The wife unit is joining but is not a gamer at all. She'll go as far as Game of Thrones (HBO, not the books) but outside of that she's not into fantasy and certainly not SciFi (Hmm...now that I think about it...should I really have married her? I mean let's be honest...what else is there?)
She enjoys board games but that's about the extent of it. So...while I'm wandering the halls, gaming, etc. she's looking for a nice day spa, massage, shopping. Etc.
Any recommendations?
There is an entire section of activities devoted to the spouse. Not to mention the many tourist attractions around Indy.
Within the umbrella of Gen Con there are crafts, dance classes, history lessons, massage chairs, party games, a mural to paint, and many other events that aren't sci-fi/fantasy themed.
Last year's category of events intended for non-gamer spouses: http://gencon.highprogrammer.com/gencon-2018.cgi/type/SPA/All_events
Around Indy there's shopping, museums, a farmer's market.
Bear in mind that to sign up for the SPA events, your wife will need to purchase a regular Gen Con attendee badge and many of the SPA events themselves can be somewhat pricey.
The convention center is connected to a decent mall. Also, there are lots of board games to play. If she would like a massage or spa type treatments the connected hotels (Hyatt, Westin, etc) should have something like that. As mentioned earlier, there are SPA events run through Gen Con that are worth looking into (events for non-gamers). There should be plenty for her to do.
There are hundreds of board game events, but a large number have fantasy or SF themes. Just wandering the exhibit hall, she might find stuff to do. CMON had a few games that were based on Kick-Ass, Narcos, and other non-F/SF themes.
Shopping: Visit Indy.com - Top 10 Shopping Destinations Everyone defaults to the Circle Center Mall because it's close and genuinely good. It's even the second pick on this list. But there are others around the city. Granted, they'll take some driving/ubering-lyfting/whatever, but they're all good options. When I'm in Indy for business, I sometimes like to swing by either Keystone at the Crossing or Castleton, just to browse if nothing else.
I don't know how practical some of the choices are because I don't know what your transportation situation is. But, these seem like some good options. And I'm really amused that one of the spots is called "A Place To Float", and it's actually really close to the ICC and Lucas Oil Stadium. :DShopping: Visit Indy.com - Top 10 Shopping Destinations Everyone defaults to the Circle Center Mall because it's close and genuinely good. It's even the second pick on this list. But there are others around the city. Granted, they'll take some driving/ubering-lyfting/whatever, but they're all good options. When I'm in Indy for business, I sometimes like to swing by either Keystone at the Crossing or Castleton, just to browse if nothing else.
My wife goes for the challenge of the hall. She likes to wheel and deal and the opportunity to barter is a rush to her. She has walked into the hall with 40$ ended up with 200$ worth of merch and still had the 40$.
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