We're Back! Weekend and Indy Wrap Up!

** This post will likely be very long and contain lots of pictures by the time I am finished. Consider yourself warned!**

We are home from our weekend in Indianapolis and back at work in the real world. I just love traveling and seeing new things/places but nothing is ever a nice as coming home to your own bed. I think traveling makes you appreciate home that much more.

Let's start from the beginning, shall we? We started our Indy adventure early on Saturday morning. We wanted to be in Indy at 10 to meet baby Anna...so we left our apartment at 7:30am. If you know me, you know that 7:30am is not something I come by easily on a Saturday. What can I say? I like to sleep!

We were able to spend a couple hours visiting with Anna and her parents who live in Indy. It was great to see them and of course get to hold the precious baby. I mean, how could you not love this cute little thing?

After soaking up all her sweetness we headed to get lunch. Her parents had recommended a place called Taste so we headed there. It was amazing. We both had a delicious lunch and tried new things. So, what is Taste? It is a little cafe and marketplace near Broad Ripple with an pretty impressive menu. They offer things from breakfast dishes to gourmet sandwiches and salads. They are widely known for their  pommes frites, which are delicious thin sliced french fries made with kosher salt, cracked pepper and basil aiolo. Yummo!

My husband is handsome. The End.

We laughed at this picture because it kind of looks like my head is floating...

This is was delicious looks like!

My sandwich: prosciutto & caprese,  imported prosciutto, fresh mozzarella, balsamic vinaigrette, basil aioli. Overall, it was very good. I think prosciutto is a little too salty for me though so I will steer clear of it in Italy!

Stephen sandwich: BALT. The "A" is for alvacado. He said it was great!

After lunch we headed towards President Ben Harrison's house, but there was no parking due to a art festival. We scooped out the situation and decided to head to the Indianapolis Museum of Art (IMA) because there would be plenty of parking there and it is free. All day long! The IMA is beautiful from the time you drive through the gates. Specifically, what we wanted to see was an estate called Oldfields.

Oldfields, also known as Lilly House and Gardens, is a 26 acre historic estate that was built between 1909 and 1913 for the family of Hugh McKennan Landon, who occupied the home from 1913 until 1932 when it was sold to the Lilly family. The historic house is currently interpreted to reflect the 1930s era when the Lilly family occupied the residence. The Lilly family and company Eli Lilly is interesting to me because they were the first medical company to market and sell insulin (which keeps me alive). While they did not discover the drug, they deserve credit for the accessibility of insulin today.

Formal Gardens at Oldfields

We strolled through some of the properties gardens while we waited for our tour to start. Our tour guide was incredibly knowledgeable in the history and different things about the house. The interior of the home is preserved as it was when the Lilly's lived there. The property along with most of the Lilly's personal items were donated by the family for the museum.

After our tour we did some more strolling and exploring in the gardens. Everything was so green and beautiful that I felt like I was a little girl playing in The Secret Garden! It really was a neat experience and a great thing to do on a Saturday for free. Oh, and the landscape architect that designed and built the gardens for the Lilly's also designed Central Park in NY!

Onward to our hotel for check-in!

We checked in, lugged our luggage up to our room and then headed to park the car. We had planned on checking in and cooling off for a bit before going to dinner. It was hot in Indy on Saturday! Or maybe we just felt hot because of all the walking and activity we were doing. Anyways...our room was so nice at the Hilton Garden Inn and we totally took advantage of the AC! The beds were adjustable, kind of like Sleep Number beds but apparently these were designed specifically for Hilton's or something. Regardless, Stephen tested it out when we got there and I think the above picture shows that he approved! After spending a little time in our room getting settled, we changed...

 Have dinner...

 And go for a walk around the circle...

We may or may not have stopped and gotten a sweet treat on our way back to our hotel...you may never know :)

Sunday morning we relaxed and slept in pretty late for us, 10am.  We decided to get outside and walk to the Canal District in Indy. I had heard of this area, but never seen it. It was a bit of a walk, or maybe my flip flops were just hurting my feet...but when we finally saw the canals it was worth it. This area in Indy is beautiful! I could totally close my eyes and pretend I was in Venice. They even have gondola rides available in the evenings by reservation.

Now it was time to get ready for Serena's wedding!

The ceremony took place at the Scottish Rite Cathedral. Oh my. This place is stunning in person. Seriously. The bride of course was equally stunning. Everything was put together beautifully and in such a nice location. We were able to walk there from our hotel...actually, we walked everywhere all weekend. No driving for us!

The desert reception was held downtown as well in the One America Building. The views were spectacular from all the angles! Such a perfect location for a party!

This was my favorite view of the evening...he was so handsome!

Sunday morning we slept in pretty late. 11am to be exact. Thankfully our checkout time was not until noon! We ended the trip with a delicious lunch at Taste (again) and some Orange Leaf frozen yogurt and headed home...

That concludes our weekend in Indy, minus a few details that I left out. All in all, we had a fantastic time and are looking forward to our Chicago weekend getaway in August. Weekends away with your husband/wife are the best!