Fort Wayne is Indiana's second-largest city, set where the St. Marys, St. Joseph, and Maumee rivers meet in the state's northeast corner. It is a real working Midwestern city, but it has enough good stops to justify a day rather than just a coffee break.
Families come first for the Fort Wayne Children's Zoo, one of the city's strongest attractions. Downtown adds the Foellinger-Freimann Botanical Conservatory, the Fort Wayne Museum of Art, and the restored Embassy Theatre.
The city also has a quieter research draw: the Allen County Public Library's genealogy center, one of the largest public genealogy collections in the United States. Add riverfront paths and a baseball park downtown, and Fort Wayne has a full, varied travel-guide day.