Eiteljorg Art Museum, Indianapolis, Indiana

Friday,  I met my parents, sister, brother in law and cousin in Indianapolis to hit some museums. Our first stop was the Eiteljorg Museum of American Indians and Western Art downtown. This is my favorite art museum! My wonderful high school art teacher introduced it to me as a teenager, I took field trips later with my own students, and visited on my own a number of times as an adult. I was so excited now to be able to take my own children and share it with them.

Currently, there is a special exhibition of engraved pistols....amazing! They had a master engraver giving demonstrations and explaining the process (no pictures allowed :( ) But Annie Oakley was the big hit with my boys! A wonderful lady dressed up as Annie, explained about her life with Bill Cody and then, oh my goodness, allowed my boys to "shoot" her rifle!

Of course we looked at all the fantastic artwork too. Some of my favorites are O'Keefe, Couse, Russell and Remington, Terpning...I could go on and on.

Renovated since I was here last, the Eiteljorg  has added a stagecoach for kids to climb into and a saddle to check out. Very neat!!

We also went through the Indiana State Museum right next door. Between the two are giant slabs of, what I assume, is limestone. The boys loved climbing all over these...who wouldn't?

The bottom floor of the Indiana State Museum begins with the natural history of the state. Yip and his cousin even got to talk to an archeologist all about hunting mastadons.

Then there was the early historical period of Indiana. Yap was enchanted with a model of how the lock and canal system worked in early Indiana.

And here is my sister educating my cousin on the wonderful woman who was Maconaquah!

The State Museum also has a fantastic exhibit on Abraham Lincoln on loan from the Library of Congress but cameras weren't allowed inside. There are some amazing Lincoln documents in the exhibit! A must if you are in the area!

It was a beautiful day on Friday so after we were finished at the museums we walked down the White River State Park canal which was right out the back door of the museums. Hundreds of people were out that day on bikes and paddleboats. This little piece of downtown Indianapolis is packed with some wonderful attractions! Within walking distance from where we were there is also the baseball stadium and the zoo and so much more.  I love Indianapolis! Definitely a place to visit if you get the chance :)