I can't believe we are already in our last week in Indy! Time really flies. AND, we got our second shots last night. AND, I'm now on a 51-day closing apple watch rings streak! Celebrate!!!
Exploring
Canal Walk
According to visitindy.com, the Canal Walk is part of the Indiana Central Canal, which was dug in the early 1800s, in an effort to facilitate interstate commerce. Today, the refurbished Canal Walk (stretching through White River State Park to 11th Street) is a waterside promenade for walkers, runners, bikers and sightseers. The Canal Walk itself is a 3-mile loop with access to a few of the city's museums, a kid's playground, a restaurant and more. You can also use a pedal boat, canoe or take a gondola ride in the canal itself. We picked a beautiful day to go on this pretty and easy walk. You can find a map of the entire canal walk here. The dogs' favorite part? Watching the ducks fight, for sure. Who knew ducks could get so aggressive with each other.
Ruins
From a plaque at the Ruins, "Completed in 1978, the history of the Ruins at Holliday Park begins with the construction of the St. Paul building in New York City in 1898. The statues and columns of The Ruins were the original facade of this early New York skyscraper. The St. Paul Building was razed in 1958, but the statues and columns were preserved and offered as the prize in a national design contest for their use. Local artist Elmer Taflinger submitted his winning proposal for The Ruins, and the statues were awarded to the City of Indianapolis. The Ruins [were] completed and dedicated in 1978." You can find more history on The Ruins here.
Overall, it was really cool to see a part of NYC history in Indy. The Ruins is a pretty small section at the beginning of the park. If that is all you are going to see, it will take about 5 minutes. Though, since the drive isn't far from downtown Indy, it still might be worth it. We didn't spend time in the park but it looked very big and has a ton to do like a free nature center and some trails. You can find more information on the park itself here.
The faces on those columns were definitely one of the best things about The Ruins!
Light up Tunnels
Need I say more!!! I suppose you have no idea what I'm talking about. There are a number of tunnels you walk through when getting around Indy. One in particular that we go through to walk from Fletcher Square to Downtown Indy has lights that follow you! Saving energy while keeping people safe, lovely Indy.
Enjoying
St. Elmo
St. Elmo Steakhouse opened in downtown Indy in1902. They are famous for their "sinus-clearing shrimp cocktails" which we can certainly attest to. I only made it through one after scraping off most of the cocktail sauce that the shrimp come drowned in. Eric ended up ordering a dry-aged bone-in filet and I ordered sushi-grade seared yellowfin tuna. All meals come with either navy bean soup or a cup of tomato juice. You heard that right, A CUP OF TOMATO JUICE! We even got to see someone with it while we were there which was a fun plus. We ended up paying a little more to get lobster bisque. Eric's steak also came with a choice of potatoes, he landed on the baked potato. The servings were HUGE. Overall, it was good but, not great. Of the different rooms you can be seated in, we were placed in the Tiffany Room. The atmosphere was also good, not great. Overall, might be a better choice for appetizers and drinks so you can try that world-famous shrimp cocktail!
Rick's Cafe Boatyard
Rick's Cafe Boatyard is located on the waterfront of Eagle Creek's Reservoir. A large restaurant that feels like a mix between the hotel in The Shining (in a good way) and Hotel Del in Coronado, CA. Their menu has a wide array of seafood, meat and pasta dishes. They have a pretty large outdoor patio to have some appetizers and drinks and enjoy the sunset. Want the oysters? Be careful if you don't like big oysters, they are HUGE!!!
Metazoa
Metazoa is one of the many breweries in Indy. We didn't do a lot breweries while in Indy and decided on Metazoa mainly because they donate some of their proceeds to animals and they have super cool can art.
Metazoa has a good-sized inside area as well as a huge outside area. Large enough that it has its own dog park! Oh yes, a dog park where your furry kids can play and you can drink. Overall, Metazoa is REALLY dog-friendly. There were dogs everywhere when we were there. They mainly serve beer with one seltzer option and don't serve food themselves. There was a food truck there but it was 100% meat so you might want to keep that in mind if you are going. I'm sure the food trucks rotate, but it is possible you will end up with no food if you don't eat meat. They even have a night where you can adopt a pig!!!! I tried, I really tried. Eric refused.
Eric got a flight, just a regular old flight, not a mega flight. I got the seltzer. Overall, I enjoyed the seltzer, had a nice light fruit flavor but wasn't sweet. The beer was, eh, ok. It seemed people in Indy loved it because there were a lot of people there, but it wasn't to Eric's taste. It happens!
Milktooth
We heard some really great things about Milktooth and knew we had to try it. They bill themselves as a "fine diner" and use local ingredients to serve brunch items. I was really excited about the smoked salmon benedict on their website menu (which they have now updated) and arrived to find that replaced with a shrimp banh mi eggs benedict. No thank you. Eric ended up getting a grilled cheese on cranberry walnut bread with smoked gouda, sunny duck egg and truffle honey. The menu was a little too unhealthy and exploratory for me so I went with plain old oysters.
I guess we are just on a tear with un-impressiveness this week. Eric liked his but felt it was too greasy. I would have liked to see a few more healthy options on the menu. It felt like they were trying too hard to be "out of the box". And man, did I ever want that smoked salmon benedict (with no hollandaise please!). I'll tell you what they did have, an AMAZING drink called the Laura Palmer, which they say is just black tea, lemon juice and mint. There was for sure a sweetness to it so those def weren't the only ingredients but I loved it all the same!
We did see a ton of people ordering the almond croissant cinnamon bun with bee pollen frosting. I'm not really a cinnamon bun person myself but with how many we saw going out, we did try to order one. Alas, it was not meant to be as they had run out. There will not be a next time for us but if you are in the mood for a wacky bunch (a burger with whipped spam and pickled pineapple perhaps?) give them a try.
Last Week!
So crazy! Time is flying. Did I mention it SNOWED this week!! Oh yes, snowed. Went from the high 60s to 20s all in one day. It was Emma's first time really seeing snow and she was not amused by it. Nothing stuck for long and were able to curl up in front of our fireplace with tea which was fun for a day. With that said, please don't come back cold and snow. You done for the year! (knock on wood)
As a final thought, this blog post is in memory of Capone, one of the best dogs I have ever met and the first Synnott pup. Rest in peace buddy; we love you. Jazzy sends all of her love. Cody will carry on the cranky grandpa legend for you. ❤️❤️❤️
Until Next Time.
