Indianapolis

My husband and I were in Indy for a tennis tournament.  It was a short trip with not a lot of time for sightseeing, but I'll write about the hotel and experiences.

HOTEL:  The Sheraton Keystone, a Starwood properties, was an adequate hotel.  It's aging which shows in the room.  They've upgraded the bedding but the beds are lumpy and not very comfortable and the rooms/bathrooms could benefit from a good painting.  Otherwise the rooms were fine, nothing extravegant but definately adequate.    The staff was accomodating and pleasant for the most part.   There is a bar off the lobby which serves some bar food - but there are plenty of chain restaurants in the area.  We asked someone to recommend a local restaurant and we got a list of Chili's, Maggiano's, Cheesecake Factory, etc.  We like to explore local regional restaurants, but didn't have a lot of time to research, etc. , so we ended up eating at the Cheesecake Factory at the mall - still a chain but they do have a good menu, not to mention delicious Chocolate cake (I know it's the Cheesecake factory, but I prefer regular cake - :-)

The breakfast buffet in the hotel is ok - a little too high priced at $16.95, so we went across the road to 'Le Peep' where you can get a good breakfast for about 1/2 that. 

The Fashion Mall is next door to the hotel.  It has some very upscale shops such as Tiffany's and Rolex, as well as the usual Restoration Hardware, Crate and Barrel, Pottery Barn, etc.  There was a very interesting gourmet cheese and food shop in the mall. 

I believe that when you stay at the hotel you also recieve privilages at the Bally Health club next door.  We didn't have time to take advantage of this, but other's we were with said it was very nice.

ACTIVITIES:  We were limited on free time, but we were able to sneak in a trip to the Indianapolis Speedway Hall of Fame.  For $3 you get admission into the Hall of Fame, for another $3 you get a bus tour around the actual track.   When I was growing up, I remember cheering on drivers, A.J. Foyt and Bobby Unser, as we watched the race each Memorial Day.   Being on the actual track were these icons of racing had won was very memorable.  The Hall of Fame is worth a look, especially if you are into old cars and race cars.  We spent a little over an hour there and felt we had done it justice.

The rest of our time was filled with tennis activities.  Indianapolis has some very nice tennis facilities, indoor and out.   We played at North Central High School (24 courts outside), Indianapolis Tennis Center, and the 5 Seasons - all were very nice.