More Fresh Air (At Fort Wayne's Old Fort)

 Sunday we decided to participate in Fort Wayne's special event titled "Be a Tourist in Your Own Hometown".

The sites included museums, churches, the botanical conservatory, the new Abraham Lincoln research center at the public library, children's museum Science Central (required reservations), the courthouse and other buildings with interesting interiors which offered self-guided tours.

We had never toured the Old Fort. I thought we would do that and maybe the War Memorial Coliseum.

We parked at the Headwaters Park and walked over to the Old Gas House restaurant. After a nice lunch, we headed toward the pedestrian bridge to cross the Saint Mary's River.

The fort is actually a replica of the 1815 fort which was the last of a succession of forts. It does not sit on the original site; the big apartment building in the background two photos above is where the 1815 fort had stood. 

For Sunday's special event various crafts were demonstrated and some of the people were dressed in period costumes (but not all from the 1815 era). 

The tinsmith had the various pieces to the candleholder light.

A blacksmith, woodwright, chair caner, and pewtersmith were located in the outer buildings, not directly inside the fort.

Inside the fort, a cooking demo, a display of games, a dulcimer player, leather stamper, demo of using flint to light a fire took place.

At 1 p.m. a cannon demonstration took place next to the river.

This gent had a contraption with a lighted wick that was used to ignite the wick placed down into the cannon itself. 

The man in the red coat is not British. He was a musician for the troops (bugler?) and also had the job to retrieve the wounded off of the battle field. I guess the red coat told the fighting troops that he was unarmed and not to be shot.

A French marine had a display outside the fort of his belongings. The French controlled the area for quite some time.

Families apparently participate. Two wives were sewing or knitting while their husbands practiced tinsmithing and making items from wood.

I didn't really get much of a feel for fort life, however. They do have guided tours sometimes, but not at this event. I don't think I would make an effort to take a tour as the fort is so small and not impressive. 

My husband suggested walking over to the downtown buildings offering events, but after being in 88 degree temps I just didn't feel like walking 8-10 blocks. It was not humid, but city centers tend to have even higher temperatures because the skyscrapers block the wind and the concrete reflects heat. He didn't want to try to find parking; he also nixed driving to the Coliseum. I agreed it was time to go home. So we ate the cookies we had bought at the fort bake sale and drank our bottled water sitting inside our car with the air conditioner running. 

I believe this event has taken place annually for several years (not last year). We will try to take in some other buildings another time.