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What Happens When A Small-Town Family Visits The "World's Largest"... Whatever!

Archive for Indiana

World’s Largest Children’s Museum, Indianapolis, IN

I have never been to Indiana. This month’s guest post, combined with our oh-so-popular guest post on the world’s largest toilet, has me seriously intrigued.   There’s a lot going on in the “Crossroads of America!”

Since we wrote about another children’s museum last week, I thought it would be fun to continue the theme today. The world’s largest children’s museum is in Indianapolis. This place is a Go BIG trifecta! Not only is the facility itself the world’s largest, within it are the world’s largest permanent sculpture by Dale Chihuly, and North America’s largest water clock!

Children's museum

And, as a quick search reveals, the city is also now home to the world’s largest JW Marriott property.

Our valued contributor is Nicole Wiltrout, a stay-at-home Indianian (yes, it’s a word) who rarely stays home! I can tell she is an enthusiastic family traveler; she awarded the museum a “10” on our sliding scale, where 1 = “snoozefest,” and 10 = “add to your bucket list.” So now we definitely have to get to Indiana. Here’s hoping Nicole has enough room in her house to host the four of us…

Nicole writes about adventures with her husband and 2-year-old son at Arrows Sent Forth.

Dinosaur

This is where my son would have FREAKED.

Where we went, and who was coerced into going:

We went to the Children’s Museum of Indianapolis, the world’s largest children’s museum. Our group featured three generations exploring the museum: myself, my mom and my 20-month-old son.

WHY did you go there, exactly?

I’ve lived in Indianapolis for the past 20 years, and the Children’s Museum is a cultural landmark in the city. Needless to say, I’ve been at least a dozen times. But I had never taken my son until this trip.

Okay, what was so cool about it?

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World’s Largest Toilet, Columbus, IN

Sometimes this blog will enlighten and enrich your life with descriptions of artistic, cultural, or spiritual sites, like the large Buddha at the Chuang Yen Monastery.

Other times, we ditch all that highbrow stuff and go for the easy chuckle. This is one of those times.

Our guest post for October, graciously submitted by Julie Henning, is about the World’s Largest Toilet. Yes, you read that right!  Julie is the “Feed Me” Editor at a great site, Road Trips for Families. I met her at the BlogHer conference, and was jazzed to realize that there are other moms out there who: A) love quirky roadside attractions; and B) have no qualms about forcing them upon their defenseless children.

Worlds largest toilet

I can only imagine the stories these kids told their friends about this experience!

The toilet is located inside the Kids Commons Columbus’ Community Children’s Museum in Columbus, IN. Here’s Julie’s take:

Where we went, and who was coerced into going:

As a way to intentionally break up our recent 18-hour road trip from Madison, WI to Charleston, SC, we downloaded the Roadside America iPhone app to our iPhones. With a touch of a button, the app detects your physical location and returns back an interactive list of nearby unusual, interesting, and “Go BIG-worthy” places. Restless in Indiana, we gave the app a whirl.

WHY did you go there, exactly?

Truthfully, we hadn’t stopped since a rest area in Illinois and we all had to go to the bathroom! Fate intervened with the “World’s Largest Toilet” a short distance from I-65 in the heart of downtown Columbus, Indiana. Housed in the Kids Commons Columbus Community Children’s Museum, the museum gracefully allowed us to use the real bathroom and visit the big-daddy loo too. Normally, there’s a nominal admission fee.

Okay, what was so cool about it?

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