August 10, 2012

Last night was a little scary.  It started to rain and then the high winds, lightning and thundering.  There were tornado watches for several counties but unfortunately we had no clue which county we were in.  (LESSON LEARNED) It finally subsided around 11pm and we were able to fall asleep.  We woke up to temps in the 60’s.  It was very overcast but that didn’t stop us from driving into downtown Indianapolis.

  WHAT A BEAUTIFUL CITY!

  My only complaint is the parking.  There are meters (very reasonable for $1.00 an hour) but there is a two hour maximum.  We parked, used a credit card for the meter, and walked a couple of blocks away to the Soldiers and Sailors Monument.  It stands 284 feet.  There are a number of art works built into the Monument.  At the top of the monument is a glass enclosed observation deck, providing a panoramic view of downtown Indianapolis.

  There are two options for reaching the top.  Climb the 330 iron stairs or ride the elevator for $2.00 a person.  Guess which method we chose?  Arriving at the top and seeing the view was well worth the $2.00 fee for the elevator.

Monte has a sweet tooth!

 

About this time I had to use the restroom.  (The fact that there aren’t too many public restrooms is a minor problem)  We entered the Chamber of Commerce and were surprised to discover that there were no public bathrooms available.  I asked the security guard if there was a public bathroom and he asked if I was visiting anyone in the building.  I asked him if it would make a difference.  He said yes so of course I said I was visiting someone and he handed me the key to the bathroom on the fifth floor.

We had parked right in front of the Indiana War Memorial Museum and since we still had about 40 minutes left on the meter we decided to check it out.  We were so glad we did because it was fantastic.  It depicts our history from the Revolutionary War through our current conflicts.

We arrived back at the car with only two minutes to spare.  We drove a few blocks away and parked at a garage near the Indiana State Museum.  It was very reasonable at only $1.00 an hour for three hour minimum.  We walked a short distance to a beautiful park and watched a marching band competition.  There had to be at least ten different schools competing.  We were very impressed.

 

We walked along the canal until our feet started to ache and our stomachs started to growl and knew it was time to head back home. 

As I am typing this and reliving the adventure we had today, it reinforces the reason we decided to embark on this journey.  We really look forward to the next bend in the road wherever that may be.  Stay tuned.