Hendricks County’s Tour Menu
The bedroom communities of Brownsburg, Avon, Plainfield and Danville sit just west of Indianapolis in Hendricks County. The tourism office, Visit Hendricks County, has put together a menu of four themed itineraries to give groups a taste of what the area offers.
One of the most popular choices is the Indiana Foodways Progressive Dinner, which highlights locally owned establishments that specialize in Indiana cuisine.
“We do that tour here in Danville,” said Josh Duke, communications manager for Visit Hendricks County. “You can have appetizers at Diesel’s Sports Grill, a pub here on the square, and then you walk a few doors down to the Mayberry Café and have your entrees there. Then you go a couple blocks east to the Bread Basket Café and Bakery to have dessert and maybe take in a movie at the historic Royal Theatre on the square.”
The other tour itineraries offer similar variety. The Arts and Culture tour follows a cultural trail through the area, with stops at a glassblowing workshop, a hands-on pottery demonstration and a Mardi Gras-themed dinner with live music at Zydeco’s. The Green Spree highlights gardening opportunities with workshops at a local garden center, a visit to scenic Avon Gardens and a behind-the-scenes tour of Beasley’s Orchard.
During December, groups can take the Ho Holiday Tour, which includes a visit to the Gingerbread Christmas Show, a juried craft show with more than 120 booths and vendors.
Lafayette’s Agriculture Heritage
Driving about an hour north of Danville will bring travelers to the twin cities of Lafayette and West Lafayette, most famous as the home of Purdue University. The school is a hub of agricultural studies in the state, and the area’s tourism office, Visit Lafayette-West Lafayette, offers several agricultural experiences for groups, such as tours of wind farms, and shrimp and tilapia aquaculture facilities.
One of the most popular farm-related attractions in the area is at Prophetstown State Park.
“The farm used to be a draft-horse facility,” said Jo Wade, president and CEO of Visit Lafayette-West Lafayette. “It’s still a 1920s working farm, now with a variety of working animals from rescue horses to a lot of chickens, ducks and sheep. You can experience what life on a 1920s farm would have been like.”
Another attraction that is unique to the area is Wolf Park, a wolf refuge and research facility started by a Purdue professor. Groups can tour the park during the daytime to see the wolves, bison, foxes and other animals that live there. Wolf Howl events at night are popular, too.
“Tour guides can go in with the wolves and show you the pack behavior and talk about their howling communications. You get to see how the wolves interact and learn about the order of the pack.”
Northern Indiana’s Amish Country
Picturesque backroads and a thriving Amish community have made the region around Elkhart County in northern Indiana a popular group tour destination for decades. And while core attractions such as Amish Acres, the Blue Gate Theatre and Das Dutchman Essenhaus remain essential pieces of the visitor experience in the area, new ideas and opportunities are helping to give travelers reasons to stay longer and do more in Amish country.
A big part of the area’s tourism growth is due to the Quilt Gardens initiative, which has installed colorful gardens that mimic the patterns of Amish quilts at attractions and other sites.
“This year is the 10-year anniversary of our Quilt Garden project,” said Sonya Nash, director of group and experiential sales and marketing for the Elkhart County Convention and Visitors Bureau. “This year will have 19 gardens again, with 150,000 plants in six cities and towns. It’s increasingly popular and exciting with both residents and visitors.”
In honor of that anniversary, residents have arranged for a series of 56 outdoor sculptures to be displayed in six cities in the region alongside the quilt gardens. The bronze sculptures were all created by one New Jersey artist and depict everyday events in American communities, such as a child licking an ice cream cone or a police officer writing a ticket.
“One of the pieces is 25 feet tall and weighs 27,000 pounds,” Nash said. “It’s an interpretation of the painting ‘American Gothic.’ We’re going to have a giant couple with a pitchfork standing in downtown Elkhart. It will be here for four months for the duration of the Quilt Garden season.”
Groups that make the trip to see the gardens and sculptures can also take advantage of numerous interactive experiences offered by the CVB, including opportunities to meet Amish families and to sample some of the handmade goods in workshops and stores throughout the area.
“We find that people like the authentic, the rural, the opportunity to meet people and get to know personalities,” Nash said. “The in-home Amish meal experience, the Amish camel dairy farm, the family making baskets, the Amish coffin-maker: Those personal, interactive experiences are really taking off.”
