The 41st annual National Travel & Tourism Week is May 19-26, with Visit Indiana Week coinciding on the same dates. The theme is #TravelForward.
The week of awareness turns a spotlight on the role that travel and tourism plays in local, state and national economics.
Some tourism destinations in northeast Indiana are well known, such as Shipshewana in LaGrange County or the Auburn Cord Duesenberg Automobile Museum in DeKalb County. The region is also blessed to have two Indiana state parks:
Chain O’Lakes is an Indiana state park on 2,718 acres in Noble County near the towns of Albion and Avilla. The park has 13 lakes, of which nine are connected by channels. The glacier-formed kettle lakes are ideal for paddle travel with boats, canoes, kayaks and paddleboats at the rental pier at Sand Lake.
The 2,718-acre park, about 2 miles wide and 4 miles long, has 29 miles of hiking trails, beach and picnic shelters, nature center interpretative nature programs, campground sites and family cabins, and fishing with electric-only motors. The park also has a track wheelchair to that ciitors with mobility issues may also enjoy the park and trails.
The historic one-room Stanley Schoolhouse is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. The 1915 building is the fourth school on the site, dating from 1848, and preserves the history of early education in Indiana, and is open weekends May-October with free admission.
450 Lane 100 Lake James, Angola.
Pokagon State Park is an Indiana state park in the northeastern part of the state, near the village of Fremont and 5 miles north of Angola. It was named for the 19th-century Potawatomi chief, Leopold Pokagon, and his widely known son, Simon Pokagon.
The 1,260-acre park has an inn, camping facilities, horse satble, beach, and a staff of full-time naturalists. Lake James borders the park on the west and south with Snow Lake on the north. The park has many wetlands and the Potawatomi Nature preserve on the east side.
The park was created in 1925. Civilian Conservation Corps Chapter 556 arrived in the park in 1934 and used stone and wood to construct many of its well-known buildings: Gate House, Spring Shelter, Saddle Barn, three versions of the toboggan run and the CCC Shelter, on the National Register of Historic Places since 1992. The corps also planted trees and created roads and trails.
The four-county region also has several niche attractions:
International Monster Truck Museum & Hall of Fame
541 W. Main St., Butler; 260-837-2435
The International Monster Truck Museum & Hall of Fame features a rotating schedule of more than six classic monster trucks on display and additional historical displays featuring memorabilia.
The museum and Hall of Fame was established in 2010. Its mission is to collect and archive the history of the monster truck sport and related aspects of the high performance aftermarket, focusing upon capturing the history from the surviving pioneers and legends.
The museum’s goal is to document and display the history of the monster truck sport through the use of first-person oral histories, vehicles and memorabilia given by the surviving legends, pioneers and fans. These pioneers and archives will be used in displays to illustrate the passion for the sport and the industry it has built.
Garrett Museum of Art: 100 S. Randolph St., Garrett.
The Garrett Museum of Art opened its doors in March 2008 in the former Garrett State Bank building. The stately building is an integral part of Garrett’s railroading history.
The bank and the city of Garrett are named after John Work Garrett. His father, Robert, was a successful merchant and shipper in Baltimore. The elder Garrett stepped in to help the financially strapped Baltimore & Ohio Railroad and his sons, Henry and John, were on the railroad’s board of directors.
John is credited with connecting Baltimore with Chicago, which was quickly becoming the railroad center of the United States at the time, on a route through the reasonably level land of northern Ohio and Indiana. The city of Garrett was founded as a divisional point of the B&O Railroad and incorporated in 1876.
The Garrett Banking Company opened as a privately formed institution on April 16, 1892, and got its state charter on Jan. 3, 1893. Its name changed to Garrett State Bank in 1911.
The bank’s first location was a room on the ground floor of the Wagner Opera House on Randolph Street. The bank then bought a building in the early 1900s and moved to the east side of Randolph Street.
On March 5, 1917, the bank moved into the newly-built Indiana limestone building at King and Randolph streets, considered at the time to be the finest and most modern banking facility in the area. The bank moved to its current main office in 1974.
The museum is open every Friday, 5 p.m. to 8 p.m., Saturday, 4 p.m. to 7 p.m., and Sunday, 1 p.m. to 4 p.m., and other times by appointment.
485 W.Van Vleek St.. Waterloo
Built in 1883, the Waterloo Train Depot still stands today. This historical building is available again to house passengers awaiting their train after a rescue from demolition. The depot had been a retired from its original use and then served many years as the town’s community center,
Of the 10 Indiana stations served by Amtrak, Waterloo is the second-busiest after Indianapolis, boarding or detraining an average of 62 passengers daily or 22,849 per year.
The town of Waterloo moved the historic New York Central depot to a position closer to the existing platform and installed additional lighting, walkways and a free parking lot.
The nostalgic depot is a service area for Amtrak passengers and opens one hour before the arrival of scheduled trains. Amtrak installed electronic signage at the station and boarding platform with real-time information about train arrival times.
The station is open daily 5:30 a.m. to 7:30 a.m. (or until the two morning trains depart) and reopens from 9 p.m. to 1:30 a.m. (or until the two night trains depart). Station attendants are on duty and can assist passengers with information.
The depot includes a display of photographs and artifacts from Waterloo’s railroading history and one of its original benches. It has an enclosed waiting area, accessible restrooms, a wheelchair lift, and dedicated parking for short-term and long-term spaces.
The restored building is also a venue for community events, with rental space available on Saturdays from 11 a.m.to 2 p.m. seasonally.
Office: Cobblestone Golf Course, 2702 Cobblestone Lane, Kendallville.
Great Indiana Golf is celebrating 25 years of offering stay-and-play packages on some of the best golf courses in northern Indiana and southern Michigan, “Where Golf & Hospitality Meet.”
Great Indiana Golf offers a first-class golf experience to individual players or groups from all over the United States. The destination brings thousands of golfers to the four-county region. The program has a 75% return rate among its clients, according to its website: www.greatindianagolf.com.
Great Indiana Golf blends a choice of golf courses, nearby lodging, special perks for its clients, and dining options into a convenient vacation package.
Great Indiana Golf is based in Kendallville at Cobblestone Golf Course, featured along with nearby Noble Hawk Golf Links.
Golfers may choose to play at additional courses in the area: Bridgewater Golf Club in Auburn, Glendarin Hills in Angola, Heron Creek Golf Club in LaGrange, Eagle Glen Golf Club in Columbia City, Autumn Ridge and Cherry Hill golf clubs in Fort Wayne, Stonehenge in Winona Lake, and BellaVista Golf Course and Island Hills Golf Club, both in southern Michigan.
