Hi, I'm james. And I'm Laurent. And today, we're in Indianapolis.
And some of you are going to wonder, Indianapolis?!?!?
You guys travel all over the world, to Africa,
Asia, Europe, Australia. Why would you even go to Indianapolis?
Well, sometimes we're also looking for weekend getaways. And Indianapolis is
only 3 hours away from Chicago. And it has great attractions to visit.
In this video, we'll show you our Top 5 places to visit in Indianapolis. So, let's go!
Number 1 on our list is the Children's Museum. The Indianapolis Children's Museum
is the largest children's museum in the world. And, even though we're not children ourselves,
not even close, we still had a blast visiting it. The museum is almost 500,000
square feet. That's more than 8 football fields, full of artifacts. 120,000 artifacts actually.
And you can easily spend the whole day, going through all the different sections of the museum.
But if you don't want to spend the whole day, you'll have to decide which 2 or 3 sections, you
want to visit. So, what was your favorite section? It had to be the Dinosphere. It had several actual
dinosaurs, from 65 million years ago. Including a T-rex, that's one of the best preserved in the
world. But what we appreciate as adults, is that there's also real science going on at the museum,
with paleontologists cleaning dinosaur bones, right in front of you. The museum is also very
interactive. Children can look at dinosaurs, but they can also touch some of the bones and teeth.
And there's a lot of educational games and puzzles. Another section we really liked,
was 'Power of Children'. It celebrates children, who made a difference in the world. The story of
Anne Frank was the most personal to me. We've both been to Amsterdam, and visited the Anne
Frank Museum there. And I visited it when I was 10 years old maybe. And it really touched me.
And they recreated the Amsterdam house, where her family was hiding from the Nazis. Just like
they recreated Ruby Bridges' classroom, and Ryan White's bedroom. It was really inspiring. Yeah!
But the museum also has a whole outdoor section, dedicated to sports and children's health. Here
again, very interactive, with lots of different fields for children to practice different sports.
It has a giant tree house, in the middle, that children can climb and play in. But there's a
lot of other sections, like the space section, the train section, the archaeology section, and a
40-foot tall blown glass tower, by Chihuli, one of our favorite artists. A great museum all around!
And Number 2 on our list, is the Motor Speedway Museum. When I think of Indianapolis,
the 1st thing that comes to mind, is car racing, and the Indy 500. Although, to be fair to him,
James grew up in Michigan. And they love them cars in Michigan. Yes we do! Of course, there aren't
car races every day. And when there are no races, you can take a bus tour of the speedway. But what
we liked the most, was visiting the museum, which is right in the middle of the speedway.
They have almost every car that won the Indy 500. From the very first one, in 1911, to today.
Even though we don't follow Indy car racing, we loved seeing the evolution of cars and technology,
over the last 100 years. The Wasp was the 1st car to win, in 1911. And it still had a crank,
to start the engine. It looked like a real car. But the newer cars look nothing like the cars
you see on the road. The cockpit is so small, I don't even know how the drivers can get inside.
He's 6'2", and he tried to get into one, at the Children's Museum. And it was not graceful!
So, anything you didn't like about the Motor Speedway Museum? Well, the museum isn't that
big. It's a little cramped at times, with all the cars parked next to each other.
Yeah! You can't really move around, and look at all of them from every angle.
And what about your favorite part of the museum? It has to be the display about Ford vs. Ferrari.
It was great, that they had a Ford GT over there, because people thought it could never be done.
They paid homage to the movie, and the story, and also all the people who developed the Ford GT.
In addition to the cars, there's also tons of memorabilia, like helmets, and racing suits,
and trophies. To be clear, this is a museum dedicated to car racing. You're not gonna
find a Ford T, or a Volkswagen Beetle in there. But I thought it was a great museum.
And Number 3 on our list, is Monument Circle. Monument Circle is a big square,
in the shape of a circle. A circle square? I don't remember studying
that in geometry class. Maybe, that's what's so unique about it, I guess!
Monument Circle is right downtown. And in the middle of it, is the Soldiers and Sailors
Monument. Probably the most recognizable landmark in Indianapolis. The Soldiers and Sailors Monument
is almost 300-foot tall. And it took 13 years to build it. You definitely can't miss it, when
you're walking downtown. The monument celebrates all the Hoosiers, who fought in the Civil War.
But, by extension, it celebrates all the common soldiers, who fought in other wars.
Outside, the monument features lots of statues and fountains, including statues of animals,
that we thought were kind of funny. And inside, the monument contains the Civil War Museum.
We also like the architecture of all the buildings around the circle. The circle shape certainly
makes buildings more challenging to design. During the day, Monument Circle is one of the
most animated places in Indianapolis. There are several coffee shops and restaurants. And there
are food trucks as well. And in the summer, there's also a farmer's market. But Monument
Circle is also great at night, when a light show projects art on the surrounding buildings.
And if you go to Monument Circle,
you probably want to make your way to the other downtown monuments,
such as the State Capitol, which is only a couple of blocks away. And throughout downtown,
there are signs everywhere, that point you to all the main attractions. It's really well done.
And Number 4 on our list is Newfields, which is the name of the Indianapolis Museum of Art.
What's interesting about Newfields, is that it's both an indoor and an outdoor museum.
Inside, you have the art collection. And outside, you have a beautiful park, with also some outdoor
art. Newfields is not a huge museum, but it has a lot of variety. Not a lot of depth,
but a lot of breath. That's right, Newfields has a lot of different types of art, but for each type,
a smaller collection than what you would find in a larger museum, like the Chicago Art Institute.
A little bit of Greek and Roman art. A little bit of Asian art. A little bit of African
art. And a little bit of Pre-Columbian art. The impressionist and post-impressionist collection,
has work by Gauguin, and Cézanne, and Van Gogh. But it's the collection of American
paintings that was the largest, and had some of the most interesting pieces. So, what was your
favorite section of the museum? It had to be the design collection. There was a huge room,
with a lot of really interesting furniture. It was my favorite section as well. We said earlier that
some of the sections didn't have a lot of depth. But the design section was the exception. Lots of
interesting chairs, and everyday objects, that you don't always associate with an art museum.
But as we mentioned before, Newfield is also interesting, because of its outdoor section.
It has beautiful gardens. And the museum comes up with seasonal themes. So, no matter what season,
there's always something going on. The gardens are very peaceful,
with lots of flower beds, and fountains, but also interesting sculptures.
You can easily spend an hour or two outdoors, and enjoy the natural beauty of the park.
And Number 5 on our list, is the Central Canal Walk. Indianapolis is on the east
bank of the White River. But right downtown, there's also the Central Canal. The Central
Canal was built almost 200 years ago, in 1837. Initially, it was supposed to be 300-mile long,
and almost cross the entire state. But only an 8-mile stretch was built.
The section downtown was redeveloped in 1985, and now provides a nice scenic walk.
Of course, it's a lot nicer on a sunny day. But unfortunately, the weather did not cooperate,
when we went to shoot the video. On a nice sunny day, you'll see tons of people strolling around.
And you can even rent kayaks or pedal boats. It's obviously not as scenic on a cloudy day.
But it still has a little bit of a Venice feel to it, because of the shape of some of the bridges.
It's still a nice place to get some fresh air. And you should definitely check it out.
So, we hope you enjoyed this video. If you did, give it a big thumbs up. And put your comments,
in the comment section below. And if you want to subscribe to our channel,
we're going to put a link right here. And if you want to watch our other videos,
we're going to put one right here, and another one right there.
Bye! Bye!