In Northwest Indiana’s Porter County, Valparaiso is a city named for a battle during the War of 1812, fought by naval commander David Porter.
Valpo, for short, is home to the Lutheran Valparaiso University, which was one of the first coeducational colleges in the United States when it was founded in 1859.
Head for the campus to visit the Brauer Museum of Art, which has an outstanding collection, and to take in the stunning Chapel of the Resurrection.
Downtown Valparaiso deserves plenty of your time, especially in the summer when there’s a series of festivals, a twice-weekly farmers’ market and an outdoor concert series at the new Central Park Plaza.