Another "What to do thread": Indianapolis

[Zx2guy19]

My wife's bday is July 7th, so we took Friday the 8th off to celebrate. Every year I buy her some dumb ass purse or jewelry that's on her list and she uses it for a few months and then it sits on her shelf. So this year, I told her I was planning a short overnight trip instead.

 

I booked a room at the Hilton in downtown Indianapolis yesterday, and chose that city for 2 reasons:

 

1) It's only a 3 hour drive and the hotel room was a good price (I normally spend $150-200 for her bday and the room was $130)

 

2) I've heard there's lots of fun, quick things to do there.

 

Trip Advisor has been a great resource, but looking to hear from you guys. We are leaving early Friday morning and should get there by noon, so looking for lunch places, dinner/drinks recommendations and stuff to fill Friday and Saturday.

 

Any suggestions? Preferably not crazy expensive...she's turning 24, so it's not like it's some big milestone.

[Supplicium]

Downtown Indy Canal Walk

Circle Centre Mall

Sun King Brewery

Lucas Stadium

There are alot of nice resturants and bars downtown.

 

Uber everywhere you go, indy has an insane amount of drivers online, super fast and really cheap. Parking can be tough and $$$.

[Berto]

Just walking around is pretty cool. The zoo sucks don't go there.

 

As mentioned above the Canal walk is decent.

Circle Center Mall doesn't do it for me, but I don't like malls either.

The speedway museum is worth a short trip if she is up for it.

The Indiana War Memorial Museum is pretty good for free. If you don't have a lot of time its worth going just for the shrine room. Can look up pics online if you want.

 

St. Elmo's steak house if you want to drop some coin.

Fogo de Chao if you want to drop some coin (my preference).

I personally really enjoy the BBQ at Smokehouse in Fountain Square.

http://www.fountainsquareindy.com/

 

Fountain square also has duck pin bowling which is something different to do if you are into that.

 

Also, Rathskellar is worth checking out for food and beer.

'Mass Ave' (Massachusets Avenue) has a ton of bars and restaurants and where everyone goes.

 

You can actually climb up into the Soldiers and Sailors monument in the circle. I've not done this but they are open Fri.-Sun., 10:30 a.m.-5:30 p.m.

[Zx2guy19]

Awesome, thank you both for the advice!

[Second Gen]

Brad - North of Indy is Carmel and it's kind of "artsy" if you/she are into it. They also have a good burger joint (Kind of popular) called Bob's burger (Link below).

 

http://www.bubsburgersandicecream.com/bubs-menu/

 

Good luck too..

[Zx2guy19]

Thanks Dave! We have heard from a few friends that Carmel is good to go to, so we may swing by there for the first half of Saturday.

[Guest GMoney]

My wife's bday is July 7th, so we took Friday the 8th off to celebrate. Every year I buy her some dumb ass purse or jewelry that's on her list and she uses it for a few months and then it sits on her shelf. So this year, I told her I was planning a short overnight trip instead.

 

I booked a room at the Hilton in downtown Indianapolis yesterday, and chose that city for 2 reasons:

 

1) It's only a 3 hour drive and the hotel room was a good price (I normally spend $150-200 for her bday and the room was $130)

 

2) I've heard there's lots of fun, quick things to do there.

 

Trip Advisor has been a great resource, but looking to hear from you guys. We are leaving early Friday morning and should get there by noon, so looking for lunch places, dinner/drinks recommendations and stuff to fill Friday and Saturday.

 

Any suggestions? Preferably not crazy expensive...she's turning 24, so it's not like it's some big milestone.

 

Your wife is into $100-200 purses? There might be a reason they sit on the shelf. Try a Hermes. I bet it wont sit on the shelf.

[Zx2guy19]

Your wife is into $100-200 purses? There might be a reason they sit on the shelf. Try a Hermes. I bet it wont sit on the shelf.

 

I wish they were $100-200. Most are 400+. My gift is a mere contribution to the overall purchase.

[Zx2guy19]

We got back today (spent about 30 hours in Indy). Had a fricken blast. We did the canal yesterday and peddle boats. Ate at Shapiro's deli for lunch and an awesome place called The Eagle on Mass Ave. for dinner. Hotel was great, architecture and monuments were great. Overall, awesome time- thanks for the recommendations everyone.