Fort Wayne "Tourists"

 When we go to Fort Wayne it is usually for medical appointments or to shop at Glenbrook Mall, Jefferson Point, or Costco. We are rarely there in the evening. We decided to play "tourists" and stay overnight in the main downtown. 

We first drove to the Allen County Public Library main library to see the Rolland Center for Lincoln Research. But before we set foot in the Center, we were distracted by the Maker Lab right across from its entrance.

The employee in the Lab instructs people how to use the 3-D printers and I think helps people to find an appropriate program to run the machines.

Notice the displays of the things created: mostly toys/figures from the simple to the complex. There was a fee charged based on the amount of material needed to complete the project.

The Rolland Center for Lincoln Research opened last year. It is part of the museum developed by the Lincoln Life Insurance Company (which became Lincoln Financial) beginning in 1928. When the company decided to no longer have a museum, it deeded the materials to the Indiana State Museum in Indianapolis and to the Allen County Public Library in Fort Wayne where the company had its headquarters. The clothing, furniture, art, sculptures, etc. went to Indy while the books, photographs, manuscripts, and newspapers went to ACPL. 

There are letters, cartoons, and other documents displayed in cases, but the major information is imparted through interactive digital displays. You could follow a timeline bringing up pertinent data. So for the inaugural train trip made from Illinois, you could see the stops on maps. 

We could see Warsaw, Indiana, on one of the maps because the train went through northern Indiana though it did not stop.

There were several identical kiosks for personal use giving information under different categories. The selected item would show on a larger screen.

I do not know how one gains access to the original photos and documents. Since it is called a research center, there must be a way to apply. The Rolland Center public display is mostly digitized photos. There was one young man (a teen volunteer?) if you had questions.

The earliest-known photo of Abraham Lincoln.

Abraham's and Mary's son Robert who was the only one of their four sons who survived to adulthood. After Lincoln's assassination, Robert was the one who had his mother Mary Todd Lincoln committed to an insane asylum though she lived with the doctor and not with the other inmates. She was committed through court action, not willingly. She was despondent from her losses and delved heavily into spiritualism. She eventually through her own efforts and the efforts of her sister proved she was not insane and was set free.

When we left the Allen County Public Library it was too early to check into our hotel; we drove to Promenade Park to enjoy the lovely weather and people watch. Not too many people on a weekday, but there were several dog walkers.

We had been to this park previously. The Sweet Breeze touring boat does not go into operation until Memorial Day weekend, but it had been moved from winter storage to the Saint Mary's River last week.

We stayed nearby to the park at The Bradley, a hotel co-owned by Barbara Bradley Baaekgaard one of the founders of the Vera Bradley company which she named after her mother. The headquarters for the textile/fabric products is in Fort Wayne. 

We ate breakfast the following morning (Saturday) at the hotel restaurant Arbor.

We had a dinner reservation Friday at another establishment. A few blocks from The Bradley is The Landing, an historical site that we had visited before. It had been pouring down rain then. Now we were able to sit in the sunshine. It is mostly restaurants and bars at The Landing. Lots of dog walkers here, too.

Our dinner was at Paula's On Main, a highly-rated seafood restaurant open only in the evening. This was a bit of a drive west from the hotel as it is in a mostly residential area.

There was a front dining room where we ate and a back dining room which we could see through some inside windows. There is also a fish market.

Though the food is upscale, the dress code is casual. I admired some of the decor, especially a mermaid statue next to one of the tables.

My husband had cioppino and I had perch with fingerling potatoes. We both had the house salad which came with the meal.

The cioppino came with a silver debris bucket (maybe a champagne bucket?).

There was not much going on downtown even though it was Friday night. We joined the crowd at Kilwin's ice cream and candy shop around the corner from the hotel on Harrison Street. 

I was interested in buying some turtles which it turns out they call tuttles. We brought 4 home with us.

The Bradley has a few bikes available for guests to use; at first, my husband was going to bike Saturday morning through Promenade Park, but he changed his mind.

Our last "tourist stop" was Electric Works. This is the old GE complex of now-restored buildings. There was still a vacant building with broken windows across Broadway. This site is quite a bit south of downtown. There are businesses in some of the buildings. For example, Do It Better has its national headquarters there. One building seemed to have meeting spaces and teaching spaces.

I knew there was a street/farmers market on Saturdays beginning in May. Of course, the crops are mostly not ready yet. There were arts and crafts and honey and sauces and plants.

Know any loud and bossy sisters?

At the other end of Union Street away from the market we had a surprise. A classic car show was going on. Porsches and Volkswagens mostly from the 1960's and 1970's.

As we approached an old van, a driver appeared to drive it out of the show. It was Chuck Surack, the founder of Sweetwater (musical instruments and audio systems). His van was fairly rare: it had Porsche and Volkswagen insignia.

We finished our visit walking through Union Street Market. These are food products and food vendors. The building is divided into two halls. One mostly had baked goods, some produce, coffee. The other had food vendors preparing a diverse array of ethnic and American cuisine. We ordered from the Middle Eastern booth. Between the two halls is a connector with tables and seating.

Though our RAV4 temperature said 84 degrees, I was pleased to find our condo was 72 inside. I had closed the blinds before we left and had one ceiling fan going. However, tonight I gave in and turned the air conditioner on. It was 78 inside with the blinds open; I need cooler temps at bedtime. We have 2 or 3 more warm days, then a cool-down.