Amy Magan blogs for the Indiana Insider tourism blog and at The 4^th Frog Blog.

Unless you’ve been in hibernation lately, you’re well aware that thousands of people recently filled local streets for the greatest spectacle in professional football.  This winter, I had the opportunity to be a tourist in my own town, first participating in a large convention that was held downtown at the Indiana Convention Center and then hosting some family for a girls’ weekend of shopping.  Both events gave me a chance to see the city as many of our recent visitors got to see it.

In November, I was part of a Catholic youth conference that hosted 23,000 people — small potatoes compared to the crowds for the big game. Our group stayed at the J.W. Marriott overlooking Victory Field. It was during this conference that I got a real appreciation for how smartly downtown Indianapolis has been constructed. We spent our 4 days downtown moving between the J.W., Lucas Oil Stadium, the convention center and restaurants in and around Circle Center Mall.

I was pleased to find that a.) the downtown area is very walkable – park the car and forget it, and b.) it is entirely possible to traverse a large section of downtown without going outside by using the tunnels that connect several of the hotels with the convention center and the mall.

Something else I noticed was the famous “Hoosier Hospitality” at work. With few exceptions, the service our group received at locations around the city was helpful and positive and most everyone we talked to was looking forward to the hoopla of the big game.

A few weeks later, I met up with my mom and sisters for a girls’ weekend of holiday shopping. My plan was to spend the morning covering the shops on Mass. Ave, then a festive Christmas lunch in the L.S. Ayres Tea Room at the Indiana State Museum, followed by several hours of shopping at Circle Center.

Leave it to my sisters to change my well thought out plan.  We stayed on course through the Tea Room. But after that, things went a bit awry. My sisters wanted to go to The Fashion Mall at Keystone at the Crossing to visit a few stores there, including Gymboree and Nordstrom. I groused a little, but pointed the car northward. In a little over 15 minutes, we reached our destination and spent several hours shopping. We finished the night with dinner at P.F. Chang’s before heading back downtown for some much needed sleep. We had a spacious room at the Westin Hotel with views of the convention center, St. John’s Catholic Church and Lucas Oil.

The next day, we had tickets for a holiday craft show at Plainfield High School. We checked out of the Westin, buzzed over to I-70 West and were at the craft show in about 20 minutes. We spent the rest of the afternoon crossing things off our shopping lists at stores at Metropolis shopping center.

Super Bowl XLVI was not just a downtown Indianapolis event. It was an event that welcomed visitors to communities all over Central Indiana. I think visitors appreciated the ease with which they could get from one area of town to another. I also think they were delighted to explore the many stores and restaurants that were ready to welcome them to town.

And the Hoosier Hospitality? That’s just part of the deal.