Weekend Fun in Fort Wayne, Indiana

Weekend Fun in Fort Wayne, Indiana

In three days exploring Fort Wayne, Indiana, my husband and I visited a top-rated children’s zoo, a science museum, a conservatory, an art museum, one of the largest genealogy centers in the country, a candy factory and a festival. The amazing thing is that we never traveled more than 20 minutes from one Fort Wayne attraction to another. Several in the downtown area are even within walking distance of one another. Read more

Fort Wayne Children’s Zoo Revisited

Fort Wayne Children’s Zoo Revisited

Two years ago I visited Fort Wayne Children’s Zoo during a press trip. Even through the zoo hadn’t opened for the season yet, I could tell from what was available to see during my visit that it was an outstanding zoo for children and adults alike. Therefore, when I made a return visit to Fort Wayne, Indiana, this year I wanted to go back to the zoo and see it in mid-season. I had planned to spend an hour or so in the zoo but ended up staying over three hours—and that’s without children. With about 1,000 animals, beautiful landscaping and five rides, the Fort Wayne Children’s Zoo is, by far, the nicest non-major zoo I have visited. Read more

Grabill Indiana: Authentically Amish

Grabill Indiana: Authentically Amish

Just 15 miles from Indiana’s second largest city, traffic slows to a horse and buggy pace, stepping into stores is like stepping into yesteryear, and Friday night entertainment is a cappella singing and yodeling. Grabill, Indiana, unlike other Amish towns, isn’t filled with overpriced specialty shops. Instead you’ll find simple shops with old-fashioned appeal. On my short visit, I browsed through a general store, an antique mall and flea market, and a coffee shop, all housed in buildings that have stood for more than a century.


Since the Souder family purchased what is now the H. Souder & Sons General Store in 1907 to start a harness shop, the building has been home to 24 different kinds of business, including a jail, a bank and a gas station.Souder storefrontYou’ll be taken back to your childhood—or maybe your parents’ childhood—in the store where nostalgic signs advertise candy that you may not have seen, let alone tasted, in years, like Zagnut candy bars or Chuckles sugar-coated jelly candies. Goods are displayed in the crowded shop on wooden crates, in bushel baskets and in barrels. Young and old are invited to sit and play a friendly game of checkers.

Checkerboard

On hot summer days enjoy a refreshing cold bottle of soda.

Souder insideI made two purchases in the store: candied ginger and a bag of loose herbal tea, each priced at around half of what you’d pay in a specialty shop.

The Country Shops combines 100 vendors in an antique mall, indoor flea market, and art gallery. Browse all the nooks and crannies of the two floors of for unique items.

Flea Market sign

Flea market 2

The Coffee Cabin, housed in a log cabin built in 1791, offers an assortment of coffees and teas, treats like cherry pie cookies and banana bread, and soups and sandwiches.

Coffee Cabin

Flea market 1

Other businesses in Grabill include restaurants like Nolt’s Amish Restaurant (reservations required) with family style, buffet or menu dining. On Friday evenings, listen to Amish a cappella singing and an Amish yodeler. Visit the Amish Brass Shop for Amish made decorative items, a country store where you can purchase bulk dry foods, and a farm market that sells produce and Amish cheese and butter.

You can fill at least a half day in Grabill, or if you slow down to a horse and buggy pace, you can stretch it into a full day.

Grabill is located 15 miles northeast of Fort Wayne, about a half hour drive. Note that many of the shops are closed Sundays.

$25 Name Your Own Price Hotel Guarantee!

Disclosure:  My visit to Grabill was hosted by Visit Fort Wayne, but any opinions expressed in this post are strictly mine.

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Science Central, Fort Wayne IN: Museum Disguised as Colorful, Crazy Fun

Science Central, Fort Wayne IN: Museum Disguised as Colorful, Crazy Fun

The first thing I noticed about Science Central is color, bright colors in what reminded me of a mad scientist’s playground with giant yellow tubes and red hooks and a crazy looking red bicycle contraption on a rail overhead. At first glance you wouldn’t recognize Science Central as a museum. In fact, Martin Fisher, Executive Director, said he doesn’t like to think of it as a museum either, since museums are so often about looking and reading but not touching. The hands-on exhibits at Science Central are meant to teach by doing, and adults are as welcome to participate as kids.

Science Center interiorAmong over 120 interactive exhibits, you can zip through a two-story tube slide, participate in science demonstrations in the Demonstration Theater, or measure your foot against that of a mastodon.

Mastadon footprint

On the High Ride Bicycle, balanced by a counter weight below it, you are strapped on to the bicycle before you take a ride around a rim high above. The safety net, we were assured, has only been necessary to catch items that have fallen out of pockets.

Photo provided by Science Central
Photo provided by Science Central

One of the newest exhibits is Science on a Sphere, a six-foot diameter sphere that seems to float in mid-air and changes from the moon to Earth to other planets like Jupiter or Mars, all in vivid color. Invented by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) as a research tool, you can see the Earth’s storm systems projected real-time onto the sphere.

Photo provided by Science Central
Photo provided by Science Central

A separate area, Kids Central, includes fun activities for kids ages 2 through 7, like a water table, giant keyboard and indoor playground.


What better building to house Science Central than one that was originally a power plant? The 70,000 square foot 1929-era former City Power & Light building seems the perfect venue, with its high ceilings and rustic brick walls. Even the exterior seems appropriate, with smoke stacks rising from the roof painted in bright colors.

Science Central exterior

Science Central, located at 1950 N Clinton Street, Fort Wayne, Indiana, is open Wednesday through Sunday (and Tuesday during the summer). Check the web site for hours and admission rates. Note that some of the exhibits follow an exhibit schedule, which you’ll receive upon admission.

Disclosure:  My visit to Science Central was hosted by Visit Fort Wayne and Science Central, but any opinions expressed in this post are strictly mine.

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I Ate Garbage for the Second Time in Six Months: Cindy’s Diner, Ft Wayne IN

I Ate Garbage for the Second Time in Six Months: Cindy’s Diner, Ft Wayne IN

Last fall I had breakfast at Frank’s Diner in Kenosha, Wisconsin, and dined on Garbage. Recently I ate Garbage again, this time at Cindy’s Diner in Fort Wayne, Indiana. It’s hard to resist ordering a dish with such an unappetizing but fun name, especially when it’s the diner specialty.


The exact Garbage ingredients differ between the two diners, but the concept is the same. At Cindy’s Diner, Garbage is a combination of hash browns, eggs, cheese, onions and ham, all combined on the grill and cooked until golden brown.

Preparing garbage

Garbage

Cindy’s Diner is a nostalgic trip back to the 1950s when these ready-made diners were all the rage. The diner cost in 1952 was $6,000. Over the years it was sold and moved a few times. The current owners purchased it in 1990, moved it to its downtown Fort Wayne location, restored it to its original condition, and renamed it. Owner John quipped, “I was working construction and bought it for my wife. Now she’s at home, and I’m here.”

Cindys Diner Exterior

The small diner seats only 15, on stools around the counter, so plan your timing accordingly. We went on a weekday for a late breakfast. Whether it was good timing or luck that our group of eight was able to be seated together, I’m not sure.

Cindys Diner Interior

Cindy’s Diner is open Monday through Saturday from 6 a.m. to 2 p.m. and on Sunday from 7 a.m. to 2 p.m., serving breakfast and lunch. I suggest saving room for a donut, made on the premises.

Donut

Cindy’s Diner is due to be picked up off the foundation and moved once again, making way for a 15-story office building on the current site. So if you visit Fort Wayne and the diner no longer at 830 South Harrison, go one block north and one block west to Webster and Berry Streets. Be ready for a dose of nostalgia and a satisfying meal of Garbage.

Disclosure:  My visit to Cindy’s Diner was hosted by Visit Fort Wayne, but any opinions expressed in this post are strictly those of the author.

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