Travel: Find vibrant arts, vintage cars, river trips in Fort Wayne, Indiana

FORT WAYNE, Ind. - “We always try to punch above our weight class,” explains Dan Ross as he looks up at the chandelier by renowned glass artist Dale Chihuly in the lobby of the Fort Wayne Museum of Art.

Ross, president and CEO of Arts United of Greater Fort Wayne, is discussing the vibrant arts complex he directs, but his words apply just as aptly to this northeast Indiana city with a population just above 260,000, which offers the major attractions, culinary destinations and entertainment venues found in much more populous metro areas.

Over the last decade, the museum has committed to becoming an international center for glass artwork. The museum’s Art Glass Wing consists of three large rooms housing more than 400 glass sculptures including works by Chihuly, Harvey Littleton and Martin Blank.

“Glass draws people from everywhere,” says Charles Shepard, the museum’s president and CEO.

The art museum is part of the downtown cultural complex that also includes the Louis Kahn-designed Arts United Center with a 660-seat theater and the Auer Center for Arts and Culture. The Auer Center is home to the Fort Wayne Ballet. With 20 professional dancers, Fort Wayne Ballet is Indiana’s largest and oldest professional ballet company.

Getting out and about

The Fort Wayne Children’s Zoo ranks among the nation’ top 10 zoos every year. With four geographic themes woven into a garden-like setting, the 40-acre zoo emphasizes viewability. Instead of peering over tall fences, children look eye-to-eye at lions roaring behind clear shields. More than 1,600 animals, representing 186 species, live at the zoo.

The city’s iconic 312-foot-tall, Art Deco-style Lincoln Tower can be easily viewed on a kayaking trip down the St. Marys River. The St. Marys connects with the Maumee and St. Joseph rivers downtown. The city has taken advantage of the pleasant river views to locate parks along the way, notably Promenade, Headwaters and Lawton.

People board the canal boat Sweet Breeze at Promenade Park for excursions. Fort Wayne Outfitters and Bike Depot at the historic Cass Street Depot rents kayaks and canoes to paddlers who want to ply the waters on their own. Bikers pedal the 26-mile, paved Rivergreenway Trail that runs past the depot’s front door.

These attractions are just steps from The Landing entertainment district. The brick structures, which date to the commercial heyday of the Wabash and Erie Canal, have been repurposed into a pedestrian dining-and-shopping area, including more than a dozen locally owned restaurants. At Marquee, the Angry Mac-and-Cheese entree adds andouille sausage and shrimp to cavatappi pasta and spicy cheese sauce. More than 15 house brews are on tap at GnomeTown Brewing Company.

The Bradley, a boutique hotel by The Landing, reflects the design expertise of Barbara Bradley Baekgaard, cofounder of the Vera Bradley brand. Guest rooms and dining spaces feature vibrant colors and pattern play, coupled with luxurious, contemporary furnishings. Curated works from local artists and students of Purdue University Fort Wayne hang in an art gallery just off the lobby. A painting from the iconic designer’s collection is displayed behind the lobby’s front desk.

More than 20 restaurants and bars populate Union Street Market, a food court on the Electric Works campus. The 18 historic buildings once housed the General Electric Company, which during World War II, employed nearly one third of Fort Wayne’s working-class population.

The Copper Spoon started as a wine bar, but became better known for its mixed drinks. Its high-end dinner menu has blossomed into its biggest draw. The wild sea scallops and chef’s cut steaks are favorites. In summer, diners on the restaurant’s patio watch the Fort Wayne TinCaps play minor league baseball at Parkview Field.

Cinnamon rolls are the No. 1 seller at GK Café and Provisions, a European-inspired pastry and coffee place. Brooklyn Pints Microcreamery serves an ever-changing selection of ice cream flavors. Breakfast is available all day at Cindy’s Diner, known for its Garbage plate: grilled hash browns, eggs, cheese, onions and ham.

More than a public library

Curt Witcher, manager of the Genealogy Center at the Allen County Public Library, likes to say that its center is “the very best genealogy center in the Milky Way Galaxy.” A look down the block-long room that houses most of the more than 1.3 million records in print, 72,000 family histories, and hundreds of thousands of other informational documents, makes his summation seem not so outlandish. During the COVID pandemic, 70,000 to 80,000 visitors annually were researching their family roots. The staff provides assistance at no charge.

A letter from President Abraham Lincoln to Gen. William Tecumseh Sherman, dated Sept. 19, 1864, urges Sherman to allow his soldiers to return home to Indiana to vote so that an anti-war faction would not take over the state government. The letter is one of thousands of documents in the Abraham Lincoln Collection at the library. Many of the documents also have been digitized, allowing visitors to access information quickly at user-friendly displays.

Exploring Northeast Indiana

When asked which vehicle at the Auburn Cord Duesenberg Automobile Museum in Auburn, Ind., is the most expensive, Executive Director and CEO Brandon Anderson responds, “They are all priceless.”

Many of the 120 vehicles on display in the magnificent Art Deco showroom are one-of-a-kind survivors from the golden age of luxury automobiles produced in Indiana.

The list includes a 1921 Model A, which was the first Duesenberg ever sold.

Only 48 Custom Berlines of the 1937 Cord 812 were produced. They were meant to be chauffeur-driven and equipped with a telephone from which passengers in the back seat could talk with the driver. The 1930 Cord L-29 was the first mass-produced automobile employing front-wheel drive.

The showstopper at the National Auto and Truck Museum is the GM Futurliner No. 10. Only 12 of the 12-foot tall, 33-foot-long, bright red vehicles were made. The 150,000-square-foot museum houses hundreds of vehicles and automotive artifacts.

The Early Ford V-8 Foundation Museum looks like a stylish Ford dealership of the 1930s. The darling among the 60 to 70 cars on display at any one time is a 1936 Ford Tudor Deluxe Touring Sedan with a body of glowing stainless steel.

A deluxe touring sedan is not required to explore bucolic Northeast Indiana. At Chain O’ Lakes State Park near Albion, visitors can paddle kayaks on all of the park’s nine lakes in a five-mile trip through connecting waterways. The park has 23 miles of hiking trails, 230 campsites and 18 cabins.

Bikes are the way to get around in Winona Lake, a picturesque town with a 10.2-mile mountain bike trail system. The town has embraced street cycling with many routes holding pleasant views of the 562-acre lake. Parks, restaurants and shops edge the Winona Lake Canal.

Shopping and dining are also primary reasons to visit Roanoke. Boutiques and stores along Main Street sell specialty foods, handcrafted items, artworks and clothing. The award-winning restaurant Joseph Decuis features locally raised Wagyu beef entrees.

Northeast Indiana also has a booming wine industry. Two-EE’s Winery in Huntington prides itself on experimentation. Its blackberry wine contains a hint of Jack Daniel’s whiskey. Sucrerie was inspired by cotton candy grapes. The Country Heritage Winery and Vineyard in LaOtto has been on a roll in international wine competitions, winning a platinum medal in the Finger Lakes International Wine and Spirits Competition with its Frontenac Gris to add to numerous honors achieved since it opened in 2011.

The area is also a haven for the arts and crafts industry. Warsaw Cut Glass Company started in 1911 and is one of the nation’s last businesses where artisans practice the art of hand-cutting crystal. At Whetstone Woodenware in Silver Lake, the sawdust flies as wooden spoons, dippers and other utensils are produced to be sold in its store or shipped around the world.

Linda Lange and Steve Ahillen are travel writers living in Knoxville, Tenn.

This article originally appeared on Knoxville News Sentinel: Find vibrant arts, vintage cars, river trips in Fort Wayne, Indiana