Downtown Birthday Trip

As I mentioned in my previous post, David and I decided that we needed to make a bigger celebration of him turning 30 than a simple party with cake and presents.  So we planned a little mini-vacation!  At first we thought we'd go to Chicago, but our plans changed when we found out we'd be going to California for Thanksgiving.  Our cheaper second choice was to stay local and spend a couple days downtown Indianapolis.  That may not sound that exciting and adventurous when you're from Indiana, but we had a really great time and did things that we've never done in that city!

While we were planning our trip, we knew we would not be bringing Eli along with us.  Before this experience, we had never been away from Eli overnight.  Even though we were worry-prone, we knew he (and we) were at a good place that he would do well for an extended period without us.  David's parents had the privilege of taking care of Eli and boy they couldn't have been happier about that!  We knew he was in very good hands, which made leaving him so much easier for us (but of course we missed him always and talked about him frequently).

We took Eli to his grandparent's house Thursday morning (the 6th), got him all settled, and headed to Indy.  By the time we got there we were more than ready for lunch, which we ate at McCormick's & Schmick's (David's favorite restaurant).  To save money, we ate our nice meals at lunchtime and had pretty cheap dinners.  I'm not a seafood fan, but David loves it, so I was glad he was able to eat such good stuff for his birthday.

After lunch we drove over to White River State Park to walk around the beautiful gardens and take pictures. 

The Gardens were full of whimsical stone animals.  These frogs were all decorated in jewelry and other accessories.  : )

It was so hot outside and I wore the completely WRONG shoes for walking long distances, so my sore, sweaty feet needed a refreshment!

The ducks were my favorite.  Don't ya just wanna join in on their fun? : )

Next we stopped in at the NCAA Museum.  I went there on my very first date many moons ago, but David had never been there and I knew he'd enjoy it.  There's a small basketball court inside the museum that even has a few bleachers for adoring fans to take pictures of their husbands shooting baskets.  : )

After I got some shots of my baller I joined in and played with him for awhile.  It was really fun!

There were displays on every sport, and some of them had parts available to give you a chance to see what that sport is like.  For example, we could hold different fencing swords, "shoot" a rifle, and watch the crazy-fast speed of a tennis ball.

Here we are "skiing"--

David practicing his straight-up jump like the volleyball players--

When we left this museum we decided to take a peek into the $400/night tallest hotel in the city--the JW Marriott.  

Picture Googled

It was SO fancy!  There was a gorgeous, huge lobby with a fireplace and free flavored water.  We went up  one floor  and there was a Starbucks and FedEx office.  I look forward to someday being able to stay in a hotel downtown (although it sure as heck won't be this one!).

We spent the rest of the evening at Circle Centre Mall.  We didn't buy anything, but it was fun just being there since I don't think I've been to a mall since Christmas shopping last year.  : )  We grabbed a bite to eat while we there, but sadly couldn't eat it in the Arts Garden because of a function.

We headed to our hotel after the mall, staying just one night at a Comfort Inn 10 minutes from downtown.  Although it was nothing like the fancy hotels in the city, it was still nice, and heck, staying in a hotel at all is a treat to me!  We don't have TV, so it was fun to lie on the bed, flip on the TV, and watch Mulan!  : )  

Unfortunately we weren't able to sleep in because our wonderful complimentary breakfast stopped being served at 9:00 AM!  Boo.  

The first thing we did on our second day in the city was climb to the top of Monument Circle, or in other words, this beauty--

 David said he did that when he was in grade school, but I don't remember doing so.  It was an incredibly humid day, and the stairways were cramped and not air-conditioned, AND we left our water in the car, so it was actually a bear of a climb.  But once we made it to the top it was pretty cool to look out over the city.  Plus, now whenever I pass the Monument I can say, "Hey, I've climbed that!"  : )

When we came out of the Monument, we were surprised to find the Circle had been taken over by a slew of Colts fans.  Apparently there was some big to-do as the season was about to start (yeah, not a football fan here).  We walked around, got some free candy and pens, David threw a football, and then we quickly headed outta there.

We walked a lot those two days.  I thought my poor feet were gonna fall off!  We walked over to Roberts Photography Shop for David to look around for a bit.  We also walked to Union Station, where my sister recently attended a beautiful wedding.  I was really hoping to see the inside, but it was sadly all locked up.

We ate lunch that day at Barcelona Tapas.  David served his mission in Spain, and was excited about eating authentic Spanish food.  As it turns out though, Barcelona Tapas is not at all authentic to Spain, at least not where David served (Bilbao).  He was pretty disappointed with their food, but we still had a nice meal.

After lunch we headed over to Mass Ave. where we heard there were supposed to be lots of cool shops.  We did step inside one really cool one--a toy store!  It was packed full of super fun toys, and I wanted to buy Eli every one (they were way overpriced).  We stayed there for quite a while.  We checked out a couple other stores but then that was it!  Apparently the Ave. is more hyped up than it really is.

Next we went and walked along the Canal.  It's such a gorgeous walk at night, but it's also unsafe, so we made sure to do it during the day.  

I begged David to let us go paddle-boating in the Canal, and he finally agreed!  

Once we finished paddle-boating we went to the Indiana State Museum.  It was more money than we wanted to spend, so we just looked at the gift shop.  : )  We found some booklets called "Remember When..." that are all about a specific year.  We enjoyed reading about what was popular and how much things cost, etc. for our birth years. 

We also stepped inside the Indiana Historical Society building for a short time before they closed.

As we were heading to dinner that evening, it started pouring.  We were so blessed to have had such nice weather during all of our activities.  We ate dinner at a french bakery called au bon' pain, where we also shared a cherry strudel and white chocolate macadamia nut cookie.  Mmmm...a perfect way to end a great trip!  

We thoroughly enjoyed our mini-vacation together.  It was just what we needed to have some quality time as just husband and wife.