A Family Vacation in Indianapolis

I haven’t done a lot of family travel adventures in the last few years. My job as the Midwest Travel Guide forAbout.com has dictated that I find I way to do this. Fortunately, I have some friends with young kid, and it’s always fun when you have little ones involved.

One trip I had recently was double the excitement with my friend Cortney and her five year old twins. They helped me check some very unique hotel rooms as well as one of the best zoos in the nation.

The Indianapolis Zoo introduced some new exhibits which I was especially anxious to see. They also have a Total Adventure Package which lets you experience it all, including the rides, for one price. One of the extras you get with the package is the interactive Zooper Challenge™. (You can also access Zooper if you have a zoo membership.)

The biggest and most exciting addition at the Indianapolis Zoo is the Simon Skjodt International Orangutan Center. Unfortunately, the Skyway was not open the day we were there, but we did get to experience the rest of this new section.

Eight orangutans call this center home and you can watch them as their trainers and teachers show you more about the intellectual abilities of these fascinating apes. 

The center was established to expose zoo attendees to them, but it is also taking on the project of learning more about them in the hope that some of the research will keep these endangered species from extinction.

The kids especially enjoyed the opportunities the zoo has to interact, including the Shark Touch Pool – the nation’s largest -- and the Flights of Fancy bird exhibition.  

Even though we couldn’t actually touch them, we all had fun watching the walrus, penguins, and seals swimming in their tank.

We didn’t have to look through glass to see the show at the Dolphin Theater. It was a great show.

I am a cat lover so I couldn’t wait to see the lions, tigers, and cheetah. We got to see them in their habitat during the train ride through the Plains. Then we walked back to get a closer look.

We spent quite a bit of time with the brown bears, who decided to put on a show for us. They were being playful and seemed to love the attention they were receiving.

After the zoo we checked into the Crowne Plaza UnionStation. I had told the kids we were staying in a train room, but I don’t think any of us were prepared for just how unique this experience was.

The Crowne Plaza Downtown Indianapolis has 26 Pullman train cars converted into hotel rooms. They’ve done a spectacular job and the insides were even bigger than I thought they would be.

We had two connecting rooms and the twins were wide-eyed as they explored every inch of them. 

The only thing that stopped them from going back and forth was a special delivery from room service (available for purchase to anyone staying here) of milk, cookies, coloring books and M&Ms!

We didn’t indulge too much in the sweets because we were off to dinner at the Indianapolis Colts Grille. It is a very kid-friendly place and we collectively finished the Spinach Artichoke Dip and pita. I also took a cue from Foursquare and ordered the Pulled Pork with onion straws. I was not disappointed.

Back at the hotel, the kids had some cookies and milk while Cortney and I had our sweets with a wine she brought from her recent Utica trip.

The kids went for a swim at the hotel’s indoor pool in the morning and explored the hotel. I think they were almost as excited going up and down the stairs of the train rooms as they were at the zoo.

Before we left Indianapolis I got to have breakfast with one of my favorite public relations contacts in one of my favorite breakfast places. Morgan Greenlee, Senior Communications Manager at Visit Indy, met me for another delicious breakfast at Café Patachou. I love everything at this place, especially when it’s served with their fresh baked cinnamon toast. 

Revisiting Michael Jordan at the Intercontinental Chicago

My friend Cortney and I had a big night of eating (and drinking) around Chicago so we were more than satisfied for breakfast with just nibbling on the beautiful tray of fruit, nuts and cheese the hotel had left us. After all, we had quite a lunch a head of us.

I managed to work up an appetite with a little Michigan Avenue shopping. The Intercontinental Chicago is right on the Magnificent Mile so it was a stone’s throw from dozens of stores. Fortunately, I didn’t have too long to do any serious damage to my pocketbook, mostly picking up some interesting things at the Home Goods/Marshalls location.

I met Cortney back at the hotel and we went downstairs to the Michael Jordan Steakhouse. I hadn’t been there since the opening night and, quite honestly, there wasn’t a lot of food to be tasted then. I was really looking forward to the opportunity to see if the menu could stand up to the legend himself.

We were joined for lunch by Julie and Lauren from Isabelli Media Relations, the firm that represents the hotel and the steakhouse. We got to sit in Jordan’s favorite booth. (I knew it was the truth because it was the one I saw him sitting in the night of the opening.) It was great to have some recommendations because everything on the menu sounded so good!

Mixologist Peter Vestinos redesigned the restaurant’s cocktail menu and we had to, of course, check out what he accomplished. We chose The Danish Sangria (Block 9 Pinot Noir, Peruvian Pisco, Cherry Herring Saccharum and soda) and the Old Cuba (Bacardi 8 Rum, mint, lime, simple syrup,  Argyle Brut and Angostura bitters). Cortney and I agreed that The Danish Sangria was the outstanding one, though the other was also very good.

While we sipped our cocktails, the waiter came over with the restaurant’s signature starter, garlic bread. This is no ordinary garlic bread. It starts with fresh baked bread on a plate put on the table. Then, the waiter pours a buttermilk blue cheese fondue directly on it.  I’m sure you are salivating as you read this, and you should.

The garlic bread is worth a trip alone and I think someday I have to go back there and have a whole basket for myself as my whole lunch! I couldn’t do that on this day because we already had plenty of food coming. For me, it was a big plate full of house smoked, local brisket, smothered in barbecue sauce and served on a pretzel roll. It was definitely a two napkin meal, but worth every drip.

Cortney raved about the flaky crab cakes and we also enjoyed tastings of our tablemates’ orders, the grilled cheese with tomato soup and the cob salad.

Just when I didn’t think I could consume anymore, the waiter came over with a “selection” of some of the steakhouse’s best desserts. It looked too good not to check out and I’m glad I found room. The Maple-Mascarpone Cheesecake was creamy and flavorful and I found the 23 Layer Cake to be a chocolate lovers dream, but there was no doubt the Milk Chocolate Peanut Butter Pie was the one I found to be incredible.

It took some coffee and digesting before we were ready to head out of Chicago, but I’m sure it won’t be long until I’m back to check out some more great hotels, food, wine and spirits.