Indianapolis at Christmas

One of my favorite cities outside of Kentucky is Indianapolis. I love this town. I have talked about it before, but I feel the need to mention it again now.

Indianapolis is a great city during Christmas. I try to make it down for a day or a whole weekend at some point between Thanksgiving and Christmas each year. Indianapolis really knows how to celebrate the season.

For anyone totally unfamiliar with Indy's downtown area, it is very photogenic. Their 284 foot tall Soldiers and Sailors monument is overwhelming. The statues that are attached to it alone really make a person feel small. This is a magnificent structure, and if you are driving through the area, please take a moment to get out of your car and actually walk up to it. Glancing at it as you loop around the round about does not do it justice. You can take an elevator to the top for a buck.

So, much of their downtown area is centered around the monument. There are a lot of cool things going on right in that area. Nice restaurants, hotels and shopping are common. You can easily drive down on a Friday, park, get a room, and not need your car again until Sunday when you leave.

Circle Center Mall is part of Indianapolis' glorious downtown. I really can't describe how cool the mall here is as it has a bit of an infinite feel. It is four stories, and is inside of four preexisting buildings. It is connected by walkways to many hotels downtown too. It is easy to spend an event filled weekend at a downtown hotel and never have to step foot outside.

There are a couple of glassed in areas at the mall that allow for some cool views of downtown. The Artsgarden is a fun architectural site on the outside and on the inside. It is maintained by the city's arts counsel ( http://www.artscouncilofindianapolis.org/uncilofindianapolis.org/ ). Something cool is usually going on in the Artsgarden. There is always information on cool events in the area here.

The day after Thanksgiving, the town host a huge event around the Soldiers and Sailors monument, lighting it up as a tree for the season. I have heard estimates of 100,000 people showing up for the lighting.

Indianapolis has another Christmas tradition that, in my books, trumps all others. Since 1947, a small Cherub has appeared for Christmas on the clock at the old L.S. Ayers building. I love looking up at the clock and seeing the Cherub there when I am in town before Christmas.

Across the street from the Cherub is the Border's Bookstore. I am usually not a huge fan of chain store (I must admit that I do like Border's) but this store has some true uniqueness to it. It is obvious that they built the store into an old bank, leaving up some of the old fixtures. I love their well stocked local interest section, and the staff there seems friendly and helpful. Also, I like the marriage of Border's Books and Seattle's Best Coffee, especially at this location. A big book store and a cozy coffee area in clean downtown Indianapolis is perfect.

I have been to Indianapolis on many summer days, but I seem to be making a tradition of getting downtown in December. In my mind, I associate downtown with Christmas and winter. If you are in downtown Indianapolis on a cold winter night, you MUST stop by the South Bend Chocolate Company Chocolate Cafe. Get some hot chocolate. Get the large. Trust me.
http://www.sbchocolate.com/

All of the major sporting venues (Victory Field, Conseco Fieldhouse, and Lucas Oil Stadium) are within the downtown area. The Convention Center is here. A cool place to catch a nice dinner and get a view of the entire city is the Eagle's Nest restaurant on top of the Hyatt (the place is very classy, and it rotates slowly, giving you a complete view of the town great skyline).

Getting away from downtown, Indy still has several NICE malls. Castleton Square Mall and the Keystone Fashion Mall are both worth a walk through, and they are close to each other. The Keystone Mall has a nice feel to it, and it has many unique stores. I REALLY love the Keystone Art Cinema here. It is worth taking a couple of hours to catch a movie here. They have a great selection of the usual movie theater snacks, plus some. The seats are the most comfortable seats ever in a theater. We had a great lunch at this malls "Fashion Cafe". Its like a cool nic nac store, plus a very nice cafe. We had some great sandwiches, desert and tea. This is a really unique place, and I hope people support this place.

I like Greenwood Mall too, and the area around there (I love that Half Price Books and pet store across the street). There are still many legitimate malls in Indy.

I have spent summer weekends in Indy downtown, walking to ballgames, monuments, etc. I have spent winter weekends downtown doing totally different things than what I did there during the summer. I have spent weekends in the Keystone area, not stepping foot in downtown and still had a nice time. Indy is a big town with a lot of nice things going on.