Valparaiso (KVPZ)

Valparaiso (Porter County) is a great day trip. You can visit the museum and then head over to Strongbow for a great meal.

Strongbow (www.strongbowinn.com ; 800-462-5121) will send over an employee to pick up pilots at the airport. The FBO can phone them up for you. An airport car is also often available for the short trip. Request to be seated in the Blue Yonder Lounge (image 3 and 4), which is decorated to resemble a bush plane in Africa. The Sunday brunch is excellent, but you may feel out of place unless you look respectable. The lounge is a great place to stop in anytime for a good lunch. The founders used to run an adjacent turkey farm. So I recommend the turkey!

The Indiana Aviation Museum (www.in-am.org; 219-548-3123) is located right on the field. They have a small collection of aircraft and some static displays. A tour from one of the volunteers is a must. They provide unique insights on the aircraft. Amazingly, all the aircraft are in flying condition. Even better, you can get a ride! Flying in a Corsair, P51 or an A37 (image 10; a jet trainer) isn’t cheap, but the patrons I saw coming back from rides seemed very satisfied.