Bo2642

I have a friend who is planning to take her mother back to Beech Grove, Indiana (very close to Indianapolis), where she spent the first 20 years of her life. She left there for California some 50 years ago and hasn't been back since. She has remained in contact with one friend who still lives there and is looking forward to a reunion with her, but what else? My friend has little experience in planning for travel, so I told her I would put it out there on the Fodor forum.
Do any of you have knowledge of Beech Grove? Any suggestions for interesting things to see and do for my friend and her mother? I've searched the internet for infomation, but I haven't come up with much.
Thanks in advance to anyone who can help.

cd

Do not have knowledge of Beech Grove but it would not be far to the Indy 500 Speed way which is very interesting: http://www.tripadvisor.com/Attractio...s_Indiana.html

Bo2642

Thanks for such a rapid response, cd. Not sure if this 70+ year old lady would be drawn to this, but you never know. I'll be running any and all suggestions by my friend.

cd

Ok, you have to kinda of watched the races I guess to be interested.
How about a dinner theater? We went to Beef and Boards and really enjoyed the show! http://www.beefandboards.com/

capxxx

They might enjoy touring the Lockerbie Square neighborhood (historic homes) and the James Whitcomb Riley home in Indy.

The canal walk is a pleasant park along the canal downtown.

Or they could visit the Indianapolis Art Museum which has a sculpture grounds and nice lunch on the premises. There is also a (different) canal walking path nearby.

The Indianapolis Zoo is world-class, really nice.

Conner Prairie is a sort of outdoor museum of old-timey life. It's in Carmel which has upscale shops and such.

Columbus Indiana is south of there, and a wonder of modern architecture (the local Cummings plant paid the fees for world-class architects to design municipal buildings) -- maybe a driving tour? (They can pick up a map at the town tourist office.)

tomfuller

Amtrak's major repair and maintenance facility is in Beech Grove. http://history.amtrak.com/blogs/exhi...a-september-16
You probably can't get in but you could ask if interested.

Bo2642

A little itinerary is starting to form thanks to your input. Thanks, folks.
Has anyone had any experience with featuers of Beech Groove itself? Churches still standing after 50 years? Post office in same place? A park where community activities are still taking place? A school visit possible? (actually, if I could find out the names of the schools the mom went to, I could try to make contact to see if a visit could be arranged.)Historic homes open for tour? Anything else? Anything at all to help flesh out this sentimental visit?