Spend a day (or two) in South Bend

I took a day trip with my husband this past week to South Bend with the purpose of visiting Copshaholm for a tour. Copshaholm is a 38-room mansion that was built for J.D. Oliver and his family. His father was the founder of the Oliver Chilled Plow Works.

See my Northwest Indiana Times article on Copshaholm here -
http://www.nwitimes.com/lifestyles/travel/article_b9617d7d-b969-5734-90af-e4e3bee5b8f3.html

On the grounds next to the mansion is the Center for History, which houses exhibits on local history along with a children's museum. The Studebaker Museum also relocated in recent years to a new home attached to the center. Anyone who loves automobiles will love the Studebaker Museum. And even if you're not particularly enthusiastic about automobiles, it's a neat history lesson told through vehicles of all kinds. Here's an article I wrote last fall on the Studebaker Museum for the Times -
http://www.nwitimes.com/lifestyles/travel/article_dc105b3e-75a4-508b-b9fe-0c5b7bc6cc70.html

and another I did recently on auto museum in  Indiana that mentions the Studebaker Museum -
http://www.nwitimes.com/lifestyles/leisure/article_ddb5b7c0-d86b-5ca8-b852-bf18e9565165.html

Another fun stop if you're town is the South Bend Chocolate Company's Chocolate Museum. Here's an old article about the South Bend Chocolate Factory, which has seen more growth since this article appeared -
http://www.nwitimes.com/uncategorized/article_94b27310-c975-512f-a476-cf9540c4f156.html

On our a trip there last fall, we went downtown for lunch and stumbled across Chicory Cafe, a cute New Orleans-style cafe and coffee house with awesome Po' Boy sandwiches, gumbo, jambalaya and more. So on this past trip, we re-visited for lunch. Try the roast beef with cheddar po' boy -- sooo good! We walked down a few doors for chocolates at the Chocolate Cafe and then a couple blocks the other way for some treats from Dainty Maid Bake Shop.

Among the other attractions are the College Football Hall of Fame, Potawatomi Zoo and tours of the University of Notre Dame. For more on South Bend, visit exploresouthbend.org.

As we were heading back to the car for the trip home, I realized I had never even gotten my camera out. So, I pulled it out as we passed this gorilla on the sidewalk and my husband snapped a shot. I have no idea what he's doing there. I'll have to check into that.