Indianapolis has plenty on the ball

At its heart, Indianapolis is a sports town. You can't talk about auto racing without mentioning the Indianapolis 500. The NCAA has its national headquarters here; the NFL's Colts, the NBA's Pacers and the WNBA's Fever call it home. And come Feb. 5 what is arguably the No. 1 sporting event in the world, the Super Bowl, is coming to town.

But you don't have to have a ticket to the big game (and let's face it, you won't be going there to see the Vikes) to enjoy all that this city has to offer.

The thing you will first notice about Indy is that the downtown area is clean, easily accessible and full of fun things within walking distance. In fact, a skywalk connects much of downtown.

The downtown area includes the beautiful White River State Park, which includes the zoo and connects green spaces with tall buildings. A 1.5-mile manmade canal that runs through the park is great for cyclists, runners, paddleboaters and people-watchers.

East of the canal you'll find Monument Circle and Memorial Plaza, which have majestic sculptures, fountains and the Indiana World War Memorial Plaza, built to honor the veterans of World War I and modeled after the Mausoleum of Halicarnassus. Take a carriage ride ($50) around the sites at dusk for a memorable evening. And don't forget the Circle Centre mall, which runs through the heart of downtown.

The biggest draw for families is the Children's Museum, consistently ranked by parenting and travel magazines as one of the nation's best. The fascinating Dinosphere features life-size dinosaur skeleton replicas, a dino dig area and even a working lab where paleontologists are happy to tell kids about the museum's dinosaur, Dracorex Hogwartsia, a name that pays tribute to Harry Potter. Recent highlights included a National Geographic Treasures of the Earth archaeology exhibit and a "trip" through Egypt ($11.50-$16.50, www.childrensmuseum.org).

NCAA Hall of Champions: From the re-created 1930s-style gym to the interactive shoot-a-soccer-ball game, this facility in the NCAA national headquarters captivated my kids. My favorite: a game where you play umpire or referee, making calls on actual sporting events in a split second ($3-$5, www.ncaahallofchampions.org).

Indianapolis Zoo: Its aquarium hosts daily dolphin shows and features a huge shark tank where you can pet the sharks ($10.25 to $15.25, www.indyzoo.com).

Indianapolis Motor Speedway: Even people who aren't race fans will be impressed by the spectacle of the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. Visitors will gasp at the size of the 260,000-seat stadium. Tour the Hall of Fame museum to get a glimpse of Indycars and other historic cars and the Borg-Warner Trophy, which honors the winner of each Indy 500. ($3-$5, www.indianapolismotor speedway.com).

When Indianapolis officials made their bid to become a Super Bowl host, one of the things they sent to the selection committee was the shrimp cocktail from downtown Indy staple Harry & Izzy's. The St. Elmo Starter ($14.95), deemed one of the nation's spiciest dishes by the Travel Channel, is reason enough to visit Harry & Izzy's, which is co-owned by (injured) Colts quarterback Peyton Manning. The restaurant is hip in an old-world gangster kind of way, and every dish we had was delicious (153 S. Illinois St.; 1-317-635-9594).

If you are looking for a taste of Indy history, 100-year-old Iaria's serves Italian staples such as a tender chicken piccata and a creamy manicotti (317 S. College Av.; 1-317-638-7706).

For breakfast, Taste, on the edge of David Letterman's old haunt, the Broad Ripple neighborhood, is a hip foodie place. We had an egg sandwich so pretty we didn't want to eat it, but when we did: perfection (5164 N. College Av.; 1-317-925-2233). Equally good was Cafe Patachou, where I had a divine omelet served with yummy cinnamon toast. And the self-serve pumpkin spice coffee was just what my morning ordered (225 W. Washington St.; 1-317-632-0765).