Weekend Getaway: @VisitFortWayne

We didn't plan any big trips for summer vacation this year. Instead, we've been focusing on doing fun things around home and also exploring the state with weekend getaways and day trips.

Fort Wayne is one of our favorite places to visit. It's a small city and is easy to get around and most things to do are all close to each other.

We actually stayed 2 nights in order to have down time and not be rushing through all of our activities. We stayed at Hotel Fort Wayne just outside of downtown. This is a great option for families. The hotel is large and older and many updates have been done. There is still a lot of work needed but it was comfortable and made for a good home base for our weekend. I was most impressed with the customer service. And I say go for the concierge level - evening snacks, fridge with soda and water, breakfast, a great view of downtown, and a concierge there to assist you if needed.

Our first night, we headed straight to Parkview Field for a Tin Caps baseball game. We are big fans of minor league baseball - I personally like going to minor league games way better than major leagues! And the Tin Caps know how to make it a fun evening! We were there for "Saturday Night Live" night. The team wore jerseys based on the "Spartans cheerleader" sketches. Every player had an SNL clip that played. It was really fun! Also, this ball field had the best cotton candy I've had in a while. It might sound silly- but so many places these days just sell it in bags and you don't know where it came from or when it was bagged. Parkview has a vendor by the lawn section that makes it fresh right in front of you! Ours was so fresh that it was still warm! And I highly recommend the lawn seats - bring a blanket and have a little more freedom than you get with the seated area.

Sunday morning, we hit the pool. Lots of folks check out on Sundays so we had the place pretty much to ourselves! This was really fun family time. We brought a beach ball and some dive sticks and we spent a good 90 minutes just playing together.

Lunch was at a 101 year old hole in the wall hot dog place called Coney Island. The menu is coneys, burgers, baked beans, chips, soda. Very basic, very fast. There is a big counter to sit at or tables that are a cozy fit in the space. The kids had never experienced coneys so it was a fun adventure. It's rare for me to like hot dogs but I will almost always go for a good coney!

Sunday afternoon, we headed to Science Central. This was the first time we'd gone where the kids were really at the right ages and interest levels to really get a lot out of it. Teagan especially loved it. She participated in demonstrations, tried out all of the displays, interacted with various employees. They also offer weekday camps and if we lived in the area, I'm sure my kids would love to spend a week at a science camp!

Next we headed for a quick visit to the Fort Wayne Museum of Art. This is a small museum and the displays didn't hold the interest of my kids. We did walk through and we were able to talk about some of the pieces of art. But the real winner is the kid area - a room that shows a video that teaches something about art and there are stations for creating! There is an area for drawing and coloring, an area to sit and read, and an area to build with blocks or legos.

We stepped outside of the museum with the intention of heading over to Ribfest but instead we found Fort Wayne's Make Music Day. The park/arts area outside of the museum had varous tents set up with different stations. Each tent had a different music experience. Teagan played a ukelele for the first time and I got to play a scale on a hammered dulcimer! There was a drum circle, a tent where you could all be part of a band, a guitar area, and more. There was also live music on 2 different stages. And there were food trucks!! Jeff and the kids loved Pizza Bomba (so did I - some of the best pizza crust I've had) and I fell hard for Affine Food Truck.

More pool time (that's what makes it a vacation for my kids - a hotel with a pool) and we called it a night.

Monday was dedicated to one of our favorite places - the Fort Wayne Children's Zoo. I always enjoy this zoo and I always feel like I get closer to the animals here than at most zoos. This was our third trip to this zoo so I also love the memories over the past few years!

Fort Wayne is always a favorite weekend getaway for my family - it's almost like home but different enough to feel new. You should Visit Fort Wayne! You can check out even more pics from our weekend here!

We were provided with hotel accomodations and tickets to various experiences around Fort Wayne. All opinions are completely my own!

Fort Wayne Children's Zoo

It's a Zoo, you learn cool stuff about animals, great chances to play with my camera, adorable animals, fierce animals, funny animals, gorgeous plants and flowers, interesting plants and flowers.

These are my pictures from the Fort Wayne Children's Zoo.  What will prove to be most interesting about our trip to Fort Wayne is when I get the pictures developed that my kids took with the disposable cameras we bought for them.

And the Kangaroo experience... is at the end of the post!

Click the pic to see Teagan at this same water fountain 2 years ago!

Not an official part of the exhibit. We enjoyed watching this little green guy cavort with a chipmunk in the African Plains exhibit area.  

Jeff conquered the lion!

This is a dingo.  It is far too adorable to have eaten that woman's baby.  Seriously.  Dingos are hunters... but look like regular, friendly dogs!

  

Great way to end a hot, hot day.  And also a giggle in how similar Teagan's expression is to that last picture.

KANGAROOS

When we went to Fort Wayne in 2010, we had an amazing kangaroo experience when a kangaroo vaulted over the path and over Zach's stroller!  We've talked about that kangaroo for 2 years now. 

The highlight was back in the Australia area. You can get really close to the kangaroos. Like... there is a path through the exhibit and a little rope thing to keep you on the path but there is nothing that keeps a kangaroo from hopping! Most of them were hanging out in a little shady area when I spied one hopping towards us from the other side of the exhibit. Teagan and I stopped to watch him hop- amazing to see those powerful leg and how they use their tail. Jeff had Zach in the stroller and was a bit ahead of us. Suddenly, the kangaroo decides to go join the group in the shade off to our left and bounds over the path- directly in front of Zach and Jeff!! It was awesome!! That gave us quite a little boost of energy! 

This year's visit had a lot to live up to after that!

And it did not disappoint!

First, I learned more about kangaroos than I have ever learned before.  They are fascinating animals.  This mob of kangaroos currently has about 12 joeys.  A joey starts out about the size of a jellybean.  They then live in their mother's pouch for about 9-12 months.  Bits and pieces of the joey will poke out of the pouch over the course of those months.  A foot, a paw, the head, a tail.  When we first came into the exhibit, it was crowded and a well informed zoo employee was telling the crowd about the joeys and the kangaroos.  All the roos were hanging out in one particular shaded area.  2 of the moms had larger joeys that were dangling various parts out of the pouch- back legs, a tail.

We listened and learned and spent a few minutes just watching the kangaroos.  Then we moved on to another section down the path and learned about the joeys in more detail.  The kids got hands on with some things and we learned about how the joey stays in the pouch when mama roo is jumping around.  I hear the bird exhibit that we had come through to get to the kangaroos getting noisy and notice that the kangaroos are noticing, too.  Lots of standing upright and ears perked up.  I also notice that we are now the only visitors in the exhibit.

Suddenly, one of the mama roos jumps onto the path just feet away from where we are!!  This picture shows how far she was from Teagan and Zach.

She then hangs out on the path, looking around, listening.  Suddenly, the little tail that had been sticking out disappears and out pops... a little joey head!

We were so close to this fantastic animal and her baby.  It was amazing!  She stayed on the path, close to us, for about 3 minutes before hopping back over to the other kangaroos.

Next time we visit the Fort Wayne Children's Zoo, I'm thinking a kangaroo might just come over for a hug.

If you'd like to see all my pictures from our trip, check out my Google+ album!

Fun in Fort Wayne

We had a fantastic weekend!!  We had some adventures, lots of fun, and got to explore some of the fun things Fort Wayne has to offer.

We drove immediately to the Barr Street Farmer's Market.  I loved the set up of this market- it was shady and the booths were spaced out nicely.  There was a good flow of people but it wasn't overly crowded.  Vendors were friendly and knowledgeable.  Good mix of produce vendors, food items, and some fantastic crafts.  We also discovered a great little flower shop and eatery across the street- Downtown Deli.  It's organic and homemade and it was great!  Jeff had a roast beef sandwich- it was huge.  I had half a turkey sandwich and a cup of vegetable soup that was seriously loaded with kale (awesome!!).  The kids did plates at the salad bar- all organic and their plates were loaded with edamame, peas, carrots, raisins, grapes, strawberries, blueberries, watermelon, cottage cheese, tomatoes, and more!  And the homemade lemonade was incredible!!

One of the most gorgeous heads of cabbage I've ever seen! (Barr Street Farmer's Market)

Family reflection protrait

After lunch, we went to check out the hotel.  We were fortunate to have been given accomodations at the Courtyard by Marriott right in downtown.  We were within walking distance of the Botanical Conservatory and had a great view of the Tin Caps ballfield from our window!

The view from our hotel room window.

We got settled in and then took a short walk to the Foellinger-Freimann Botanical Conservatory.  I used to go regularly to Krohn Conservatory with my parents years and years ago so I was eager for this stop.  I also knew I'd have many photo opps- and this Conservatory did not disappoint!

A lovely and relaxing little fountain

I was fascinated by the Angel's Trumpet tree. The flowers are gorgeous and all pointing downwards- and apparently the entire tree is also poisonous! 

The flower of the Angel's Trumpet- yes, I laid on my back on the ground to take this shot.

Teagan found a comfy spot to relax and daydream...

Close up of a wasp in a carnivorous plant display.  We were rooting for the plants but we never saw this guy get swallowed up.

My kiddos.  They really had fun together!

My husband and his man-bag.  Oh wait.  That's my not-man-bag.

A favorite picture of all time- I snapped a REAL smile as he unexpectedly turned to show me something he was excited about!

After the Conservatory, we hit the hotel pool to cool off.  Teagan loved practicing her swimming and treading water.  We had the place to ourselves and really enjoyed our time together.

And oh the dinner adventure!!  If you travel to Fort Wayne, your best bet is to find someone who lives there and ask them to tell you exactly where to eat.  We were going to hit a local diner but then I found this place called Dash In and added it to the list of places I wanted to check out.  Then a friend mentioned this other place... and I should never be in charge of dinner in a strange town again.  I walked us a good mile or more around Fort Wayne as we realized I had an address wrong and then the Dash In place was adults only (would be nice if you put that on your website or if it was printed in the hotel's restaurant info).  Got back to the hotel and drove to the correct address of the place a friend recommended- without a reservation, we were looking at an hour long wait.  There happened to be a japanese steakhouse next door called KOTO.  We went.  It was AWESOME.  We were well taken care of, the chef was hilarious and entertaining and the food was delicious.

If you're within a couple hours of Fort Wayne, it is definitely a great place to visit with your family.  It would have been very easy to add another day on to our itinerary.  Teagan wanted to go to Science Central but we ran out of time.  If we'd picked a weekend when the Tin Caps were in town, we would have enjoyed taking in a game.  And I want to seriously brush up on my restaurant choosing skills- I want to find the locally owned gems (like Downtown Deli)!

And our trip to the Fort Wayne Children's Zoo gets a post all to itself.  We learned so much about kangaroos and had yet another incredible kangaroo experience!!  Tune in tomorrow for more!

Fort Wayne: Day Two

We started the day with breakfast at the hotel- a free breakfast! We had stayed at the Baymont Inn near downtown. It was clean and efficient. The breakfast was a big selling point. My entire family ate well! We made our own waffles, had oatmeal, bagels, biscuits and gravy, boiled eggs, coffee, juice, danish, cereal... so much to choose from! Then we headed back to the room to pack up and get to our fun filled day!

First stop was Science Central. This is a great place but would have been better enjoyed by kids older than mine. Actually, Jeff and I would have had a great time there on our own. We started downstairs and there are a bunch stations and each stations has 3-4 different puzzlers on it. Great fun to try and solve them! Then there was the fun mirror section. The kids had a blast with that!

We also enjoyed the Hubble exhibit- but it didn't hold the kids' attention. This was one area that Jeff and I would have enjoyed more time in.

Next, we headed up to the section designed for kids age 7 and younger. It was fine for a bit- until it got infiltrated by a summer camp group that was definitely older than 7. Their counselor barked at them to watch out for the little kids… but the fun was over. It was a nice little section of the museum. There was a deconstructed piano that you could play, a step on keyboard, a water area, a bubble window, and a great playset. Lots of great stuff my kids would have enjoyed playing with.

We went out and played around in the other exhibits and my kids had fun but most of it was designed for kids a bit older than mine so it was over their heads. But there was a ton of hands on exhibits- little work stations covering a wide variety of science related topics. There was also an up high bike thing and a giant tube slide- my kids were both too small for those.

We finished up the museum in about an hour.

Next up, I scheduled a stop at the Fort Wayne Firefighters Museum. This was a real find!! We got to see some great classic fire trucks, a fantastic collection of antique equipment, and learn about firefighting over the decades. There was also a mock up of a bedroom and a kitchen and different fire hazards in those places.
I found a dashing, brave firefighter!

Fire engines used to be pulled by horses. The museum is located in an old fire station and we got to see the area where some of the horses lived and some of the original equipment.

This was cool- the hose tower! Fire hoses, unraveled and hanging down from a tower.

An old hand pump truck.

An old steam engine- the back end is where the coal was scooped in.

An iron lung! The museum curator explained to us that the fire station used to run the iron lungs for people impacted with polio. The equipment was available but no one was able to volunteer to operate it so it became a function of the firestation and fire fighters. The second picture shows the iron lung set up from the height of the polio crisis.

The “House of Hazards” was an old teaching tool used in the 1950’s and ‘60’s to teach about fire safety in the home. They used flash paper to start fires to demonstrate how carelessness in the home created fire hazards.

Now comes the hard part of the day… the part I wish I’d planned ahead for… Lunch.

It was hot and sunny and we are in the downtown are of Fort Wayne and none of us are familiar with the city. So where to go for lunch? We asked the museum curator and she gave us some leads. Jeff had heard of a little hot spot that she mentioned- Coney Island. Hot dogs, coneys. Sounds great. We walk the 4+ blocks- only to discover they only take cash and we had used up most of our cash the day before. We walk back to the car and decide to try and find somewhere on the way to the art museum. We get there and haven’t passed anything. We go in and hope they have a little cafeteria… nope. The front desk person recommends a restaurant about a block or so away called Don Hall’s Old Gas House.

This saved the day.

The food was good. The atmosphere was unique. Teagan felt like a special big girl because she could order fish (they had a fried cod kids meal). Zach was sound asleep and stayed asleep on the booth seat for most of the meal. Jeff had a burger, I had that yummy seared tuna salad. We walked in and I told the host that we were hot and frustrated and tired and cranky and needed to be taken care of. And they did. We had great service and food. Our waitress really stepped up to take care of us and our kids. There is great history in the building, too. And Teagan and I both found the bathroom to be completely charming!


Feeling rested and refreshed, we walked back to the art museum, ready for a good afternoon visit. Which it mostly was.

The Fort Wayne Museum of Art is a small art museum. Just a handful of small galleries… but such treasures!! I shared several pics while we were there- some that I was moved by, some that I just didn’t get. But there were 2 exhibits that I really enjoyed and would have loved to have spent a great deal more time experiencing.

The first was Soft Tissue: Sculpture and Works on Paper by YaYa Chou. Very unique and interesting. The works on paper were what I really got to look at and enjoy. There would be a scientific looking rendering of a piece of anatomy of a human or other animal and then little labels of what was what. But the labels didn’t always just say what they were pointing at- sometimes there would be little quips or statements that were maybe a jab, maybe a description, maybe a statement on society but done in this succint and almost gentle but maybe not kind of way. This was one of my favorites- Mammary Gland:

I really encourage you to click over to the website to see more.

My personal favorite exhibit was one where I could have spent a lot more time. I would have liked to have gone around the exhibit 3-4 times.



Here is a link to Cara Lee Wade’s website and you can see the images presented in Through the Glass Nightly. In college, I came to be open minded when it came to different lifestyles and people. I was raised pretty conservatively and it was a big change. I think it all happened at the end of high school when I was hospitalized to deal with all those pent up, boiling over hurts and angers and such from my childhood. I suddenly began to realize that every person has their own path to follow, their own life to lead. And that it isn’t my place to judge, to determine who is or isn’t living the right or wrong way. I started to get this clear picture… once I found my worth and inner beauty… of what my purpose is. To love. And, in so doing, be open to accepting the love that other people- all other people- are putting out into the universe.

No, I wasn’t smoking pot.

In college, once my best friend (Jim) came out of the closet and our friendship was rebuilt after he had worked very hard to destroy it, he and I started hanging out at a gay bar in Cincinnati called The Dock. Our favorite nights were the drag shows. If you’ve never been… go. And then go a few more times. The entertainment is awesome but there is also this really special sense of community. You can’t help but be impacted by it on some level.

So Cara Lee Wade’s exhibit… it really captured all of that for me all over again and I found it very moving on so many different levels.

Anyway. Due to my daughter’s behavior… we had to make alternate arrangements for enjoying the museum. Which meant no luxury of staying and taking in anything or going back to see something again or from a different angle. She had done remarkably well for some time- answering my questions about different paintings (What do you feel when you look at this one? What do you think she’s looking at out that window?). I was really amazed by her reaction to a small series of photos in a hallway that was a tribute, of sorts, to women who have survived domestic violence. The close up faces showed make up representing bruises on different parts of the face and part of the make up included beautiful rhinestones in the color of the hurt- the blue bruise, the red strike mark. It was disturbing but also powerful and moving if you are an adult who knows something about domestic violence. Teagan… remarked that she didn’t like them… that she felt… bad seeing them. And that was certainly part of the artist’s intent. We made sure to point out the jewels, the beauty.

It was a good visit to the art museum and Jeff and I decided that our next daytime date opportunity will be to visit the Indianapolis Museum of Art and that we will go there with the kids at some point, too.

So if you’ve made it this far and read all of this… yay for you!

Here’s what I learned. The things we did in Fort Wayne, 2 hours from home, are things we could have done in Indianapolis. We have a zoo, a children’s museum, an art museum, and many other great places to take kids. But there is something really special about going to a hotel and eating in restaurants and going to these “same” places that are still completely new and unexplored. So, like our summer vacation last year to Cincinnati, quick getaways to places a few hours drive away will continue for our family. Because it isn’t about the thing you see or do. It’s about the time spent together. We will be talking for a long time about the kangaroo that jumped across Zach in the stroller and about Mommy catching the marketing event staff soft squishee ball and about Daddy dressing up like a firefighter and about Zach naming his stuffed giraffe “Freak” and… and those are the things that matter. So thank you, Fort Wayne, for being a place that offered lots of fun things to do and lots of time for our family to spend together.