Why did you go to Fort Wayne? A fair enough question, but it all started with a comedy special on Netflix. We were binge watching comedy specials on Netflix one night and we laughed our faces off at Tom Segura. We both thought it would be great to go see him live and the closest he got to us was Fort Wayne, IN. Prior to buying the tickets we had no idea what to expect, but we were in to visit either way. The Planning We spent a little bit of time learning about where we were visiting and what to expect. The city is actually way bigger than either of us thought it was. At the time of this writing, Fort Wayne is the second largest city in all of Indiana and it is the 76th largest city in the country. You can get a great history lesson at VisitFortWayne.com. What we learned was that the city has a night life, it has great food, a minor league baseball team/park, and you can do quite a bit in just the downtown area without needing your vehicle. We knew that the Airbnb we rented was about a half mile from the Embassy Theatre where we planned to see the show, so we focused our research on that half mile area so we could park the truck and just walk. The Trip In Days before we left, a good friend reminded me that 3 Floyd's Brewing was on the way to our final destination, so of course I had to throw that on the to do list. 3 Floyd's makes two of my favorite beers Alpha King and Zombie Dust. Honestly, I was probably the most excited about this portion of the trip because I have always loved their beers and this was a chance to go see where it was made. We stopped at 3 Floyd's, but due to timing and our schedule we weren't able to get into a tour of the brewery. The merch store was open though and we spent a lot of time looking through the insane amount of merch they had on offer. We bought some growlers of experimental beers, some silicone cups, of course a sticker pack (I like to decorate my old Coleman cooler with stickers like a passport), and some of their regular beers so we had stuff to drink and take home. We took a few last looks around and loaded back up to find some food. The full picture upload will be available in the itinerary when we load it for sale.Lunch at Tomato Bar We drove on a little longer to Valparaiso, IN and then started looking for food in the area. We found Tomato Bar Pizza Bakery and thought it looked good, so we headed over. I was going through a weird phase of wanting to eat more veggies, so I got the Portobello Oven Baked Sandwich and Erin got the Cheesesteak Oven Baked Sandwich. Both of our meals were amazing and this place is worth going out of your way for. Of course, they had me when I walked in and saw this...
P.R.E.A.M. - Pizza Rules Everything Around Me Fort Wayne at last! We made it to our Airbnb with a bunch of spare time so we relaxed after offloading everything. The Airbnb was actually great and the location was amazing. The key is to find something affordable but within walking distance, especially if you want to have a few cocktails. Just a few blocks down we walked to get our dinner at O'Reilly's Irish Pub & Restaurant. The decor was modern and the service was amazing. We had a few beers and our dinners, Bangers and Mash for me and a BLT Club for Erin. The bar is super cool because the outdoor seating exit puts you right into the Fort Wayne Tin Caps minor league baseball stadium. We didn't take advantage of this, but it looks like a ton of fun and we may when we go back. On to the Embassy Theatre We finished up dinner and headed down towards the Embassy. The line was massive though so we decided to stop at Conner's Kitchen & Bar to get a few drinks while we waited for this gigantic line to start actually moving. The plan was a winner though because we watched as people stood in line for a solid 30 minutes before it even started moving and at least 20 more minutes before we even had to get in line at the end. That was a good time to get to know our table neighbors (who were also going to the show) and have some more drinks. Finally in the Embassy The Embassy is "historic". What I mean by that is that, with all due respect, it looks and feels quite old. Not knocking on it, just stating what I thought. The theatre is really nice, but the steps to the top row literally felt like they were going to break with each step and there were a lot of people on them. Side note: we don't buy front row, that doesn't make sense, Tom S wouldn't remember our faces and we get the same jokes in the back for less cash. The beer was only sold in two locations, the second floor and the main floor. The second floor moved much slower than the main floor, so if you are sitting on the third floor like I was you may want to make the trip all the way down to the lobby. The show itself was amazing. If he is your type of humor, he is worth seeing. He had us laughing our heads off at how ridiculous he can be with his comedy, but he weaves it all together so well that you can't help but laugh. The next morning we were all loaded up and wanted to get some food before we left. Erin had made a reservation at a place just around the corner from our Airbnb and we rolled into it as soon as they opened. The place was Junk Ditch Brewing and man was this an amazing find. The interior had this renovated warehouse feel to it with comfortable seating and a really great color scheme. Getting to find places like Junk Ditch is why we love to travel so much. There are so many experiences out there that you can't have from your couch. The service was out of this world honestly. The server took time to get to know us, asked us about our stay, and generally made the process so much easier. Then he even got us a complimentary cinnamon roll that was TO DIE FOR. (I don't say that lightly, it is worth dying). I got the biscuits and gravy and Erin got the JDBC Grand Slam. The food was phenomenal and we bought merch to take home. If you're in the area, go out of your way to find Junk Ditch, and you're welcome in advance.
Final Summary A quick in and out stay at a place can lead you to some amazing finds, some good times, and always some great drinks. Not all travel has to be super well planned, but when it is it makes life a little easier. Erin and I like to offer to sell our itineraries to people, but honestly we really need to put together a how to travel with each other book. We travel so well together and it is because of our give and take. If we make that happen, you guys will be the first to know. So get out there, stop wishing you could travel and get after it. Not every vacation needs to be extravagant. Sometimes you have the best times when you keep it low cost and low stress.