Last weekend I decided to forgo the customary Halloween activities, and instead spend a bit of time with my cousin and his wife who came up from Missouri.  My older brother decided to take us on a tour of downtown, and out to eat at St. Elmo Steakhouse.  Even though I've visited my brother in Indianapolis several times, and have lived here the last few months, I haven't spent much time downtown.  Spending Saturday evening on a walking tour of the city gave me a new love and appreciation for the city.  We drove and walked by everything from Circle Center Mall to Lucas Oil Stadium, home of the 7-0 Indianapolis Colts!  While not everything is perfect, there is poverty and hurting people in the city and we saw a few homeless people sleeping under an overpass right next to Conseco Fieldhouse, Indianapolis is beautiful, and is one of the best city for reaching out to its needy population.  Our evening culminated in dinner at St. Elmo's, a great steakhouse famous for their shrimp cocktail that is so hot it will make you cry.  And although Indianapolis is no Chicago or New York City, it is a great city in the heart of the nation, and home to the best football team and University! And even though I didn't dress up and participate in typical college student Halloween activities, the evening was great, and more than I could have asked for! 

The large Circle Center Mall right in downtown is always a great place to stop and walk around for awhile.

Monument Circle, in the center of downtown Indy is especially neat at night and you can take carriage rides through the streets or walk around to small shops and stores.  

The brand new (and perhaps unnecessary?) Lucas Oil Stadium is an imposing structure gracing the downtown scene.

St. Elmo's.  A good place to eat once,unless you like to spend a lot of money.

Until next time.