Ohio Trip: Part 2 - Indianapolis, St. Charles, and Hays
On the way back to Colorado from Ohio last summer, we spent nights in Indianapolis, IN, St. Charles, MO and Hays, KS. Yes, Indianapolis is a large city and not a small town and we took I-70 all the way back instead of backroads, but a couple of family commitments dictated our schedule. We actually spent several nights in Indianapolis as we have near the end of our annual Ohio trip for the past six years in order to attend the Drum Corps International (DCI) World Championships in Lucas Oil Stadium. After the championships ended, we needed to hurry back to deliver our daughter back to college. Despite the schedule constraints, we still managed to find some small town charm.
Over the years of visiting Indianapolis, we have developed a list of our favorite spots. Since most of the afternoon and evening is spent sitting in the stadium eating expensive concession junk food, we like to spend the morning and early afternoon walking around downtown and eating some good tasting, healthy and inexpensive food. Our favorite place to stroll is the peaceful Canal Walk which passes by some museums, apartment buildings and a handful of restaurants. Our day is usually not complete until we’ve stopped at Fresco Italian Cafe on the Canal. Their homemade lemon Italian ice is so refreshing on a hot day while we sit in the shade of a table umbrella watching the gondolas and pedal boats go by. If we’re up for more walking, we continue from White River State Park along the White River Trail to 10th Street and back the other side of the river. The trail goes past the Indianapolis Zoo and the White River Gardens, but the high stone walls prevent views into the zoo and botanical gardens. We guess we’ll have to pay one of these days to go inside. One year we rode the White River Trail on a four-man “bike” called a Quad Sport that we rented and rode with our two kids. Another year we rode our own bicycles around the nine-mile, well-marked Indianapolis Cultural Trail that passes by most of the downtown attractions and surrounding area.
A couple of years ago, some drum corps friends of ours introduced us to the Indianapolis City Market, and we have been going there every year since for lunch. It is a lovely indoor historic market with quite a few food vendors. However, be warned that many of the food vendors close shop early on Saturday and are not open at all on Sunday, since most of their business seems to be during the week, serving the downtown employees on their lunch hours. If the City Market isn’t open, then we usually head over to Georgia Street near the Indiana Convention Center to find the food trucks that are usually lined up along the pedestrian area at lunch time. It is a short walk from Georgia Street to Lucas Oil Stadium where we plop down into our seats for the rest of the day to watch drum corps performances.
Our next stop after Indianapolis was St. Charles. Quite a few years ago on the way back from Ohio, we had pulled off the interstate to try to find something interesting for lunch besides the usual fast food. We drove around several blocks and stumbled across the old town section of St. Charles. We loved the area so much that we usually make a point to visit every time we are nearby. This time we stayed in a hotel just south of I-70 near Fairgrounds Rd. Right Buddy (RB) was the only one who wanted to get a walk in before dinner and take some pictures while there was still daylight, so she left the hotel on foot, crossing over I-70, wandering through Boone’s Lick Park on her way to Main St. The wooded area in the park was alive with the sound of cicadas. The sound reminded RB of her childhood in Ohio and is a sound we don’t hear much in Colorado.
RB gave her shutter finger a workout along Main St. before meeting the rest of the family, who were patiently waiting on a park bench in Berthold Square Park. After a tasty dinner at Lewis & Clark’s Restaurant, we went across the street to Kilwins for delicious ice cream and a milkshake. Left Buddy (LB) always gets a vanilla milkshake whenever we stop for ice cream, always. Then we all took a stroll through Frontier Park. People were setting up their lawn chairs and blankets in the park in front of the bandstand. This scene was so similar to the one in Hannibal just a couple of weeks before, a summer concert in a small town along a river. Only, instead of classic rock, the music was jazz, instead of the Mississippi River, we were along the Missouri River and we didn’t eat our ice cream during the concert, we ate it just before. So we sat down in the grass to enjoy the music before heading back to the hotel.
Our last night of our Ohio Trip was in Hays. This is another town we have been in several times before. The section of town near I-70 is mainly a strip of modern hotel chains, gas stations and chain restaurants. Several years ago while staying overnight in Hays, we decided we were tired of the usual chain restaurants and searched for something different online. Yelp reviews led us to Gella’s Diner & Lb. Brewing Co which sounded interesting and is in the old part of town. The restaurant is on 11th St., just off of Main. As we were waiting for our dinner the first time we were there, LB posted on Facebook where we were. Almost instantly one of our friends in Denver responded with how much they love the place and begged us to bring back a growler of their Lemon Ale for them. We, of course, obliged along with buying a couple for ourselves and have been coming back ever since whenever we pass through town. We were rather disappointed the one year, when we went to order some growlers to take with us, we were informed that we were a few minutes too late because they cannot sell growlers after 7 pm on a Sunday. Bummer! In addition to the great beer, their food is also wonderful with quite an extensive menu, with a touch of a German influence. RB’s favorite is the “Brewben”. Unfortunately we usually arrive in Hays late in the evening, after dark, sometimes in the pouring rain, and have not had the opportunity to explore the old town area. But there’s always next time!
In the little town of Flagler, along I-70, in eastern Colorado, there is a pink Cadillac sitting on top of a post with DINER painted on its side, visible from the highway. We have passed by it dozens of times and never stopped. We have talked about stopping there numerous times, but it just never seemed to be around a meal or ice cream time or we were just too anxious to get where we were headed. Well, on our last driving day on our Ohio Trip this past summer, it was time to stop. What a treat! The I-70 Diner became our first real blog post back in August. Sometimes you just have to remember to stop and smell the roses (or burger and fries) along the way!
(RB)