Indianapolis!

As I prepare the rest of my Disney World posts, I am going to go off track a little bit and talk about my trip this past weekend to Indianapolis!

My family loves the Colts.  Ever since Johnny Unitas played on what used to be the Baltimore Colts, my dad has been a fan, which then led to my aunt becoming a fan as well.  Last year was my first trip to Indianapolis.  We had gone for Peyton Manning's statue unveiling and retirement ceremony.  Being able to see one of the greats in person was amazing, especially for a first trip.

This year, my dad decided to get season tickets.  With some of those tickets, my dad decided to give my aunt a trip to Indy for her birthday, so we all packed up onto a plane a headed for Naptown.

I want this post to serve just as a quick little sightseeing and food companion in case you ever decide to take the trip yourself.

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SIGHTSEEING

One of the best parts about Indianapolis is, as long as you stay at a hotel right in the city, everything is in a walkable distance.  Everything from the restaurants, to the museum, to the mall (which has an entrance right next to our hotel), you do not need to take a car for anything, which is so ideal for a vacation.

There are a few places that my dad likes to hit when we go out there.  One of them, is Soldiers' and Sailors' Monument.  Located in Monument Circle, this nearly 300-foot monument has the capability to carry you to the very top, allowing you to view the different sights that Indianapolis has to offer.  You can either walk the 330 steps to the top for free, or you can pay $2 to take the elevator up.  Whichever you decide to do, the view is definitely worth it.

Soldiers' and Sailors' Monument

Soldiers' and Sailors' Monument

View from Soldiers' and Sailors' Monument... you can see Lucas Oil Stadium in the back!

View from Soldiers' and Sailors' Monument

Surrounding area of Soldiers' and Sailors' Monument

Soldiers' and Sailors' Monument

Soldiers' and Sailors' Monument

Soldiers' and Sailors' Monument

Soldiers' and Sailors' Monument

Soldiers' and Sailors' Monument

Another amazing place to visit is the Indiana War Memorial Museum.  Located just a few blocks away from the monument, the museum is the perfect place to learn about history.  The place is donation only, so there is no actual fee to get in.  The museum was originally built to honor the veterans of World War I, but eventually grew into a museum honoring all veterans.

It features loads of artifacts and dioramas (my favorite part) to help paint a better picture of what life was truly like for the soldiers during these times.  It's a very impactful museum that I highly recommend visiting.

Entrance to the Indiana War Memorial Museum

Inside of the Indiana War Memorial Museum

Every time we go to the museum (my dad and my brother have been more than five times), we end the excursion by going up to the shrine, which was the part built to honor the WWI veterans.  It's quiet--as it's a place for reflection--and heavy, and very beautiful, with a huge American flag in the center of the room.

Inside of the shrine at the Indiana War Memorial Museum

Inside of the shrine at the Indiana War Memorial Museum

Inside of the shrine at the Indiana War Memorial Museum

If you do happen to take a trip here during football season, I recommend going to a Colts game.  Lucas Oil Stadium is energetic, new, and so cool with the retractable roof.  If you do get to go, you must get the loaded nachos.  Even if you don't, seeing everyone walking around with them will make your mouth water so much!

Lucas Oil Stadium

The Peyton Manning statue outside of Lucas Oil Stadium

The stage where music plays before the game!

Lucas Oil Stadium

Lucas Oil Stadium

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DINING

Here is where I am going to get very serious.  As you may have been able to tell from some other travel posts, my family takes food very seriously.  Naturally, we always go to St. Elmo Steakhouse while in Indy.

Considered one of the best steakhouses, St. Elmo is known for their "World Famous Shrimp Cocktail."  Extremely hot, this shrimp cocktail not only makes your eyes water, but contains the best tasting shrimp that are absolutely cooked to perfection.  In case you still aren't convinced, they are indeed so popular that you can purchase the cocktail sauce online to have your own St. Elmo party.  La-dee-da!

The "St. Elmo Shrimp Cocktail"... pardon my Snapchat caption!

When you order a steak, your dinner comes with either a navy bean soup or tomato juice before your entree, but you can upgrade for the soup du jour, which happened to be lobster bisque so you can guess what I had!  Rich and creamy, but not too filling, so I still had plenty of room for dinner and dessert!

For dinner I had filet mignon and a choice of a baked potato, french fries, redskin mashed potatoes, or sautéed green beans.  I chose the french fries, but I know that the redskin mashed potatoes are heavenly!  They also have extra sides you can order.  My brother always goes for the crab mac and cheese, which is also outstanding.

In case you aren't in the mood for red meat, they also offer pasta dishes, seafood, chicken, and chops, so there is definitely something for everyone.

When I went to Indy last year, they had an incredible chocolate layer cake that I was so looking forward to again this time, but unfortunately, they didn't have it anymore.  But, of course, that didn't prevent them from other amazing things on the dessert menu.  Cheesecake, creme brûlée, and ice cream are just a few of the options to choose from.  Since I'm a chocoholic, I had the double chocolate mousse pie.  While I love chocolate anything, sometimes chocolate mousse can still be a little rich, but this was perfect!  It was somewhat fluffy and melted on my tongue, not even making it necessary to chew.  It wasn't the chocolate layer cake, but it was still amazing.

Glimpse of the menu

Lobster bisque

Dinner's ready!

Perfectly cooked--medium-rare, of course!

Chocolate mousse pie!  My aunt had the lemon butter cake!

Little look at one of the walls!

So that was a wrap on dinner for night one, but night two still had to happen!  We went to Harry and Izzy's which is St. Elmo's sister restaurant--they have the shrimp cocktail, too!!  Only my aunt got the shrimp cocktail this second night.  I had a caesar salad, along with my mom and brother, and my dad had the seared tuna, which looked incredible.

Since it had been a long day at the game, I decided to have a burger, but you can have pretty much anything here.  They do have steaks like St. Elmo, but they also have pasta and seafood and chicken, as well.  The burger was so juicy and the fries were seasoned so well, and it really hit the spot.  Also like St. Elmo, you can pick from a handful of sides to add to the table.

The dessert menu only contains three things:  a signature brownie, creme brûlée, and Woodford Reserve bread pudding (which serves two-four people and takes 12 minutes to prepare).  The brownie lover in me opted for that, and what really made it was the Woodford Reserve caramel sauce drizzled on top!  My parents split the bread pudding, which always looks to die for.

The brownie, of course, was so delicious.

Caesar salad

Cheeseburger:  one of my weaknesses!

Another weakness:  a brownie!

This ended up being a lot longer than I intended, but I hope you find it helpful if you find yourself traveling to this amazing city!

Until next time!  CLINK!!

Jordan xx