Conner Prairie: Thirty minutes from downtown Indianapolis, in Fishers, is Conner Prairie, an interactive history park. You can visit a wigwam or throw a tomahawk in the Lenape Indian Camp, pet a duck or brush a cow at the barn on the old Conner homestead, make wax candles or dance a jig in the re-created prairie town. When the weather is good, you can even go up in a hot-air balloon. The newest attraction is the 1863 Civil War Journey: Raid on Indiana. As you cross a covered bridge filled with signs proclaiming a victory at Gettysburg, you’ll hear reports of a raid coming to the town of Dupont, Ind. Through a combination of actors, life-size video (which reminded me of the Harry Potter theme park in Orlando), animatronics and more, you can relive the raid. The park has limited access in the winter; check the website for attractions and hours ($7-$14, connerprairie.org).
Rhythm! Discovery Center: Tucked away in the lower level of the shopping areas in downtown Indy is this magical place where you can bang on a variety of percussion instruments. From tambourines to bongos to a full drum set, learn about the history of percussion and let loose in a sound-proof room ($5-$8, rythymdiscoverycenter.org).
Indianapolis Zoo: Its aquarium hosts daily dolphin shows and features a huge shark tank where you can pet the sharks ($10.25 to $15.25, indyzoo.com).
Indianapolis Motor Speedway: I’ll admit: I’m not a racing fan. But the enormity of the Indianapolis Motor Speedway was not lost on me. Visitors can pull into the 260,000-seat stadium and gasp at its size and tour the Hall of Fame museum to get a glimpse of Indycars and other historic cars and the Borg-Warner Trophy, which honors the winner of each Indianapolis 500. ($3-$5, indianapolismotorspeedway.com).
WHERE TO EAT
When Indianapolis officials made their bid to become a Super Bowl host, one of the things they sent to the selection committee was the shrimp cocktail from downtown Indy staple Harry & Izzy’s. The St. Elmo Starter ($14.95), deemed one of the spiciest dishes in America by the Travel Channel, is reason enough to visit Harry & Izzy’s, which is co-owned by (injured) Colts quarterback Peyton Manning. The dish is spicy on the front end, with a super dose of horseradish, but tangy and slightly sweet and tempered by the shrimp (and the crackers and lemon that come alongside). The restaurant is hip and cool in an old-world gangster kind of way, and every dish we had was delicious.
If you are looking for a taste of Indy history, 100-year-old Iaria’s serves Italian staples such as a tender chicken piccata ($16.99) and a creamy and generous manicotti ($14.99). And even better, on the night we were there, every bottle of wine was half off.
For breakfast, Taste on the edge of David Letterman’s old haunt, the Broad Ripple neighborhood, is a hip foodie place. We had an egg sandwich with mozzarella, red onion, tomatoes, roasted red peppers, field greens and sun-dried tomato aioli on a roll ($7.95). It was so pretty we didn’t want to eat it, but when we did: perfection. The garlic and rosemary roasted potatoes on the side were the best I have ever had. Equally good was Cafe Patachou, where I had a divine omelet with avocado, sour cream, Cheddar cheese and jalapenos and served with yummy cinnamon toast ($10.95). And the self-serve pumpkin spice coffee was just what my morning ordered. |
發表於 2011-11-30 06:46
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