Super Bowl Week: I love me some Children's Museum!

Simon headed off to Media Day, leaving me free to explore the city. At Daltom’s suggestion I headed straight for the Children’s Museum, a 10 minute drive from our hotel.

The first sign this little gem is somewhere special comes when you round the corner off of Meridian Street toward the free parking lot (yes, free. Orlando take note).  Giant alamosaurs, who are making their escape into the wild from the museum’s Dinosphere section, and gentle brachiosaurs with dino-sized curiosity are all wearing the blue and white scarves worn by the city’s Super Bowl volunteers.  While the volunteers scarves were all knitted by…well…volunteer knitters , out of cozy blue and white yarn using the traditional tools of the knitting trade, the dino versions were knitted on broomsticks, from 5000 feet of blue and white rope. What kind of city thinks of something like that?

Indianapolis, apparently.  And it works. Once again, the sense of community spirit that surrounds this week’s Big Event is evident, even as far out of the downtown area as this.

But the fun on the outside of the building is nothing compared to the fun on the inside.  Now, if you’re my age you’ll remember when “children’s museums” were really just grownup’s museums with a milk carton containing a few dress-up items that were meant to keep the  kiddies happy during an otherwise dead-boring tromp past old bones, and paintings done by people whose name you can’t pronounce. Thankfully, by the time our kids were toddling the concept of a true children’s museum had arrived. And as a homeschooling mom, I’ve seen a few in my day, so I was pretty sure I knew what to expect: hands-on touch screens describing static exhibits, cranks and pullies and whizzy things kids could manipulate, and some cool stuff about dinosaurs and Egypt. They’ve all got ‘em.

But this…this was something different. Yes, there’s an Egypt section. But you reach it by taking a special elevator (think Epcot’s Living Seas hydrolators; how we mourn their passing!), down, down, down into the depths of Seti’s tomb. And down into the hidden underground world of the Terra Cotta Warriors. And just so the ocean is represented, down under the waves to the wreck of the Caribbean’s only confirmed sunken pirate ship and the reason for the demise at the end of a rope of one Captain William Kidd. How cool is that?!

And yes, there’s a dinosaur section. It was once a Cinedome theater, now converted into Dinosphere. It does have the obligatory T-Rex scene, but again, with a difference. Not only is daddy T-Rex going in for the kill (run, Triceratops, run!), here his teenager is in on the action too. All the while they’re surrounded by a domed wall and ceiling, where lighting and sounds cycle through a day in the late Cretaceous, complete with rainstorm and meteorites.  But you don’t just stand there looking at them, wondering what it would have been like to see such a stand-off. Nope, here you get to watch a computer generated re-enactment (Jurassic Park style) on a screen in front of the life-sized battle, meet the team who are cleaning and preparing actual fossils (and you can stand right there and talk to them as they work!), then visit a touch-screen where you can explore how different body parts would result in different outcomes (what if T-Rex legs were smaller? What if their tails were short?) Kinda makes you think, doesn’t it? And that’s the whole point.

Even little nippers are entertained here, with the ability to see into all the exhibits through low windows, steps, and play areas just for them. Want the most precious picture ever? Dress your toddler up in a full body vest  that looks a lot like a dinosaur with a long tail and let them loose in a nest full of eggs, or let them explore a dig site where they can uncover the latest, greatest find.  And disabled doesn’t mean unable here, either. If you can’t quite manage the stairs into the dig site, find a similar experience along a hands-on wall, just at wheelchair height. Brilliant!

Through the course of my Children’s Museum day, I went to Cairo in a rotating exhibit called Take Me There: Egypt, where I visited a typical city apartment, a rural house, a chemists, a clothing store, the Nile, and attended a sebou, the ceremony that welcomes a new baby into the community; I met Ann Frank, Ruby Bridges, and Ryan White, children who changed the world by their example of strength during adversity; I wondered at train travel, encountered a spectacular 43 foot high Chihuly tower, hung out with Barbie (as in Doll), and so much more.

Tonight is the big NFL Media Party, and normally our pre-party talk would be around what we might see and do at the event. Tonight it was all about this wonderful little corner of Indiana that brings out the very best explorer in the children who visit. Daltom, our hand-written card kid, was absolutely right; “the Children’s Museum has everything!”

Super Bowl Week: The Trip to *yawn* Indiana.

You know that sense of excitement you feel when you get in the car and point yourself in the direction of something really fun? Like a holiday? Or a trip somewhere you’ve never been? I didn’t really feel that as we set off for *yawn* Indianapolis, Indiana. INDIANA, for gawd sake! What could be more boring? Ok, maybe Boise, or maybe Gary, which, by the way, is also in Indiana. Plus it’s cold, and I don’t do cold any more.

But Super Bowl week starts the Monday before the game, so off we went.

With Florida behind us, then Georgia, we veered west once we reached Chattanooga Tennessee (of Chattanooga Choo Choo fame), heading for our hotel in White House Tennessee. The most exciting part of the journey was when we left Wendy’s restaurant in a huff because they couldn’t seem to serve the 2 people in front of us, and it became clear we were going to be standing there for a long time waiting for the 6 people on staff to sort out who had a baked potato, why that tray full of food was still sitting on the counter, and how to make a cup of coffee for the elderly gentleman ahead of us.

We got all up in the indignation and headed to a gas station, where we picked up the most miserable egg salad sandwich I have ever eaten (it had all the flavor of thick air) and a truly vile turkey sandwich for Simon. To make ourselves feel better we each got a candy bar, but we’ve been off sugar for weeks so it just tasted mind numbingly sweet, and it burned our throats.

We slept a restless sleep that night, as our room heater seemed to be alternately moaning and wheezing. By 5am we had had enough. We got up, did some work, had the most soulless breakfast possible (hideous cold egg squares and greasy sausage patties) before making the remaining 5 hour drive to *yawn* Indianapolis. Of all the cities that didn’t deserve to be suffered for, Indianapolis was it.

Then we arrived. And every minute leading up to that point was worth it. The city is cloaked in banners for Super Bowl XLVI, and it looks absolutely fantastic! Everything is centrally located in the downtown area, which is where our hotel is located. We were greeted warmly by volunteers every time we turned around, and in stark contrast to Miami, Houston, and even Jacksonville, there is a buzz in the air here (which, by the way, is beautiful; bright blue sky, sunshine, and 50F). Locals have turned out in their Colts jerseys (the home team, who are not playing in Sunday’s game), and the sense of pride is just wonderful to see.

Indianapolis is just….cool!

We took a walk through Super Bowl Village to get an overview of what’s going on, then returned to our room to get ready for dinner. The Two Nicks (you’ll remember them from past Super Bowls) will be meeting us soon, so I’ll leave you here with a few pictures, and we’ll explore the city tomorrow!

Oh…and just to make us feel like we were truly welcome guests in this exciting Midwestern town, a Snickerdoodle (Indians's "official State cookie"), bottled water, visitors guide, and a card hand-done by Dalton, who goes to school here in Indianapolis, was waiting for us when we got to our room. How sweet is that?