Things to Do in Indiana State Museum

Ancient Seas Gallery

You pass beneath a suspended prehistoric shark while limestone shelves drip with creek-like water sounds; damp-plaster air recalls a freshly cut stream bed. Kids mash fingers against touchable crinoid fossils, cold and ridged like petrified pasta.

Cole Porter Tribute Alcove

A dim nook spins scratchy 78s that pop like campfire embers, and the faint perfume of old cedar lingers near the songwriter's shiny cufflinks. Tap the interactive screen to hear "Night and Day" while original sheet music glows under glass.

Canal Level Walkway

Step onto the riverside path where reeds hiss in the breeze and duckweed gives off a faint cucumber scent. The museum's limestone flank rises overhead, warm to the touch when you press a palm against it, while paddle-boat oars clunk rhythmically on metal docks.

R.B. Annis Naturalist Lab

Binoculars wait by a window for watching chimney swifts dive over the canal. The lab smells of rubbing alcohol and dried moss. Staff hand you real bat detectors, plastic cool and smooth, while audio loops play slowed-down echolocation clicks that rumble like sub-bass.

92 County Walk Mosaic

Outside the main doors you shuffle across a map of Indiana built from every county's stone, some flecked with mica that winks in noon light. Elkhart slate feels satin under fingertips. The Jasper slab is rough enough to snag cotton.

Canal-side lofts in the Hyatt House. Rooms overlook the water and let you watch gondola pilots practice at dawn.

The JW Marriott two blocks north. Upper-floor views frame the museum's limestone prow rising like a fossilized wave.

Fletcher Place carriage-house B&Bs. Brick alleys smell of sourdough drifting from nearby bakeries.

University campus homestays along Michigan Street. They are cheap, quiet once classes end, and a straight shot down the Cultural Trail bike lane.

Fountain Square guest rooms above vintage shops. Late-night salsa bars and duck-pin bowling wait a ten-minute scooter ride away.

RV pads at the State Fairgrounds during off-season months. City buses drop you at the museum gate in fifteen minutes.