when we were hanging out. It was really neat to see a bunch of people dancing together.

We then made a big mistake by thinking we should climb up the stairs in the monument. BAD IDEA. Especially, if you get a little claustrophobic. This is not the time to be a cheapskate.

331 steps later I made it to the top and then took the elevator back down.

All in all, it was a great trip. There is not too much to see in Indianapolis so a weekend is the right amount of time to see the sights, try some food, and go to Zionsville.

Because it is nice to get away to somewhere you have never been before.

@mplsgossipgirl