Zionsville: A Quaint and Charming Indiana Village

If you'd like to travel back to a quieter, more intimate way of shopping and leave the malls behind you, then Zionsville Indiana is the place to take your girlfriends, sisters or mother for a dream day trip. Located about 20 minutes northwest of Indianapolis, Zionsville beckons with it's quaint village atmosphere.

We first became acquainted with Zionsville in the winter months, after moving to a small town about 20 minutes from Zionsville. Each winter we would travel to Watts Christmas Tree Farm to cut down and purchase our annual Christmas tree. After our tree cutting, we would travel into Zionsville to have hot chocolate and cookies, making our voyage a complete one. Happily content with cookies in tummy and tree in van, we'd travel home.

As the children grew older, our tree day was extended into a shopping day in Zionsville, where the Christmas décor reigned supreme in all the beautiful shops in the village. It certainly put us in the mood for Christmas.

Along the reknown brick streets of Zionsville, Indiana, you can find a wide variety of unique stores and eateries. If you love to look at historic homes, then tree lined streets full of 19^th century cherished and well preserved architectural delights await. There's no shortage of gingerbread trim or Victorian paint schemes on these beautiful homes.

Start your visit where my friends and I do, at Sunshine Bakery, where fresh hot blueberry muffins and a wide variety of other goodies are made each day. Their cookies have been voted one of Indy Dine's 10 best cookies in the Indianapolis area. Take your cookie or treat and sit outside at one of their cozy wrought iron chairs and tables and plan your shopping and eating day in Zionsville.

Many of Zionsville's eateries have won awards including The Cobblestone Grill with their fresh Cobblestone Crab Cakes, or Noah Grant's Sushi. No trip to Zionsville for me however is complete without Sweet Potato Fries from The Carolina Grill! I make a meal of these with a Caesar Salad first course.

While the locally owned wonderful restaurants make Zionsville a tempting treat, it's the shopping that we girls go for. With over 50 one of a kind speciality shops, a day trip to Zionsville is the kind of useless fun that bonds sisters and friends. I don't mean useless as in a waste of time, but as in a, "let's just have fun way." And all girls need that relaxing shopping day that's more about the window shopping and less about having to get the shopping list accomplished!

Brown's Antiques is a third generation antique store and no trip to Zionsville is complete without visiting one of their three buildings! You'll find Hoosier and Midwest treasures galore as antique hunters from all over the Midwest stop to do business at Brown's.

If art shops and galleries are more to your liking than antiques, then one of over 20 of them will surely hold something to take home. My favorite is theSanctuary, the gallery of Nancy Noel. I can't afford her paintings, but the view is amazing in her gallery,a restored Victorian church with a 25 foot fireplace, grand staircase and the church's original stained glass windows. Just sitting in the loft above the main gallery and contemplating the windows leaves you feeling nurtured and restored

Most of my shopping is done in one of the 50 unique specialty stores that line those historic brick streets.You can check them out here, as they truly are to numerous to mention and describe. For me, I always go to Earth Explorer's toy store to purchase a gift for my granddaughters, stop at Trader's Point Creamery for some Indiana homemade cheeses, and final stop at Ganache Chocolatiers. http://web.mac.com/babartol/Ganache/index.html

It's the truffles, all about the truffles! They're amazing, melt in your mouth wonders!

On August 1, you can try out some of these great treats at Taste Of Zionsville from 6-10. It's an annual event with music by The Fashion Imports, street dancing and food booths from many of Zionsville eateries. It's where I first ate ostrich!

While a daytrip to Zionsville is more than enough fun for one day, there is a special event that is held every year that does more than just provide fun and amusement. It's the Traders Point Horse Hunt Charity Horse Show and Country Fair to benefit Riley's Children Hospital in Indianapolis.

This year's 37^th annual event will be from August 4 through the 10^th at Wild Air Farms, 200 plus acres of Indiana's finest landscape. Admission each day is $5.00 except for Sunday's Grand Prix event, my favorite. Admission to Grand Prix day is $10.00.

You'll see the finest equestrian teams and horses in the country and even is horses aren't your thing, there are many other things to do, with a wide variety of food and craft vendors presenting unique ware,including a nice variety of equistrian related items and art.

Make it a weekend. Spend one day at Trader's Point and one day relaxing in the small town quaint village charm of Zionsville Indiana. (Map directions here) You'll feel like you're back home again in Indiana!