Favorite Monday/Monday night activities?

Recently we%26#39;ve had two different visitors ask about Monday/Monday evening activities, and while trying to answer them, I%26#39;ve discovered what a large percentage of the usual attractions are closed on Mondays. I%26#39;ve found some, which I will post here, but I was hoping others would jump in with suggestions.

Favorite Monday/Monday night activities?

Evening:

Slippery Noodle Inn, Live Blues

Chatterbox and Jazz Kitchen, Live Jazz

Beef and Boards, dinner and a show on SOME Mondays

Day:

Indianapolis Motor Speedway Museum

Ice Skating all year at the Indiana/World Skating Academy

Favorite Monday/Monday night activities?

The zoo is sometimes open on Mondays depending on the month:

http://www.indyzoo.com/content.aspx?cid=413

Day:

garfieldgardensconservatory.org/garden.html

Indianapolis Museum of Art

http://www.ima-art.org/

The Children%26#39;s Museum. I mention this because it%26#39;s not just for kids!

http://www.childrensmuseum.org/

As for the zoo, won%26#39;t there be Christmas at the Zoo going on through the end of the year?

Hi Gabbygambler,

Those are two of my favorite things too, and that%26#39;s what is so hard. Look, they%26#39;re closed on Mondays at least half the year:

http://www.ima-art.org/connect/hours

(Closed Mondays, all year)

www.childrensmuseum.org/generalinfo/hours.htm

Thanks for adding that though, because at least I now know that the children%26#39;s museum is open on Mondays for the spring and summer! I was beginning to give up on all the museums since every one of the major ones that I checked except for the Speedway museum was closed on Monday.

Lily

You inspired me to keep trying Gabbygambler!

The Indiana State Museum IS open on Mondays. I thought I%26#39;d read somewhere that it wasn%26#39;t. Maybe I was searching too late at night.

www.in.gov/ism/VisitorInfo/Hours/index.aspx

The Indiana History Museum is closed on Mondays. That must have been what I read.

The Eiteljorg Monday: 10 a.m.-5 p.m. (Closed Mondays Labor Day through Memorial Day.)

eiteljorg.org/ejm_PlanYourVisit/鈥efault.asp

The NCAA Hall of Champions is also closed on Mondays as are the Eli Lilly Civil War Museum, Indiana War Memorial Museum and Connor Prairie.

James Whitcomb Riley Home Museum is closed on Mondays, but the Benjamin Harrison Home is open.

presidentbenjaminharrison.org/Museum/tourinf鈥?/a>

Traders Point Creamery

http://www.traderspointcreamery.com/

We also offer SELF-GUIDED TOURS, with maps and information about our farm. The tours are available everyday from 9am to 6pm. Self guided tours are $1 per person and are enjoyable for kids and adults. You can sign up for these in our farm store.

Cows are milked every day at 4pm.

Milk, cheese and ice cream are wonderful!

This is a great thread for Monday activities, thanks so much! I%26#39;m not a huge museum fan, so are any of these museums out of the ordinary amazing? I%26#39;m not one to do much museum visits when I go on trips so other ideas would be great. I%26#39;m so impressed that you have helped so much. Thank you very much, my trip will be much better because of you, so many thanks.

Lisa

Lisa,

I%26#39;m so happy to help!!

It%26#39;s funny, because my very first experience with a museum was the Indianapolis Children%26#39;s Museum when I was five. I think I learned the word that day. Read the reviews for it, and you%26#39;ll see why I still associate museums with the most wonderful, exciting things in the world. My second experience was the Museum of Science and Industry in Chicago. It had THE coolest dollhouse castle, a submarine, a coal mine, and other amazing things, so that just solidified it. Only later did I venture into things that called themselves museums but were sooo boring that I didn%26#39;t think they really were museums! :-)

To answer your questions about out of the ordinary ones, my favorite ones are closed on the Monday that you%26#39;ll be in town. I%26#39;ve heard really good things about the Speedway museum, but I%26#39;ve never been there.

Since you were planning to go to White River State Park and walk around by the canal, definitely go inside the Indiana State Museum building. It%26#39;s a nice big glass structure--perfect if it starts raining/snowing. It has a a two-story gift shop specializing in Indiana items--everything from books to pottery to toys. I honestly was a bit disappointed in the actual exhibits at the museum, so since you don%26#39;t especially like museums, if I were you, I%26#39;d skip it. I know some people really like it. I was just frustrated because the building is so neat that I had really high expectations. The lighting was really dim and the descriptions of the of the exhibits were knee high (and I%26#39;m not that tall.) You%26#39;d think from the height of the signs that they were geared toward young kids, but then the content of the signs was much too complicated for small children.

If you find that you%26#39;re hungry while you%26#39;re there, you can also eat at the cafe. The food isn%26#39;t amazing, but you get a pleasant view of the canal. (The Tea Room has no view.)

In another thread, someone said that there are things to do at the zoo if the weather isn%26#39;t nice, so that%26#39;s really good. It%26#39;s been awhile since I%26#39;ve been there, so I%26#39;d forgotten about that.

White River Gardens and Conservatory are right by the zoo. I couldn%26#39;t find their hours for some reason (maybe they%26#39;re exactly the same as the zoo?) I would think that their cafe and conservatory would be nice places to go even during bad weather.

I hope this helps!

Lily