Last Friday, Steven and I packed up for another summer excursion...to Indianapolis! After hearing about all the fun things that Dad (and Keith) did while Mema was in town back in June, we had worked on the idea of doing a "staycation" with Steven and I staying at Dad's place. So Friday finally came, and we hit the road for our thirty minute ride to Dad's condo. For some reason, I just felt like something funny was going to happen when we got there, but I couldn't quite put my finger on it. We figured it out as soon as we opened the door... (SQUEAL!!!)
We started the evening with a drink and some trivia. I think part of my brain shuts off during the summer, though, because I lost...to Steven... That does not happen. Ever. I won't go into the details of how bad I lost, but note that when we had another challenge where I won, I can't seem to find any photographic evidence of it. Hmmm...
The trivia clues revealed that we were heading out to Crackers Comedy Club, which was so exciting because I've always wanted to go to a comedy club! It was the first time for all of us, and we stopped at Sushi On The Rocks right next door before the show. We had a couple rounds of sushi, and it was SOOOO good! I LOVE sushi!
Then we went to Crackers, where the headliner was ironically a very large black woman. She was unbelievably hilarious, and let's just say that I'm glad Dad was sitting behind me because I don't think I could have looked him in the eye during some of those jokes! HA! Much fun at Crackers we had. ;-)
After the show, we strolled back to Dad and Keith's place, passing about 50 police officers on duty for a certain expo that was in town. They made our walk feel very safe, but I did get a bit nervous as I darted across the street to race Dad to the condo. I won! Before we retired for the evening, we enjoyed another drink on the rooftop terrace under the clear evening sky. Beautiful!
On Saturday, we slept in (...sort of...) and went to brunch at City Cafe. After we were plenty nourished, we began our walking tour of parts of Indy that we hadn't yet visited. We stopped at different memorials along the way, really taking time to read and enjoy them. The beautiful day made it even more enjoyable.
Have you ever tried to take a picture of an obelisk that is right in front of you????? It's not easy!!!
"Why are all these flags here?"
Trivia: Do you know where Indianapolis ranks in the United States in terms of number and area of monuments?? No, probably not, since you're not the President of the third largest cemetery in the nation...but Keith is! And he told us that Indy is 2nd...behind D.C.
After walking around for a while, we decided to shade ourselves under the luxurious canopies of the paddle boats. Tip: When paddle boating, put the heavier people in front to paddle or else you will be propelling the boat by skimming the water with the pedals, instead of being submersed. We had some companions during part of our trip. So cute! Can you spot all the ducklings?
There would be more pictures, but I was mildly incapacitated after the steering rod snapped out of place and almost broke a couple of my fingers. Dad was nice enough to hop out at the museum to get me some ice. That almost made me feel bad for having Steven drive us right into the heavily-flowing fountain...twice...
Hehehe.
It was SO hot that we had to stop for a drink on our walk back to the condo from the canal. Capital Grille just happened to be on our walk, so we stopped there to enjoy some wine and a free sample of the chilled pineapple-infused vodka. The pineapple soaking jar was way cool! Dad didn't get the black t-shirt memo.
Once power naps and second showers were out of the way, we drove to a great little place, Mass Ave Wine Shoppe, for a wine tasting with the owner and a custom meat and cheese plate. She has traveled all over the world and continues to do so to bring fantastic wines to the Indy area. I especially loved the shoppe because they try to keep all of their worldly wines under $15. So fun...and frugal!
This point in our staycation is where I killed Steven in our next trivia challenge, but there is no photographic proof. The proof lies only in my memory... At any rate, I was able to guess that we were heading to the duckpin bowling site in Fountain Square! I hadn't been there since my freshman summer P.E. course in high school. I think the years drained the duckpin doability out of me. At one point during the game, I was winning, but I think that was the second or third frame...
Keith was a professional bowler, and he had the strategy of "slow-playing" down. The only problem was that we only had the lane for an hour, so his plan didn't have a chance to come full circle. :-)
That looks like the smile of a winner to me!
After our bowling excursion, we went upstairs to dine on the rooftop shelBi street caFe & Bistro. Well, for Dad, it was after bowling then after going up and down the four flights a couple times because the elevator was broken, and he had to run to the car. But THEN he got to dine at the rooftop garden as well. :-) Don't worry, the elevator was back to running order by the time he got to us.
It was another beautiful evening, with a great view of the sunset from the roof.
The Bistro had a DELICIOUS pineapple bread pudding! YUM!!
That evening we taught Keith how to play Oh Hell (or Oh Heck for the young readers). With a few hands remaining in the game, the Steve's and I were battling for second place. It was just embarrassing. Keith had the most amazing run of beginner's luck I've ever seen! ...and he didn't let anyone forget about it!
Sunday we went to church at Dad and Keith's beautiful Saint Mary Catholic Church, which is just about in their backyard, if they had one! After a great mass, we went back to the condo for a final brunch before we made the long, exhausting drive back to Noblesville. A great end to a great staycation weekend!
We are so thankful for the great weekend that we got to spend with great family! Dad and Keith are currently taking reservations for anyone else interested, but I'm told they're booked...through September...of 2014!
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