Budget summer vacation from Chicago – road trip to Santa Claus, Indiana

Chicago is in the unfortunate position of being surrounded by a whole lot of nothing. It doesn’t matter which direction you are heading, you’ll need to drive several hours till you finally reach something that isn’t in the Chicagoland metro area, or anything remotely fun (Sorry Milwaukee, but I don’t consider you to be that cool a destination, unless it is during Summerfest).

If you are looking for a fun weekend away (way, way away) from it all, but still within driving range, head down south to Santa Claus Indiana. This quaint little village is home to Holiday World & Splashin’ Safari.
Holiday World is where you’ll find 4 roller coasters, including the #1 rated wooden coaster in the world, but you’ll also find loads of family friendly rides, plus some just for toddlers.

In addition to the rides, Holiday World also offers one of the largest water parks in the Midwest with 16 different rides and attractions.

Admission to Holiday World is $40 for adults and $30 for guests under 54 inches. The admission price includes free soft drinks all day long.

When you are in Santa Claus, the most appropriate place to stay is of course at Santa’s Lodge.

This Christmas themed hotel is decorated for the Holiday season year-round. Rooms start at just $79.95 a night.

The hotel offers several indoor and outdoor pools, 2 restaurants and a mini-golf course.

Planning this trip wouldn’t be fun if you didn’t take advantage of some of the great other attractions on the way to Santa Claus. Your halfway point is Indianapolis, home to the largest children’s museum in the world.

Admission to the museum is $14.50 for adults and $9.50 for kids. Be sure to leave enough time in your schedule to see this place, as your kids will need several hours to visit all the exhibits.

With a little bit of luck, younger kids will be so tired from their visit, that they’ll sleep for the rest of your drive.

If you don’t have any kids (or you left them back home), then you can schedule your halfway stop at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway in (where else) Speedway, IN. Just be sure to stay far, far away from this area on race days. The Speedway is home to a museum and “behind the scenes tour”, but only on select dates, so be sure to check their schedule.

Finally, adults will be happy to know that the last part of the drive to Santa Claus passes through Louisville, home to the recently renovated Louisville Slugger museum. For $10 ($5 for kids), you get to see where this world famous baseball bat it made, plus you’ll be able to visit their factory outlet for some discounted Slugger gear.

Baseball not your thing? The Louisville Museum Row has 8 other attractions all within walking distance.

It would be considered a crime to drive to Louisville without stopping for some authentic Kentucky barbecue! A lineup of some of the best meat in the city can be found here.

So, there you have it – an affordable roadtrip from Chicago to Santa Claus, with 2 awesome stops on the way. Total distance from Chicago to Santa Claus is 360 miles.

Be sure to check out more budget summer vacations here!

Bring your car: America’s 10 least walkable cities

It may come as no surprise that San Francisco ranks as America’s #1 walkable city, but what about the rest of the country? After compiling a list of the “walkability” of 40 American cities, Walk Score gives us a good idea of what cities are pedestrian friendly and which ones require cars. The bottom ten cities on the list give us a few places where pedestrians are far and few between and driving is the name of the game (read: expect to spend a lot of money on gas). So where can you plan on packing away your walking shoes and donning your driving cap?

  1. Jacksonville
  2. Nashville
  3. Charlotte
  4. Indianapolis
  5. Oklahoma City
  6. Memphis
  7. Kansas City
  8. Fort Worth
  9. El Paso
  10. Mesa

The listing of cities does however lay out their most walkable neighborhoods, so if you’re planning a trip to one of these places, give it a look.

[Via Huffington Post Green]

Ohio’s got you covered when it comes to presidents’ houses

Ohio has the nickname “Mother of Presidents” because eight U.S. presidents were elected from here. Seven of the eight were born in this state.

Although the site of Rutherford B. Hayes’ birthplace in Delaware (about 30 minutes from Columbus) is no longer there (I think there’s a gas station on the site), there are other presidents’ houses and landmarks still standing. A tour of all of them covers a lot of ground.

Ulysses S. Grant’s birthplace in Mt. Pleasant is now a museum run by the Ohio Historical Society. Although it’s open only certain times of the year, this is a lovely place on the Ohio River west of Cincinnati. You can also see the school house where Grant attended in a nearby town.

James A. Garfield’s house in Mentor in the northern part of Ohio is a National Historic Site. Although it is open year-round, there are seasonal hours.

Benjamin Harrison was born on a farm near Cincinnati, although, there is not a landmark. To visit his house, head to Indianapolis. He may of been born in Ohio, but Indiana became home.

William McKinley has a mega tribute in Niles, his birthplace. Along with the site where he was born there is a memorial, a museum, a research center and a library. McKinley’s honor comes partly because he was a respected governor of the state as well.

William H. Taft’s elegant home is in Cincinnati. This house, now an National Historic Site, also has an education research center.

Warren G. Harding’s former home in Marion is part of the Ohio Historical Society. Most of the furnishings belonged to Harding and his wife. The hours are seasonal. Harding is also buried in Marion about one hour from Columbus heading north.

William Henry Harrison wasn’t born in Ohio. Even though he was born in Virginia, he moved to Ohio and was elected president from his home in North Bend not far from Cincinnati. The house isn’t there, but Harrison is buried in North Bend. His tomb is part of the Ohio Historical Society’s properties.

(see Ohio Presidents)

Up Up and Away to the Super Hero Museum!

Nerds of the world unite!

There is now an entire museum dedicated to those fictional characters upon which you’ve projected your own feelings of inadequacy and impotency and vicariously lived out a fantasy life of vigilantism in which the evils of the world are all righted and life is grand indeed.

Yes folks, it’s the American Super Heroes Museum!

Located in downtown Indianapolis, the 3,300-square-foot museum honors Batman, Superman, and other American comic book heroes–and none of those wussy European ones, like Obelix, for example.

The collection features thousands of super hero “toys, games, posters, puzzles, figurines and collectibles,” as well as an impressive array of costumes featured in the numerous live action movies and TV series which have promulgated the super hero legend for more than half a century now.

The coolest thing, however, is the museum’s life size replica of the Batmobile. Even non-nerds like myself have a nerd-like obsession with this thing. I mean, haven’t we all wanted to cry out, “To the Batmobile!’ and then peel away burning some serious rubber? Yes, you know what I’m talking about!

Photo of the Day (3/14/07)


Indianapolis isn’t a destination that we usually whoop-and-holler about here on Gadling, yet I’m sure it has some kind of charm and exciting moments, especially if you’re into the Indy 500. Today, Indianapolis gets a little love thanks to Ohad who took this shot at the Abbey Coffee House on a cross-country pit-stop. It looks as though it might be the reflection of some town homes, but it also looks like it could be a painting found on the coffee house walls.

If you’d like to see your photo work from small towns, big towns, little farms, or packed urban metropolis’ featured on Gadling be sure to place them in our Flickr pool.