Indianapolis, Indiana - Weds., Oct. 21, Part 2

Our destination this afternoon is Indianapolis, Indiana where we will stay at Lake Haven Retreat RV Campground. First, we'll bid adieu to Alton RV Park and show you some photos of our site.

Alton RV Park Office

Alton RV Park is very small and cramped. When we had our 5th wheel pulled into the site, the back end was inches from blocking the road. When we put the slide out, I was afraid if the person to our left checked out before we did that they would hit our slide. Before we walked in the morning, we put the slide in on that side. We had to park our pick up on the side of the office. All of our slides could be put out without hitting anyone else.

Other than the cramped-ness, it is a very convenient campground to downtown Columbus, Ohio. There is road noise from the highway, but it quiets down at night.

Alton RV Park, Columbus, OH - Our rig is in the center above.

Here, we are on the left side of the photo.

Hang on, Susan's driving!

Our drive to Indianapolis took about four hours, all on I-70. We had one minor traffic incident. To get to our RV park we had to take I-465 south from I-70. Just as we came to the off-ramp for I-465, I could see all the traffic was stopped and there was a flipped over semi truck blocking both on-ramp lanes to I-465 southbound. No one was to our right, so we quickly changed lanes and took I-465 northbound to the first exit where we turned around to come back southbound. Two lanes turned to get onto the ramp. We were on the inside lane. As we went around the corner at the light, a small yellow compact car almost ran into our right front fender of the pick up. They were way over the line into our lane. Bob laid on the horn and they took off.

For our RV park, we chose Lake Haven Retreat RV Campground just a few miles south of downtown. It is 22 acres, 105 sites, with full hook-ups. Even though it's in an industrial area of town, we didn't care. The park was very nice, but the sites were a bit close together. It was only for one night.

View of campground fishing lake from our window

Our site, #93

Other views of the campground

Lake Haven Retreat, Indianapolis, Indiana

When we arrived in Indianapolis, we thought we could do the Volksmarch that afternoon. On our Volksmarch start instructions it was unclear as to whether we had to start by 5 p.m. or if we could start until 7 p.m. I dilly-dallied on the computer looking things up and by the time we got to the start point downtown, it was 5:10 p.m. and the visitor center closed at 5 p.m. Sigh.

We decided since we were downtown, we would walk around. I could take photos and we could read history markers so we wouldn't have to take so much time for that tomorrow on our walk. Plus we figured we'd walk some of the Volksmarch route, guessing as to where it might go.

We fell in love with downtown Indianapolis. It is clean, modern, cultural, artsy and yet historic. Our circuitous route took us all over downtown for two hours. Starting at the White River State Park Visitor Center, we walked along the canal past the NCAA HQ and Hall of Champions, Indiana State Museum, and Eiteljorg Museum of American Indians and Western Art on our way to the Indiana Statehouse.

Beautiful building!

Canal and NCAA HQ and Hall of Champions

Indianapolis skyline from the canal.

Below is...

We had walked past the Gastown Steam Clock in Vancouver, British Columbia, a number of years ago and now we have walked past this one. Steam clocks are fascinating.

Indiana Steam Clock

You might also like to know that commercial steam heat was first used in Indianapolis in 1888 when the Marmon-Perry Light Company delivered steam heat to the Grand Opera House in downtown Indianapolis. By 1931, Indianapolis Power and Light Company had bought up all the smaller private power companies and was the city's only provider of commercial steam heat. With 24 miles of piping, Indianapolis's steam district is now second in sales only to New York City.

Indiana State Museum

Much like San Antonio, Indianapolis has a waterway, the canal, that goes through part of downtown and there is art along the way, including under the bridges. That's where any comparison to San Antonio's Riverwalk ends. Where San Antonio has restaurants, pubs, and lots of activity, Indianapolis's canal feels sterile. Sure there are walkers and joggers, but not the hustle and bustle and liveliness of the Riverwalk.

Art under the bridges along the canal

Below is a photo of part of the Sept. 11, 2001 Memorial in Indianapolis. We feel it is worth taking time to visit.

9/11/2001 Memorial with Marriott in background

We veered away from the canal and headed to the Indiana Statehouse. The streets in Indianapolis are laid out in a logical fashion and it seemed easy to find our way (as long as we could find streets that crossed the canal!).

Indiana Statehouse

The dome

Indiana Statehouse

"Thomas A. Hendricks, 1890" monument by Richard Henry Park

Ornate facade of Indiana Repertory Theater

Bob wanted to walk to Monument Circle. "OK, yeah, yeah, ho hum," I thought. Until we turned the corner. Whoa, look at that! Of course I was astounded and proceeded to take many photos.

What you see below is the Soldiers' and Sailors' Monument in Monument Circle. This 284'-tall monument was completed in 1902 and honors those who died in the Civil War. Unfortunately the Civil War Museum at its base was closed. If it's open, you can access the observation point at the top of the monument via 333 stairs or pay $1 to ride the elevator.

Soldiers' and Sailors' Monument

Soldiers' and Sailors' Monument

The pointy protrusions toward the bottom of the monument are sculptures of the prows of ships. Monument Circle is the street that goes around the landmark. All the buildings in Monument Circle are curved. It's reminiscent of European landmark plazas with traffic circles around them.

Monument Circle

It was getting dark and had been a long day. We were tired and hungry. As we walked back to the truck, I was eyeballing the Weber Grill Restaurant.

Bob was hungering for the Colts Grille.

The Indiana Statehouse in a different light.

Statue in front of the Eiteljorg Museum.

Where we ended up eating was the T.G.I. Friday's just before we returned to the car. If you are a Volksmarcher and decide to do the Indiana Capital walk, be prepared to pay to park at the White River State Park Visitor Center and be sure to give yourself enough time because there's lots to see in Indianapolis.

And that ends our two-part Wednesday. Stay tuned for the Indianapolis Capital Volksmarch tomorrow when we go inside the Capitol.

Travel Bug out.